Plymouth’s first all-new postwar design wasn’t fast, flashy, or memorable — which is exactly why a stock-looking 1950 Deluxe is harder to spot today than most muscle cars. This example keeps that deliberately plain exterior while hiding a 350 small-block and automatic transmission underneath, along with power steering, power brakes, and vintage-style air conditioning. It’s the kind of sleeper nobody notices until the engine turns over. Here’s how Plymouth’s most forgettable postwar sedan became one.
This is a very conservative and original looking 1950 Plymouth, a period piece complete with the lack-lustre performance of an antique. Under the hood is a 350 CID engine coupled to a 350 Turbo automatic transmission, allowing it to move out as well as any 60’s muscle car should, making it a perfect sleeper. The interior is also original in appearance, but aside from old style arm chair comfort is equipped with enough modern conveniences to make it a pleasure to drive. A LeCarra tilt wheel, power steering, power brakes, vintage A/C and modern instrumentation created by Classic Gauges are all in perfect working condition.
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Plymouth built exactly one all-new car after World War II, and it wasn’t fast, flashy, or particularly memorable — which is precisely why finding a genuinely stock-looking example today is harder than finding a numbers-matching muscle car. This 1950 Deluxe leans into that anonymity on the outside while hiding something its original buyers could never have imagined underneath. Where the factory car offered a 3-speed manual and just enough power to merge onto a two-lane highway, this one swaps in a 350 small-block and an automatic transmission built for actual modern traffic. It’s the kind of car nobody stops to photograph until they notice what’s under the hood. So how do you turn Plymouth’s most forgettable postwar sedan into a sleeper?
Plymouth’s First Real Postwar Design
The 1950 Plymouth carried over the brand’s first all-new postwar body — the clean-sheet design Plymouth had actually debuted a year earlier for 1949 — riding on a 111-inch wheelbase for the standard Deluxe and available as a business coupe, fastback two-door sedan, or steel-bodied two-door wagon. The longer Special Deluxe stretched to a 118.5-inch wheelbase and offered a four-door sedan or club coupe body style. All of it came standard with a 3-speed manual gearbox — period-correct, unremarkable, and exactly the kind of car nobody expected to see modified decades later.
Everything Modern, Hidden Behind Vintage Sheet Metal
This build keeps that deliberately plain exterior intact while swapping in a 350 cubic inch V8 backed by a 350 Turbo automatic transmission underneath — enough to move out like a proper ’60s muscle car despite the conservative styling. Inside, the original-look bench seating is paired with a LeCarra tilt steering wheel, power steering, power brakes, factory-style air conditioning, and modern instrumentation built by Classic Gauges, all wired in to work seamlessly behind a dashboard that still looks every bit its age.
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