The story at Dodge for 1958 was not so much one of success but more like survival. Here’s how the brand rode out the storm.
To be perfectly honest, 1958 wasn’t the best of times for the Dodge division. One year earlier the Chrysler Corporation had introduced its sensational second-generation Forward Look cars for 1957, and the Dodge version, called Swept Wing ’57, sold in record numbers. (See our feature here). So for 1958, Dodge continued the Swept Wing exterior look with only minor changes, only to watch sales tumble by 50 percent.
As we’ve often noted here at Mac’s Motor City Garage. the U.S. economy’s first major postwar recession (officially, August ’57 through April ’58) had a profound effect on the auto industry: Production fell 31 percent overall. And as we’ve also noted, the Motor City’s mid-price range suffered the most as discretionary income tightened. Sales at Buick plummeted 67 percent from their 1955 peak, while the Ford Motor Company’s new Edsel brand failed to launch and was abandoned after just three model years. For its part, Dodge nearly fell out of the top 10 in U.S. sales but still managed to weather the storm.
Royal Sedan
The minor styling tweaks for 1958 included real quad headlamps (the inner lamps on the ’57 cars were actually park/turn signals) and a mesh front grille to replace the ’57’s heavy chrome bar. Side trim was rearranged, while the taillamps were subtly altered. The biggest change was under the hood, as the famed hemi-head V8s were being pushed aside in favor of a new corporate engine family, the B series, with conventional wedge-shaped combustion chambers.
Chrysler 350 CID B V8
In its base form the Dodge B V8 displaced 350 cubic inches, with a 4.0625-in bore and a 3.375-in stroke, a 10:1 compression ratio, 285 hp, and the name Ram-Fire. A larger 361 CID version with a 4.125-in bore was given the familiar D-500 label and offered in three outputs from 303 hp to 333 hp. Additional selections included two poly-head 325 CID V8s and the evergreen L-head six with 230 CID and 138 hp, but only 6 percent of Dodge buyers chose the six.
Royal Sedan
The model lineup for ’58 started with the base Coronet, followed by the Royal, Custom Royal, and Sierra, Suburban, and Custom Sierra wagons, though trim and features were juggled at mid-season as Dodge struggled to meet its sales targets. In February of ’58 the super-deluxe Regal Lancer, available only as a two-door hardtop in bronze/black and bronze/white color combinations, was added to the Custom Royal line. Regal Lancers rare and coveted today, as only 1,163 were produced.
Custom Royal Convertible
Despite a contracting economy and tightening household purse strings, more than 96 percent of Dodge buyers opted for the Powerflite ($180) or Torqueflite ($220) automatic transmissions, while 62.5 percent chose power steering ($92). However, a good part of the traditional Dodge customer base simply stayed home, as sales plummeted from nearly 288,000 cars in MY ’57 to not quite 138,000 in ’58. As the economy rallied, Dodge sales saw an improvement in 1959, but it was a modest one.
The Chrysler products from previous years were known for holding up well. Many owners had no need to replace such durable cars.
Except that the 57’s became infamous as the cars that wrecked Chrysler Corporation’s “well built” reputation. Granted, by the 58 models all the bugs had been worked out, but those coupled with the economy (I still remember the “You auto buy now.” industry-wide advertising campaign) hurt badly. I have no doubt that a lot of owners of 55’s passed on the regular three-year trade-in.
The key phrase is “from previous years.” All 1957 Chrysler Corporation cars were so new and different from previous models that–and sold so well compared to previous models–the new cars were literally slapped together on the line as fast as possible. Even the vaunted Torsion-Aire Ride had some teething pains in 1957. Couple that with rust and leak problems, and one Chrysler official moaned that “we now have one million customers who will never consider a Chrysler product again.” Couple that with the Eisenhower recession–and a shrinkage among all medium-priced brands–and Chrysler had its work cut out for 1958 and beyond