Being rescued after decades of neglect is the greatest thing that can happen to a classic car, but it all becomes even better when the vehicle in question also gets back on the road. This 1955 Plymouth Plaza is one of those extremely lucky classics.
Introduced in 1954, the Plaza isn’t one of Plymouth’s most iconic nameplates. Not only short-lived, having been discontinued in 1958, the Plaza was also the company’s entry-level car during its four-year presence in showrooms.
The Plaza was actually pretty popular back in the day, but it didn’t get the following that nameplates like the Belvedere and the Fury enjoy today. As a result, most of them are no longer on the road but rotting away in junkyards and barns.
This 1955 two-door wagon, a version that reminds me of the more famous and desirable Chevrolet Nomad, was parked away sometime in 1980, which means it spent a whopping 42 years off the road as of 2022. And while it got rather rusty in the process, the fact that it’s still in one piece is pretty amazing.
That was enough to convince YouTube’s “SomeWhatFast” to rescue it, even though the old inline-six was stuck after more than four decades without a sip of gasoline. But not only did he manage to get the mill to fire up again, but he also made the Plymouth drivable and took it for a spin around the block.
Needless to say, this wagon is far from road-worthy at this point, but it’s still amazing that it came back to life after sitting for more than 40 years. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of vehicle anyone would want to restore (it’s simply not worth it), so it probably won’t become more than a yard decoration or a parts car. And that’s too bad because I think the 1955 Plaza Suburban is just as gorgeous as the Chevrolet Nomad. But we just can’t save all of them.
And yes, Plymouth once offered a Suburban nameplate. It was introduced in 1949, 14 years after Chevy launched its proto-SUV, and remained in showrooms until 1961. Originally incorporated in the existing model ranges, the Suburban became a separate series from 1956 to 1961. It returned from 1968 to 1978 as a wagon version of the Fury.
The 1955 Plymouth Plaza Suburban arrived with a variety of V8 and inline-six engines. The V8 lineup included 241- and 260-cubic-inch (3.9- and 4.3-liter) Hy-Fire mills rated at up to 177 horsepower. This particular wagon is fitted with the only inline-six unit offered in 1955, a 230-cubic-inch (3.8-liter) powerplant good for 117 horsepower.