Fuselage Quality

[Bill Watson]

Chrysler Canada was always a bit of a mystery back then. Our '71 Monaco was built there. Unlike US Monacos, it came standard with a 318. I suppose there are other trim/equipment changes I was unaware of. Earlier in the 1960s they built C-body Dodges with Plymouth dashboards. It is probably best to always keep the Canadian production figures separate from the US ones as the cars are not necessarily the same. They may have built some other models that made their way into the US market but I do not know that for sure.

Chrysler of Canada started building unique models back in 1933 with the Dodge DQ. Contrary to almost everything I have read on the DQ it was not based on the Plymouth PD, but was a stripped, and thus lower priced, version of the Dodge DP. Also, the DQ used Dodge DP engines and used the 111¼" DP wheelbase from the first DQ in November, 1932 to the last DQ built in December. 1933.

For 1934 Chrysler of Canada took a Plymouth body and chassis and placed the Dodge front hood and grille on it. Thus the "Plodge" began in Canada - the 1934 Dodge DT. In 1935 Chrysler in Detroit began building "Plodges" for the export markets. The Canadian "Plodge"came in two series that matched the Plymouth.

Plymouth instrument panels were used from 1940 through 1961, and then again from 1963 to 1966. They were priced just above the Plymouth. Both GM and Ford reacted to the "Plodge" with GM coming out with a Chevrolet-based Pontiac in 1938, and Ford with a Ford-based Mercury in 1946 (Mercury 114) that became the Meteor for 1949. Seats and door panels of the Canadian "Plodges" were Plymouth pieces except for 1961-62 and the 1965 Polara 880 and Monaco door panels.

The last C body Dodge built in Canada rolled off the assembly line in November, 1969. From that point the Canadian Dodges were built in the US but still with Plymouth interiors and the 318 V8.

Have a list of 1970 Dodge Polara and Monaco models from somewhere, but it lists the Canadian Monaco as having the 383 V8 as standard, which is incorrect. The list also misses out the Polara Custom wagons, the Monaco 500 sedan (and lists a Monaco 500 convertible that was never produced) as well as the Monaco 500 Brougham option.

I do not have much for Canadian production, but I am working on getting the figures. They are out there somewhere.

 

[ayilar]

I didn't mean to imply that the quality of the 69-73 cars was bad

Well, it may not have been the greatest according to this Chrysler New Yorker review by Bill Hartford, Popular Mechanics' Technical Auto Editor, published in the June 1969 issue quoted in a 2015 post on this board:

Fuselage Body Quality Problems from Day 1?

If you read this owners report and survey found in the June 1969 issue of Popular Mechanics, it appears there must have been some quality issues, at least as viewed by owners of 1969 Chrysler New Yorkers.

I still bought the car I liked 8 days ago, and it's a rust-free 1970 fusie

 

[69CoronetRT]

I do not have much for Canadian production, but I am working on getting the figures. They are out there somewhere.

I don't know if this is helpful or not.

I did pick up a 1970 Ward's yearbook. Here's the figures for 1969.

Was there another plant besides Windsor or do these numbers reflect only cars built at Windsor?

 

[Bill Watson]

The report is for ALL cars built in Canada for the 1969 calendar year. Chrysler of Canada had one car assembly plant at that time and it was in Windsor. Originally built in 1928-1929 it was Chrysler of Canada's only car assembly plant in Canada until Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987. It has been the main source for Dodge Caravan and related vehicles since 1983.

The 1969 calendar year report shows the beginning of the 1970 model year production. The last 1969 models were built in July and the 1970 models started in August. Fury and Dodge (Polara/Monaco) production at the Windsor plant came to an end in December.

The report even has Renault (S.O.M.A., Quebec), Volvo (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) and Isuzu/Toyota (CMI, Sydney, Nova Scotia).

Peter Munk, who passed away earlier this week at age 90, had a hand in CMI. He had talked the Nova Scotia government into giving the company he owned, Clairtone (stereo systems and equipment) money to set up a factory. After that he talked the N.S. government to come up with a million dollars toward an assembly plant in Sydney, N.S. to be built by CMI. The money reached CMI by Clairtone purchasing $1 million of CMI stock. Clairtone went under but CMI was saved by Toyota who went ahead with the plant, which opened in January, 1968 and closed in December, 1975. A grand total of 9,303 cars rolled off the Sydney line.

 

[69CoronetRT]

The report is for ALL cars built in Canada for the 1969 calendar year. Chrysler of Canada had one car assembly plant at that time and it was in Windsor. Originally built in 1928-1929 it was Chrysler of Canada's only car assembly plant in Canada until Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987. It has been the main source for Dodge Caravan and related vehicles since 1983.

The 1969 calendar year report shows the beginning of the 1970 model year production. The last 1969 models were built in July and the 1970 models started in August. Fury and Dodge (Polara/Monaco) production at the Windsor plant came to an end in December.

The report even has Renault (S.O.M.A., Quebec), Volvo (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) and Isuzu/Toyota (CMI, Sydney, Nova Scotia).

Peter Munk, who passed away earlier this week at age 90, had a hand in CMI. He had talked the Nova Scotia government into giving the company he owned, Clairtone (stereo systems and equipment) money to set up a factory. After that he talked the N.S. government to come up with a million dollars toward an assembly plant in Sydney, N.S. to be built by CMI. The money reached CMI by Clairtone purchasing $1 million of CMI stock. Clairtone went under but CMI was saved by Toyota who went ahead with the plant, which opened in January, 1968 and closed in December, 1975. A grand total of 9,303 cars rolled off the Sydney line.

So do the Wards numbers indicate production at only the Windsor plant for CY 1969 and do they concur with your sources?

 

[PeugFra]

The 97,815 figure is the total number of 1971 Polara and Monaco models built for the U.S. market (77,087 at Belvidere and 20,728 at Newark).

Now, if you check the Ward's figures, 91, 577 were built at Belvidere and 20,871 at Newark for a total of 112,448 while their total figure comes to 112,796. We have a difference of 348. If you look at the comment on the bottom of the plant production figures for Michigan there is a note stating 29,952 cars were built in Michigan as K.D. export cars (built at Chrysler's export plant on Wyoming Ave), and those cars are not included in the Michigan figures. So, those 348 missing cars were actually 348 K.D. cars built at the Wyoming Avenue plant (from 1937 through 1958 the DeSoto assembly plant and 1960 to 1980 for export K.D. production).

And we now have 14,633 cars unaccounted for (14,490 at Belvidere and 143 at Newark). Those 14,633 cars were built for the Canadian market.

Thus -
Belvidere - 91,577 (77,087 USA and 14,490 CDN)
Newark - 20,871 (20,728 USA and 143 CDN)
Wyoming - 348 (348 Exp)
TOTAL - 112,796 (97,815 USA, 14,633 CDN and 348 Exp)

Ward's did not always separate the export totals so you have to watch out for them.

@Bill Watson

Looking through Ward's Automotive Yearbook for 1974 you can find three different totals for Fury's 1973 model year:

a) 280,330 (136,405 Newark + 143,925 Belvidere, p. 102) ("U.S. car production", p. 104)

b) 255,495 ("North American production aimed at the U.S. market", pp. 112-114)

c) 250,055 ("Factory Installed Equipment", "For U.S. Sale", p. 108)

The difference between a) and b) could be the cars produced for Canada and the rest of the world ("Export"). But two questions remain:

- is there a possibility to distinguish between Canada and Export? Where are the Wyoming Ave plant numbers listed?
- why this difference between b) and c)? It can't be the police and taxi Furys, because they were far more than 5,440 -- 16,267 to be precise.

That wisdom is from another source, Encyclopedia of American Cars and/or Standard Catalog of Chrysler, 1924-1990. That alternative source has a slightly different grand total, 280,630, so 300 more than under a). The third question becomes:

- where do those 300 extra cars come from? Export perhaps? Or is it just a typo that is getting repeated?