1939 Plymouth Coupe Dirt Track Survivor

Description

The body of this is a 1939 Plymouth Coupe, but the full package is a restored dirt track racer. When we say "restored" it means that the years of mud and muck from racing have been cleaned out, a powerful stroker motor has been installed, and the right features were added to be road legal in many states. But what they didn't try to do is eliminate the fun racer feeling or style that is ingrained in the history of this coupe.

There's something quite special about this car. It's a five-window coupe turned into a Midwest dirt track racer dressed in white with red and blue livery. So it has an all-American color theme and was racing in the heart of America. The only way you can likely get more patriotic is with a bald eagle in a cowboy hat playing an acoustic guitar at Mt Rushmore.
While we don't have the race record of this one to confirm the details, it would be hard to get something to look like this any other way than earning it on the raceway. So the dents and dings in the body are from muscling its way to the finish line. The details we do have on this is that it was believed to have been built in St. Louis in the late 1970s or the early '80s. By the time the consignor caught up to the car, it was a tired but complete race. So he gave it the right kind of restoration from 2020 to 2021. He made sure the body kept its earned battle scars, but he fixed and replaced all the components that got messed up from years on the track. He also added features like proper headlights, tail lights, and turn signals so that it could be registered and road legal in many states. So just imagine the looks you'll get when taking this out on the highway. After all, the redline race wheels, side exhaust pipes, deleted fenders, exterior steel cage bars, and sponsorship decals have the kind of style that will make people do a double-take when they see a license plate hanging off the back.

The interior gives a pure racecar first impression. Single molded bucket seats, a racing steering wheel, a SafeQuip driver's harness, and a B&M shifter look competition worthy. You even have a full race cage and a fuel cell in the trunk. The dash is clean and simple sheet metal with Bosch auxiliary readouts and a large Mac Tools tach. But even with all this race-ready equipment, you also see a few more of those road-ready concessions that make this one a better driver. It includes a new/clear windshield and a GPS system mounted on top of the dash for an easy speedometer.

The hood lifts off to see an awesome powerhouse within the custom safety cage. This is a later Chevy V8 that's said to be a 383 cubic-inch stroker motor. It inhales deeply with an Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor, and it exhales with a nice rumble from the header-fed side pipes (there are even cutouts to really bring the thunder.) There are even good supporting components like a new starter, an HEI distributor, a new wiring harness, and an aluminum radiator with electric fan. The three-speed automatic transmission is another one of those sly upgrades to make this a better cruiser. But it also never loses the race-ready feeling because the gearbox feeds a classic James/Franklin quick-change rear end. And the power steering and four-wheel disc brakes are part of the thoughtful upgrades that make this true racer also a solid cruiser. In fact, the consignor has comfortably driven this about 4,100 miles in the last 18 months - that's a bit further than what you get going around the dirt tracks.

The sale comes complete with a show board and a digital file full of restoration photos. This is a unique bit of Americana that loves to go places and tell its story. Call today!!!