[Dealer Film] 1957 Ford vs Dodge? Why pay more? Part Two!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ม.ค. 2024
- So for 1957, Ford takes aim at Dodge this time...
There was a little fudging on the numbers... The 57 Dodge came base with a 2 speed automatic transmission aka the Power flight, in this it looks like the upgraded to the Torqueflight. Hub caps were 15$, power steering was around 90$, Power brakes were 40$ approx for example. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
![[Dealer Film] 1955 Plymouth engineering vs Chevy/Ford, Under the Forward Look! Tear EM APART!](/img/n.gif)
They lost me when they said the Fairlane was all new while the Coronet was a carry over. Give me a break. NOTHING was the same from the 1956 to 1957 Coronet body, NOTHING.
Same here. Notice they didn’t show the ‘56 Dodge for comparison to the ‘57!
yeah FORD... showing some bias...
Ford managed to outsell Dodge 6:1 in 1957.
Yeah, caught that myself.
I don't know if this was an attempt at diversion or not, but they were in two different price classes. Just compare pictures of 56 and 57 Coronets and you will see what my point was. Thanks for the comment.@@whatsamattayu3257
This is accurate in one respect. In the mid to late 50s the low priced three top line trim models ( Fairlane , Plymouth Belvedere, Chevy BelAir) were pretty upscale, and because they were more affordable were taking business away from the traditional mid priced brands. Nash, Hudson, Packard Clipper were on their way out. Edsel would last only a short time. DeSoto was gone by 1961. Olds and Buick sales were down. Pontiac was the exception with the Wide Trak . The 1957 Ford styling was quite popular and nice, but this film goes off the rails when it indicates the Dodge wasn’t much different from 1956. Virgil Exner’s Forward Look that year was absolutely new and extremely popular. The new Torsionaire ride (torsion bars with rear leaf springs) gave all Chrysler products the best roadability you could get in a domestic car for many years. The new 3 speed Torqueflite automatic transmission set the standard for performance and durability.
The wide track Pontiac didn't arrive until 1959. Olds, Buick and Cadillac all received new bodies for 1957. Chevy and Pontiac were essentially carryovers from 1955.
I've driven a 57 Dodge, it drives like a modern car. It was tight enough, the Ford I've ridden in was very soft and had more body lean, while the Chevy was in between the Ford and Dodge.
Both of these cars represented a low point of quality for their manufacturers. People think the ‘57 Chevy was an iconic style leader when it came out, but in fact it was in the third year of its styling cycle. Its popularity today is because it was much better built than the competition, so more examples have survived.
Better looking too.
@@matrox Maybe from today’s point of view, but back then the Ford, and in particular the Chrysler products, were seen as more modern because they were “LONGER! LOWER! WIDER!”
@@DavidBugea Ford better looking then too, its why they sold more cars. I remember older peeps driving them back then. Virgel Exner design got old quick. Its why Chrysler fired him and hired Fords designer.
@@matrox Ford did fins very conservatively and tastefully during those years. Plymouth's ads when the 1957 cars were introduced shouted, 'SUDDENLY IT'S 1960!" Quality control for 1957 Mopars was very poor, a result of the cars being rushed into production. Ford QC wasn't all that good either.
Actually Exner almost died from a heart attack, so he was essentially checked out in i think 1959-60... The FWL cars wowed Americans in 57-58... The car magazines loved them and the Chrysler management was there to hold Exner back a little. Fins did fall out of favor pretty quickly though, the rocket age quickly died out. Chrysler didn't know what to do after him... so they were back in limbo...
Against buick I picked the ford, but against dodge? Id have to pick the dodge. The forward look was one of the most beautiful car design philosophies ever implemented, across the entire Chrysler corporation lineup...
Wilding produced slideshows for both Ford _and_ Chrysler...a maze of contradictions for the copy writers!
Interestingly, back in the day Consumer Reports griped about the Fairlane/Fairlane 500, because it was bigger than the Custom/Custom 300, but more cramped inside. I'll give them credit though, for trying to make a basic 4-door sedan look more upscale and sporty. 4-door pillared sedans tended to be a lot more boxy and upright, compared to the swoopier 4-door hardtops, so Ford did strike a pretty stylish middle ground between the two.
Also, it looks like they forgot to mention how much those cars actually cost, when comparably equipped with a radio, automatic transmission, and so on. In those days, even things like heaters and backup lights were optional on the lower-end cars. Even on a DeSoto Firesweep, which was Dodge-based, backup lights were optional! Anyway, as a reference point, my grandparents bought a '57 Ford Fairlane 500 Victoria 4-door hardtop, and while the base MSRP was around $2400, out the door, that sucker was around $3500! By the time you threw in the two-tone paint, radio, automatic, power steering/brakes, whitewall tires, a few other odds and ends, and they also sprung for the extra cost 245 hp 312 V8.
Yeah the manufacturers were liking those "options"... advertise the base cost...
I was a kid when of these cars were common place. I never liked the Dodges until the late 60s with the Chargers and Super Bees.
Whether you think Virgil Exner's forward look cars were the greatest thing ever. Or whether you prefer the look of the 57 Chevy or the 57 Ford. It seems that America loved the 57 Ford. As the facts show Ford out sold both brands for 1957.
Although I will admit I have never been a huge fan of a lot of the forward look designs that Virgil Exner put out. Some of them were beautiful designs but I always felt that others just didn't seem to have an overall stylish look.
To each their own. It was really nice though that during the 50s buyers had so many different styles that they could purchase. Variety is always a good choice. To me though the 57 Ford has always been the cream of the crop for '50s styling. I've always felt that car just looks good from any angle.
the FWL cars stole so much of GMs market share it allowed Ford to take a slight lead over GM... GM FREAKED out...
While Ford was #1 in 1957, that doesn't tell the whole story. Plymouth, while #3, had its best sales year ever, up to that point. I think it was something like 762,000 units, and I believe that record was only topped once or twice. Probably in the early 70's, and with the help of the popular Duster. Ford and Chevy each usually outsold Plymouth by around 3 to 1, but for '57, that gap was closed, to roughly 2 to 1. GM was the bigger victim of Mopar's resurgence, most likely, as Dodge/DeSoto/Chrysler all had good sales, while Pontiac/Olds/Buick fell. But, while Ford division did well, Mercury fell from favor, when it was moved more upscale for '57, to make way for the '58 Edsel. And while Cadillac was the king of luxury cars in those days, the '57 Imperial had its best year ever. I think Lincoln still outsold it, but the margin was small, as it was an off year for Lincoln.
People talk about the "1958 recession," but it was actually 1957, that was the recession year. I think one reason though, that '58 sales were so bad, is that there were so many new (or new looking) models on the market for '57, that buyers who would have normally waited another year or two to trade, were lured in by those new cars. So all that "newness" helped inflate '57 sales, but at the expense of '58.
The Ford certainly looks a lot better.
The Ford is cleaner.
Sorry, ford, your Fairlane looks 5 years behind...
Maybe through today's eyes. But in 1957 Ford sold over 1.75 million cars.
When you compare sedan to sedans of these cars, it's like comparing why the two most ugliest gals didn't go to the Prom. Chrysler was best in '57, but it took to '60 for the station wagons to shed those damn ugly side posts . GM got rid of them in '55. But, in '57 those Chrysler tailgates were clean with no frames at all.
I've always been a Ford guy, but I hate the bug-eyed front end of the 57.
I think the 1958 Fords were the worst styled of the late 50's models.
Not all states allowed dual headlights in 1957.
@@frdjr2527 So? That's no excuse for that ugly design.
I have always thought that the Chrysler Corp products from 57 to 64 were among the ugliest cars ever designed - even though they were mechanically superior to either GM or Ford. The only thing I’ve ever owned from this period was a ‘61 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible.
The Forward Look has some questionable ones in the mix(60-62 they got funky) but the big fins of 57-58 were adored by the magazines and peoples choice of the times and won car of the year over Chevy and Ford... I am prepping some videos based on those magazines... The FWL cars are the more sleeker looking designs, I think. I know the 57 Ford bug eyes are a big complaint. The 57 Chevy wasn't a huge evolution over the 56. Mechanically the Chryslers had bugs that were being fixed due to rushing the cars to market after GM/Ford spies got their eyes on the FWL cars coming out(imagine your boss says, the 58 products are now the 57 products! make it happen). Chrysler scrambled but it hurt bad when the cars leaked, sqeaked... torsion bars popped and people started talking about quality issue... the issues were minor but they really hurt perception. They were mostly fixed in 58-59.
@@autochronicles8667 My uncle owned a '57 Dodge Coronet brand new. He kept it 10 years but had a lot of issues with it. Car was garage kept and looked immaculate on the day he traded it for a Chevy Malibu in 1967.
Ford for the win, they left Dodge in the dust in 57.