Dodge - Kingsway - 1956 - 28 hp - 6 cyl - WBE 1362 - Kolkata 2014-01-19 6409

The Dodge Kingsway is an automobile built by

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

for export markets. The Kingsway name was adopted for the 1940 models. Before that, the export models based on Plymouth models had no unique model names. Kingsways were rebadged

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

vehicles, although they were often equipped with

bumpers and trim. They were supposed to help overseas Dodge dealers to sell cars in a lower price class. The first export models were made in 1935, and they continued through the 1959 model year, with many different body styles and variations depending on the market they were intended for and which Plymouth models were available at the time. They were built in either

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, or in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, Canada.

Versions

The Kingsway was the lowest-priced

Plymouth Deluxe The Plymouth De Luxe and Special De Luxe were full-sized automobiles which were produced by American manufacturer Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. I ...

model in 1949-52 ( wheelbase), 1954-58 (based on

Plymouth Plaza The Plymouth Plaza is an automobile which was produced by Plymouth from 1954 through the 1958 model year. The ''Plaza'' was Plymouth's entry-level car during those years and was priced under the Plymouth Savoy. It was offered in sedan, coupe an ...

series) and 1959 (

Plymouth Savoy The Plymouth Savoy is an automobile which was produced in the 1951 through 1964 model years by Plymouth. As with Plymouth's Plaza and Belvedere models, the Savoy was named after an upscale hotel, the Savoy Hotel in London. 1951-1953 Plymout ...

). The Kingsway DeLuxe was based on the Plymouth DeLuxe (1946–50, wheelbase), Cambridge (1951–53), Savoy (1954–58) and Belvedere (1959). The top line Kingsway Custom was Dodge's version of the Plymouth Special DeLuxe (1946–50), Cranbrook (1951–53), Belvedere (1954–58) and Fury (1959). For 1959 only, the Kingsway offered a model based on the Sport Fury, the Kingsway Lancer. With the introduction of the Dodge Dart for 1960, the Kingsway line was dropped.

Introduction

The first use of the Kingsway name was in Canada for the 1940 model year (model D14), basically Dodge's rebadged version of the

. The base model came with one taillamp, one sunvisor and one windshield wiper - all on the driver's side. The body was Plymouth with Dodge nameplates, hood ornament and a grille that fit the Plymouth front end. Body styles were business coupe, 2-door and 4-door sedans. The Kingsway name continued for the 1941 model year, on model D20. It was now available in two versions, base and Special. The Special was about $25 more than the base model. Body styles offered were the same as in 1940 with the addition of a 5-passenger coupe with fold-up (auxiliary) seats in the rear compartment. For the 1942 model year, the Kingsway name was replaced by the DeLuxe, the same name as used on the base model Plymouth series. The DeLuxe was also the lowest priced Dodge for Canada from 1946 to 1950, although other export markets continued to use the Kingsway moniker. Chrysler of Canada reintroduced the Kingsway name to the Canadian market for the 1951 model year, as the Canadian Dodge rebadged version of the Plymouth Concord, and replaced the DeLuxe name used on 111" wheelbase models in 1949-50. The 1951 Kingsway offered a 2-door business coupe, 2-door fastback sedan, 2-door Suburban wagon and a 2-door Savoy wagon. The Savoy used interior and exterior trim similar to that used on higher priced models. The business coupe was dropped for the 1952 model year. As with the Plymouth Concord, the Canadian Dodge Kingsway was dropped for 1953. The Kingsway, along with the

, were also assembled in Bombay,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Premier Automobiles Limited Premier Ltd (formerly known as The Premier Automobiles Limited) was an Indian automotive manufacturer company, based in Mumbai. The company was owned by the Walchand Group and was established by Walchand Hirachand as Premier Automobiles Ltd ( ...

until the late 1950s. File:Dodge Kingsway Custom (1954) at the Autotron p5.JPG, 1955 Dodge Kingsway Custom Convertible File:Heritage-on-wheels-womens-christian-college-chennai-12.jpg, New Zealand 1956 Dodge Kingsway 4-Door Sedan File:1957 Dodge Kingsway (17366159994).jpg, 1957 Dodge Kingsway 4-Door Sedan File:1959 Dodge Kingsway Custom Hardtop (10162656943).jpg, 1959 Dodge Kingsway Custom Hardtop

Australian production

Chrysler Australia Stellantis (Australia and New Zealand) Pty Ltd (formerly FCA Australia), is the official Stellantis subsidiary in Australia and New Zealand, operating as distributor of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Leapmotor vehicles. Ho ...

released the D43 series Kingsway in 1953 with all major panels pressed in Australia on Australian-made tooling.

Farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, p. 346 D49 series Kingsways were assembled from 1954 to 1957.

, pp. 23-25 The D49 Kingsway differed only in terms of grilles and badgework from the Plymouth P25 and DeSoto SP25 Diplomat models which were also assembled by Chrysler Australia.

, pp. 406-407 An

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n developed

coupe utility A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

variant of the Kingsway was introduced in 1956.Automotive oddity website
Retrieved from www.roadkillontheweb.com on 10 May 2010. File: Dodge Kingsway D36 1950.JPG, 1950 Dodge Kingsway Custom (D36). Dodge D36 models were assembled in

by Chrysler Dodge Distributors Ltd, the predecessor of

File:1952 Dodge Kingsway Sedan.jpg, 1952 Dodge Kingsway Sedan (D40) File:Dodge Kingsway 1955 (front).JPG, 1955 Dodge Kingsway Coronet (D49) File:Dodge Kingsway 1955 (rear).JPG, 1955 Dodge Kingsway Coronet (D49) File:Dodge Kingsway Coronet (1956).jpg, 1956 Dodge Kingsway Coronet (D49)

Swedish production

In Sweden, Dodge Kingway cars were fitted between 1955 and 1957 at Aktiebolaget Nyköpings Automobilfabriks (ANA) factory in Norrköping.

References

* Motor Vehicle Data Book, 1948 edition * Canadian Dodge sales material

Versions

Introduction

Australian production

Swedish production

References

See also