1955 Dodge Royal Lancer

1955 Dodge Lancer Description

I purchased this car from the wife of the previous owner who had passed away. It was a Texas car until 1994. That's when the previous owner purchased it and it came to Pennsylvania. The body and undercarriage is very rust free as you would expect from a Texas car. It probably never saw snow.One of the photos shows a copy of the former owner's title with the previous title stated as TX.
I purchased the car with intentions of taking it to the next level. However, I'm in my mid 70's now and losing my ambition to work on these cars.
Following is my best description of the car as I know it along with the issues it has:
EXTERIOR:The paint finish looks like original paint, but I believe it was painted many years ago.The paint is shiny and looks good from about 15 feet. But upon closer inspection there are flaws in the finish. The black painted area should be refinished. Depending upon how far the buyer wanted to go with it, the Heather Rose color could be okay with a little touch up and the White roof has lost its shine and the buyer might chose to repaint it as well. The body looks very solid and appears to be all metal. There are a few rust bubbles starting to appear at the bottom of both doors. Driver side has very few. Passenger side has a few more and is shown on one of the photos. Fenders, quarter panels, etc. appear to be rust free.
The chrome and stainless is exceptionally good on this car. Very shiny, no pits or flaws that I can see.No expensive chrome plating needed.The only place I see a little pitting is on the wheel cover spinners. The pitting is not bad, but they are attached to the wheel cover with screws and can be removed and replated if desired. Besides being a unique 1950s chrome laden car in great 1950s colors, the solid, straight body and beautiful chrome and stainless is what made me purchase the car. My plan was to have it painted, have a little interior work done, detail the engine compartment and tune the motor which would take it to a whole new level of value.
The windshield and other windows are very nice, with no wiper damage, clouding, chips etc.
The tires have a very deep thread and are a matched set. (See photo) The previous owner probably purchased these shortly before his passing. They are American Classic Radial Whitewalls. They sell for about $160 each or about $640 for the set.
There are a few photos of underneath the car. The frame and under carriage were never undercoated as it is a Texas car. Even Texas cars rust though. There is a small area on the passenger side floor where there is rust damage. See photo with arrow. Not a difficult fix to weld in a sheet metal patch. Other than that it is very solid. No evidence of any previous patch work or damage repair except some light damage on the right side muffler that doesn't effect it's use.
INTERIOR:Interior is nice but a little work could be done to make it better. The front and rear seat covers have most likely been replaced at some time as they look quite good. Worst area is the door panels. A trim shop or talented buyer could repair the loose black vinyl at the bottoms and the white vinyl especially on the passenger side could use attention.See photos.Kick panels under the dash on both sides could be replaced. They are warped, out of shape and need refreshed.All the gauges except the speedometer, and clock are working. I didn't check the speedometer, but most likely needs a cable replacement. The ammeter is working correctly, so the generator is also. The gas gauge works. I added about 4 gallons of fresh gas and is shows slightly under 1/4 tank. There is good oil pressure. The temperature gauge is working also and I let the car idle for a while and it stayed in the normal range. The radio isn't working. I didn't check the heater and other items.
The trunk is shown in the photos. There is a good spare tire and bumper jack in the trunk.ENGINE / MECHANICAL:The car wasn't driven for a while after the owner died. When I purchased it a couple of years ago, I pushed it to the back of my garage and didn't even try to start the engine. It hasn't been started or driven for abut 5 years. I cleaned up the brake cylinders and master cylinder enough to get some brakes to safely load it onto a trailer. I suggest that the brakes are thoroughly looked at before using the car in traffic. I poured some fresh gas into the tank and a little in the carb, installed a new battery (It will come with the car.) and gave it a try. It started rather easily but was missing badly. I found a few old plug wires that I used to replace some bad ones and it smoothed out some. Engine starts rather easily and doesn't make any unusual noises. However, a tune up with fresh plugs, points, ignition wires would greatly improve engine performance. It would be smart to also change the oil, antifreeze, and transmission fluids and filters. I installed a new gas filter in case there was any crud in the tank. Transmission and rear differential work fine, shifts well with no unusual noises.
There is no oil leaking from the engine but the transmission leaks a bit after it sits awhile. After starting it and letting it idle for awhile, the water pump started dripping when the engine is running. I believe the water pump will need to be rebuilt or replaced.
I drove it only on my long driveway. I don't have plates on it so I didn't take it on the highway. I wouldn't want to anyway until a tune up was completed. My driveway is long enough that I tested the transmission. It shifted fine.
The dual exhaust looks like it was replaced in the not too distant past. It sounds good with no exhaust leaks.
The odometer shows 52,847 miles. I believe that to be close to correct as I doubt it is 152K+ miles. The overall condition appears to be more like 52K miles. It may be a bit more as the speedometer and possibly odometer is not working.



Contact me through the ebay system if you are local and want to see the car in person.
There is no buy it now, please don't ask what I'd take for it. I am NOT interested in any trades.I believe my reserve is very fair as I'm motivated to sell. I will not disclose the reserve, please don't ask.
Buyer must arrange all shipping. I will cooperate with the shipper. I'm home most of the time as I'm retired.Preferred payment of balance is by wire transfer after a $500. non refundable deposit through paypal.
Buyers from outside the USA are welcome, but payment balance must be made by wire transfer only after a $500. non refundable deposit within 24 hours through paypal.