Oddly enough, Plymouth was the only Chrysler division to offer a convertible in 1939. Here’s how that came about.

When Chrysler totally redesigned its corporate body shell for the Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge brands for 1939, aiming for a more streamlined look, the number of available styles was cut back, eliminating the convertibles from their lineups. The reasons are understandable enough, Sales of open cars were declining all through the ’30s, and meanwhile, a nasty recession was punishing the entire industry. Total volume in the Motor City tumbled by half between late ’37 and early ’38. Costs were to be cut where they could.

But at Plymouth, the corporation’s volume leader, the previous body shell introduced in ’37 was continued in ’39 with the addition of a new, sharply chiseled nose to align the brand with the rest of the Chrysler lineup. That meant the Convertible Coupe could remain in the lineup, and as a result, Plymouth enjoyed a minor sales bonanza in the open-car class for 1939.  That was no doubt aided by the fact that for its own reasons, rival Chevrolet did not offer a convertible that year, either.

Available only in De Luxe form and not on the base Road King model, the ’39 Convertible Coupe sported a few noteworthy features. First, it boasted a powered top with a handy dash-mounted  control. Not hydraulic or electric but vacuum operated, it is generally credited as the first power top in a volume-production convertible. Next, a rumble seat was standard, and this was the last Plymouth to be equipped with the increasingly dated feature. After a brief experiment in 1934, independent front suspension returned to Plymouth in ’39, and as a De Luxe, the Convertible Coupe also included Plymouth’s first column-mounted transmission shifter, marketed as “Remote Control Shifting.”

In another twist, Plymouth also offered an elegant four-door Convertible Sedan in 1939 for the first time in many years (above). Reportedly, these were assembled using Murray-built bodies left over from the previous Chrysler/DeSoto production cycle, and as a result, the Convertible Sedan was built on a 117 inch-wheelbase chassis, three inches longer than the rest of the Plymouth line. It was Plymouth’s last Convertible Sedan, too.

Though it was heavily advertised, records say only 387 De Luxe Convertible Sedans were built, compared to nearly 6,000 Convertible Coupes in ’39. Six thousand might not sound like much compared to Plymouth’s total volume of almost 418,000 cars in 1939, but in cornering the market on ragtops, so to speak, the Convertible Coupe easily tripled its volume compared to 1938. Howevr, things would return to normal at the Chrysler Corporation in 1940 when Dodge. DeSoto, and Chrysler all returned Convertible Coupes to their lineups.