[KPS]

It appears that our PB is the "earliest" known amongst the three surviving Seven Passenger Sedans known to the Plymouth Owners Club, Inc. (POC). According to them this car was probably built in January 1932.

Here is the listing of the three surviving cars

Chassis# 1697856 Body# 537-185 - Bangalore, India
Chassis# 1713124 Body# 537-887 - New York State
Chassis# 1728827 Body# 537-1104 - New York State

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

I have just become a member of the Plymouth Owner Club, Inc (POC) and in their May 2010 Journal, my car is featured under "Letters to the Editor"

I have attached the same. It again confirms as per the POC records there are only 3 known survivors of PB 7 Seven Passenger Cars and my car appears to the the oldest amongst the three.

POC issue 302-May2010.doc

Cheers

KPS

[harit]

Originally Posted by KPS

I have just become a member of the Plymouth Owner Club, Inc (POC) and in their May 2010 Journal, my car is featured under "Letters to the Editor"
I have attached the same. It again confirms as per the POC records there are only 3 known survivors of PB 7 Seven Passenger Cars and my car appears to the the oldest amongst the three. Cheers KPS

Hi! If you like you can give me their contact, I will send them the old picture I have of a Plymouth.
BTW, you should send to them the pictoral story of your restoration, they would surely publish that too.
How is the chrome of your car keeping? If you recomend, I would like to get in touch with them.

Cheers harit

[KPS]

Dear Harit,

Yes, I will be sending a pictorial story on my car for the next journal. They will publish it for sure as they were very excited on the existance of this car in India.

Please mail Mr. Lanny Knutson at plybul@mts.net as he is the editor of the Plymouth Bulletin. I am sure he will be excited to get more photos from India.

The crome is holding out very well and the workmanship is excellent. You could always use this guy if you are willing to send the parts. The prefered mode is to crome all the parts at one time. He is willing to do the whole trim at one time so that the parts do not get missed. Send me a PM if you need help.

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Of the three 1932 Plymouth PB 7 Passenger Sedan known to exist to the Plymouth Owner Club, one of them is owned by Mr. Steve Castor who resides in New York. I have been in regular touch with him and he has been a great source of information. I discussed with him and requested his permission to post his story and pictures of his car, which he readily agreed. He is happy for any positive response on these rare cars.

Please find below his story and the pictures of his car. His car is little different from mine, in that my car is a Delux and has two spare wheels on the front mud guards whilst Steve's car has the spare wheel in the rear. Other wise both the cars are same.

Cheers

KPS

Story of Steve Castor's 1932 Plymouth PB Seven Passenger Sedan

In 1960, when I was a 10 year old boy, my father Richard Castor, made the purchase of our first Plymouth; a 1932 PB 7-Passenger Sedan. The purchase was for my older brother Jim and me to learn about mechanical things. Little did we know at the time that it would come into our possession twice before it became my first love, and lifelong endeavor!
The PB 7-passenger was purchased new in 1932 from Bown Chrysler Plymouth. The dealership was located in Fairport, NY alongside the historic Erie Canal in Upstate New York. Bown Chrysler Plymouth was owned and operated, by Lawrence Bown Sr. a resident of Fairport with a long family history in the Fairport area. The dealership was operated out of a building on west side of South Main Street behind the commercial Bown block.
The owner of the new car, Howard Whitman lived 2 miles south of Fairport village proper. This was family farm country at that time. The PB was used by the Whitman family to transport their children and the next door neighbors’ children, the Hannan family, to the high school in the village of Fairport each day. This of course was a true luxury in the 1930’s, especially during The Great Depression.
The car was traded in to Bown Chrysler Plymouth prior to 1940. Mr. Bown kept the car as a second vehicle for use in his dealership. When The War started, new cars were no longer available, so he used the PB as; personal transportation, as a push vehicle/ service truck and for collection of cardboard for the recycling effort supporting the troops.
A few of the long time village residents have memories of seeing Lawrence Sr. using the back of the car with the jump seats removed , for collecting cardboard!
My father, Richard Castor knew the Bown family well. He attended school with Lawrence Bown JR. and was a friend to him as well as the Whitman and Hannan families. Dad had ridden in the car as a young lad when it was owned by the Whitman’s and again when owned by Mr. Bown, prior to World War II.
We have pictures of the car at Comber mere, Ontario, Canada in August of 1940 at a campsite showing Mr. Bown Sr. and his daughter in-law Doris. (See inset picture below) According to Doris it was unusual that the car be driven that far from home, and it was the only time she remembered it being in Canada. A hand written note from Doris Bown explains that she and her husband Larry Jr’s car broke down in route to Canada. They returned to Fairport and took the 7 Passenger.
Registration documents show the car was last owned by Marguerite Bown in 1956 and transferred to my father, on Oct. 15th 1960 for $35.00. Dad later sold the PB and transferred the registration to a family friend, James Schurz on May 8th, 1962. I was too young to have real interest in it and my brother Jim wasn’t interested in mechanics. Dad and Mr. Schurz made an agreement that if I were interested in the car as I got older, we could purchase it back and have first refusal if Mr. Schurz decided to sell it at anytime. While the car was in the Schurz possession it was used as a lot car in the fields and woods on their farm property. Unfortunately they weren’t the best stewards for the car. The vacuum clutch system was removed and discarded and damage was done to the underside of the car while out “playing tractor” with it. The engine was run with no air cleaner and I’m sure the mice had a new place to play while it was stored in the barn for well over a year.
In 1963 I convinced Dad that I was interested in having the car and I desired to restore the car as best I could as a teenager with little or no money. He purchased the car back for the agreed sum of $125 based on what the other family had spent getting the car running.
I smile as I recall how “thrilled” my mom was to have this very “rusty ugly thing” in her manicured backyard and clean basement. She was the only mom in the neighborhood who vacuumed the basement each week! We were fortunate to have a drive- in basement to work on the project. Dad understood the mess I would make out of everything, and tempered Mom as best he could!
I was in heaven! I tore everything apart I could with the intention of getting it running more reliably and drivable on the roadways. Little did I realize what an undertaking I would have?
Because the car did run I chose not to disassemble the engine / driveline and instead spent the time on things like the brakes, fuel supply and wiring and of course the paint! Eventually we did get to the interior upholstery.
I don’t know why, but I didn’t have any interest in Hot Roding it, the only thing I acquired for it was a wolf whistle that was incorrect.
I had completed a paint job using a paint sprayer attachment from our vacuum cleaner. The car as well as my mothers’ lawn was shiny in Black and Maroon! A challenging outdoor project for a fifteen year old teen on a sunny day!
With Dad’s help we reupholstered the full interior, and installed new top material. Silver paint temporarily took care of the chrome that I had no money to restore at the time. The radiator shell was painted to look like wood grain. Dad said the effort was to preserve the car for future restoration.
What the project did was focus my interest in things mechanical. It forced me to learn about how things worked, and demonstrated the need for much further education. As a result of this project I went on to an automotive school in Pennsylvania. Have since advanced from it to diesel power machinery, and am now a successful power generation sales and rental representative for a Caterpillar dealership in the New England area.
During Fairport, New York’s urban renewal project in the 1970’s, I had opportunity to acquire the original Plymouth dealer sign from Bown Chrysler Plymouth when they demolished the property that housed the dealership. I removed it from the outside of the Bown building! The remaining few special tools and supplies used by Mr. Bown to keep his customers vehicles running came into my possession too. I didn’t realize at the time I had a complete brake adjusting tool set! How lucky I was to have it!
Life has a way of postponing things. I went off to trade school and then got married and started a family and purchased a home.
The car was put in a neighbor’s garage, covered up and set on jack stands in hopes of sometime …in the future it might get redone more correctly. During those years I drove and puttered with my PB on a rare occasion. Yearning always for more time and collateral to truly restore this rare car both for myself and in honor of my dad who wanted to see it completed.
Many years later, after my son was grown and married, the house in good shape and financial commitments met, the time had come! In 1992 I disassembled the car completely and proceeded into a full restoration.
Once again life creates delays and holdups! We moved to Atlanta, then a few years later back to Syracuse and then to Connecticut. Progress was made, despite the difficulties of moves, shop space, time and money. Many different people contributed, some in small ways finding that one missing door handle at Hershey! Others made huge efforts, retooling, moving, assembling and reassembling, and endless researching.
Running boards were completely missing from the car. Because of photographs taken from the only other 7 passenger in the U.S. they were custom made from scratch, as was the missing jump seat that I had spent years at Hershey searching for. I had the fortune of living close to Don Lawless, owner of the other PB 7 Passenger. He allowed me to take detailed photographs of his original unrestored car. This provided key details for the running boards, and correct upholstery. I could define what the interior finish on the dash and window trim should be. As well as smaller detailed things like ashtrays, assist straps, and specific hardware.
A big decision was made to have the upholstery completed in leather. This allows me to use the car with less worry about the fabric getting stained and the common struggle with wool allergies.
Currently the car has only a short list for completion and I’m finding things that need repair which I had previously done! Fuel pump diaphragm, gas tank liner, battery…seems like there’s always something going wrong before I can finish the list.
Nonetheless the motivation from friends like Earl and the Plymouth Club Colonial Region members as well as my family, have encouraged me. They have supported me and strengthened my determination to complete this lifelong ambition.

Thanks

STEVE CASTOR

[manishalive]

Kps,

Convey my regards to Steve W Castor and his passion for the plymoth (infact for things mechanical) is really unparalled. I could relate to him more as I work for the same company, in the same trade and have interest in Cars just like him. Though I do not own a rare piece of history like him, I have the same enthusiasm when restoring my humble Fiat 1100.

[KPS]

We continue to do small work on the car, which are detailed below

We completed the grill shroud. The original one on the car, was in bad shape and scrapped by mistake. In the absence of template, we had done our own design which was not satisfactory. One came on ebay for sale @ $ 450, which obviously would not do.

After much of Googling was able to define the shape and the out come has been very satisfactory

We had to dismantle the front


My tinker checking the fit


The final outcome


The Stepney winged nut is made of cast iron. One was missing and we made a set of from aluminium after moulding the same as per the original design. We would replicate the same close enough to pass. The set of 2 winged nuts cost us Rs. 900 including chrome

The original


The new one



The Bumper Nut which cost us Rs. 175 each has come out well and looks good



The hood hold-on was replaced as we were not happy with the finish of the earlier ones. The one set available in ebay was $120 Hence we did the same locally and the results have been good





Cheers

KPS

[PAVAN KADAM]

As they say, restoration of a car is not complete till it is complete.

Hats off to your patience levels.

What i could read on the www. about these particular lovely car was

1932 Plymounth PB Seven Passenger Sedan

Price = $725
Number Built = 2,179
Existing cars = 1,100 ~

The main reason for the low production numbers were attributed to

1) Financial Depression
2) Steep selling costs in 1932.
3) Buick sold similar models at agressive pricing
4) Also, Plymouth tried selling a similar model called "THRIFT" during the same year,hence the whole project failed to take off.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by KPS

After much of Googling was able to define the shape and the out come has been very satisfactory

Cheers

KPS

Hi,

What metal did you use to make the shroud? Sheet metal and then painted it over or something else?

Thankx

[KPS]

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Hi,
What metal did you use to make the shroud? Sheet metal and then painted it over or something else?
Thankx

The template was done with GI Sheet. Once the template was approved the final shroud was made on a sheet metal and then painted over.

Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

As they say, restoration of a car is not complete till it is complete.

Hats off to your patience levels.

What i could read on the www. about these particular lovely car was

1932 Plymounth PB Seven Passenger Sedan

Price = $725
Number Built = 2,179
Existing cars = 1,100 ~

The main reason for the low production numbers were attributed to

1) Financial Depression
2) Steep selling costs in 1932.
3) Buick sold similar models at agressive pricing
4) Also, Plymouth tried selling a similar model called "THRIFT" during the same year,hence the whole project failed to take off.

Thanks Pavan for your comments, all of us in this line know that restoration never stops

Little more information on the car

Actual number produced was 83940 units from 4th Feb to 27 Sept, 1932 which is more than 10000 units per month which are still large numbers by any imagination. Production was largely the four door sedan, business coupe and the two door sedan which accounted for 62223 units.

The PB model is even more precious because of the short production period and it was the last 4 cylinder car for many years to come. It would be interesting to note that the first produced Plymouth in 1928 and last Plymouth manufactured in 2001 was also 4 cylinder.

Competition mainly from GM made Chrysler Corp roll out 6 cylinder cars from Sept/Oct,1932. Even in the Plymouth Club the 4 cylinders have a greater recognition and the Seven Seaters and Phaetons being on top of the heap on account of the limited numbers

In India we have 4 survivors amongst the 4 cylinders as far as I know. The oldest appears to be in Pune, one rodded car in Lucknow and 2 cars in Bangalore.

As far as the PB Seven Passenger Cars there are only 3 listed survivors in the world as per the Plymouth Owners Club details of which I have posted earlier. The 1,100~ survivors are listed by Pavan would largely be the 4 & 2 door five seater sedans and the business coupe


Cheers

KPS

[KPS]

Today we had the car serviced. It really made a big difference as the car has become really smooth.

The car being serviced. The manager personally serviced the car as he was proud the work on such a car.













The car is safely back at home looking all clean




Cheers

KPS

[john a milne]

What a Magnificent Car!

Had a 32 Plymouth coupe way back and was so fond of it, but have never seen a Seven Passenger model in any of the Car Shows i've attended in North America. Must be quite rare.

If I may, one small suggestion, the red wheels seem to be a little distracting and if you were to paint them a dark green they would compliment the car better and think would be closer to the original colour schemes.

Will have to go back to the start of this thread and do some reading!

[KPS]

Originally Posted by john a milne

What a Magnificent Car!
If I may, one small suggestion, the red wheels seem to be a little distracting and if you were to paint them a dark green they would compliment the car better and think would be closer to the original colour schemes.
!

Thanks John. If you read Post # 12 we have discussed the colour scheme which was inspired by the colour combination of a phaeton at Walter P Chrysler Museum. Hence I guess there is no other more authentic source. Guess with the hub caps the red will look a little toned down.

We really miss the caravan which came in 1945 as per the RC Book records and sadly was destroyed by fire in the 1980's. Had the caravan been there, this car would have been even more unique.

We acquired this car in 2009 after it had been with one family from 1932/3 to 2009.

Also one of the few Karnataka classics which remain here

Cheers

KPS

[girishpv]

Congratulations and hats off to you KPS sir, brilliant work, the car is a beauty