1953 Dodge Meadowbrook, flathead six, three-on-the-tree, fluid drive. I bought one in 1978, two-tone (light blue body, dark blue roof), with 18000 original miles; all original paperwork, the bumper jack had never even been used, still had instructions tied around it with twine. Old farmer who bought it new passed away in 1955 and it sat in his barn in Oklahoma from 1955 til 1975 when his wife gave it to their son-in-law, who tinkered with it for several days and drove it to Alabama. He put it up for sale when military duty sent him overseas; I paid the princely sum of $550.
The fluid drive was like having a torque converter between the clutch and the transmission, you could drive it like a normal 3-speed or leave it in second gear and drive around town like an automatic (acceleration was abysmal, but ...it was designed for 1953) . This car was an absolute nerdwagon, yet people loved it. I could park it in the display lot at a car show, come back out and more people were looking at it than at Mustangs and Corvettes nearby; driving it down the street people would wave or give thumbs-up (at the time I also had a '78 Porsche Turbo, which rarely got a second look). Must be the "ugly puppy" syndrome.
Still have that big three-piece ram's head hood ornament.
The fluid drive was like having a torque converter between the clutch and the transmission, you could drive it like a normal 3-speed or leave it in second gear and drive around town like an automatic (acceleration was abysmal, but ...it was designed for 1953) . This car was an absolute nerdwagon, yet people loved it. I could park it in the display lot at a car show, come back out and more people were looking at it than at Mustangs and Corvettes nearby; driving it down the street people would wave or give thumbs-up (at the time I also had a '78 Porsche Turbo, which rarely got a second look). Must be the "ugly puppy" syndrome.
Still have that big three-piece ram's head hood ornament.
Last edited:
