The 1950s saw American automakers especially, keen
to move on to a brave new future in the aftermath of the Second World War,
produce some fantastical concept cars. That included Chrysler, which created
the 1954 Plymouth Belmont dream car you see here.
With a fiberglass body on a standard Plymouth
chassis, the Belmont could have been Chrysler's rival to the Chevrolet Corvette
and Ford Thunderbird – if only it had been approved for production.
Unfortunately it wasn't, leaving this concept as the
only example ever made. And while some of the others of its era were destroyed,
this one was saved. In fact Virgil Exner – (Chrysler's Vice President of
Design) rescued it personally and took it home with him.
Now 60 years later, it's been immaculately restored
and is coming up for auction – complete with its original 4.0-liter V8 engine
producing all of 157 horsepower and three-speed automatic transmission.
It's one of the thousand-plus vehicles that Barrett-Jackson
has consigned for its Scottsdale auction next month, where it's sure to make
one collector – just one – very happy indeed.
