The 1956 Plymouth line featured several lines, including Savoy, Plaza, Belvedere and Fury, the latter the most in-demand of current collectors. (Ad compliments of Chrysler Corporation).
This white and gold 1956 Plymouth Fury was the top line “hot car” in 1956, available with a unique and expensive dealer installed “Power Pack” engine option. (Artwork complements Chrysler Corporation).
Q: Greg, I have a ’56 Plymouth Savoy 4-door with a flathead 6-cylinder and just 93,000 miles. It is white and red with a three-speed manual transmission. Any idea what I can expect to get for it as it is in good running condition with very little rust? I don’t plan to sell it just yet, but am wondering about the 1956 Plymouths, overall. Thanks much, Eleanor V., retired and enjoying life in Massachusetts.
A: Eleanor, as for the Plymouth in your garage, I mentioned in past columns I have a soft spot in my heart for any 1955 or 1956 Plymouth, especially the lower priced Savoy models. My dad had a 1955 Plymouth Savoy with a flathead 6-cylinder, three on the tree, light green, 4-door, which my brother and I loved. It was my dad’s first truly good car, as he bought it in 1957 when he got a new job in south Jersey. He had previously owned a 1940 Chevy business coupe (his first car) and then a 1950 Mercury with suicide style 4-doors and a flathead V8. As for the 1956 model, my uncle Joe had a red and white Belvedere 2-door with the 277 V8 and pushbutton automatic. What a beauty!
In 1956, there were four Plymouth cars to choose from including the Fury, Belvedere, Plaza and Savoy models. The Fury with the 303 horse V8, automatic is in my opinion the most desirable, able to fetch some $30,000 with the standard V8 or over $40,000 with the V8 Power Pack option in pristine Barrett-Jackson or Mecum Auction dress.
Most notable is the Power Pack option, which increases a 1956 Plymouth value at least 25-percent. This $750 dealer installed kit included dual four barrel carbs, free flow air cleaners (gold in color) aluminum intake, and a “3/4 Cam and lifters” (back then, any high performance cam was called a “3/4 cam” for whatever reason). The Power Pack kit pushed the 303 engine from 240 to a “conservative” 270 ponies.
Additionally, the Power Pack kit was only available on the Belvedere 277-inch V8 and the Fury 303-inch V8 models and for its day was quite the hot setup and very expensive. At Daytona speed trials, a 1956 Plymouth with the Power Pack broke Cadillac’s 112-MPH standing record run on the beach straight line speed runs, shattering the record with a run of over 143 MPH.
In my lifetime, I only ever saw one of these cars in person back in 1958, as my neighbor in New Jersey had a Sinclair gas station and one of his customers had one that was red and black. It had a continental kit on the back and loud dual exhaust and was lowered several inches with Moon Disc hubcaps. My neighbor, who no doubt had a lot of patience dealing with a nine-year old who would always show up at his station on his bicycle and just to see what was going on. (Thanks very much!)
Although your Savoy is one of the lesser priced Plymouth models from 1955 and 1956, it is still a very neat car. Currently, NADA lists your 1956 Savoy a low of $2,675 to an average retail of $4,275. The high retail, which is usually for a restored Savoy in great shape, is upward of $8,400. I’d say according to your letter, your car is probably worth in the neighborhood of $4,000 to $5,000, which still isn’t bad by any means.
Thanks for your letter and good luck with your Savoy.
(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions on collector cars, auto nostalgia and old-time racing at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840 or at greg@gregzyla.com).
