PB 311 new page 13.indd - Plymouth Club

Benji's OdditiesFirsts…and Lasts (almost)Inwondered, while looking at atravels to car shows andmuseums, have you everInyourmake of car “whatever became of thefirst Ford” — or the “first DodgeBrothers” — or the first of any givenmake or model?Some years ago, General Motorsbegan looking for their 150-millionthcar, a special gold-colored 1955Chevrolet BelAir sedan. Now thatChevy is celebrating its 100th anniversary,I wonder if they’ve ever found thatspecial milestone car?Some years ago Mike Lamm wrotean article about these “milestone cars”for Hemmings Classic Car (or was itSpecial Interest Autos?). Every carcompany throughout the years hasseemed to have had publicity photosshowing their milestone products. But,whatever became of those cars? Itseems that only Henry Ford had theforesight to put his milestone cars intohis museum in Dearborn, Michigan.LOOKING AT THE OTHER END of thespectrum, I ask: whatever became of theLAST car of a certain production run?Over the years I have written aboutthe search for the elusive Mrs. Millerand her milestone Plymouths. A recentemail letter received by club webmasterMark Olson and forwarded to me onceagain raises that question. This time thewriter is from Sweden. After some correspondenceand a little research abouthis car, the subject of “the other end ofthe spectrum” came up. First, let meshare Erik Bergkvist’s letter. Then we’llshare the rest of the story.Sent: Sunday, November 6, 2011 2:46PMSubject: Plymouth 1934Hello!My name is Erik Bergkvist and I live inSweden.I have been looking on the home pageof the Plymouth Owners Club and I haveread the Ethel Miller story and it caughtmy interest because I recently havebought a Plymouth PE Deluxe 4 doorsedan and, according to the identificationnumber, my car was manufacturedin Detroit. I have looked up my identificationnumber on the internet and havefound that my car has a very late number.I know they stopped making the1934 Plymouth PE on the 28th ofSeptember, 1934, so my car was manufacturedprobably sometime in August orSeptember 1934. And now when I readthe Ethel Miller story I found out that theone-millionth Plymouth car was rollingoff the line August 9, 1934 in Detroit.So do you know or do you know somebodythat can tell me what the one-millionthcar had for an identification number?Or do you know where and if Ican get it from some place?The car I have was imported to Swedenin 2003 from South America, from thecapital city of Montevideo, in Uruguay.RegardsErikIN SUBSEQUENT CORRESPONDENCEErik sent several photos of his car,along with the car’s identification numberswhich have been added to the listof known existing 1934 Plymouths(now 838 cars strong). Erik is correcton the date of the last ‘34 Plymouthbeing built. The last 1934 PEPlymouth off the Detroit assembly linecarried serial number of 2397536.Erik's car? Serial number 2397534.Yes, his car is the third car from the endof production of 1934 Plymouths!Although he hasn’t gotten the ServiceCard (build) Record for his car fromChrysler Historical yet, it will be fun toknow if his car was shipped as a completevehicle to South America or if itwas sent as a CKD unit for assemblysomewhere in South America.In subsequent emails Erik revealshe is the car’s fourth owner in Sweden,having purchased it October 21, 2011.Apparently used as a taxi in Uruguay,the car is mechanically sound but ismissing some items, such as theMayflower radiator ornament, the littlewings on the headlamps and the outsidetrumpet horns. The car has beenrepainted at least once, and the interiorhas been redone in non-authentic materials.And Erik questions whether thecar had been converted to right-handdrive “because it has two windshieldwipers and the door lock is on the leftfront door.” (South America was righthand-drivewhen the car was new).While I couldn’t provide him withthe serial number of Mrs. Miller’s onemillionthPlymouth (a question that hasbugged me for many years!), I could atleast tell him that he owns “ALMOST”the last 1934 Plymouth built. Do yousuppose either of the last two ‘34s builtare still out there somewhere?Does anyone in the club have a carthat was either the first or last car builtof a particular series? Maybe it’s timefor another contest like our Search ForThe Oldest Plymouth!-- Jim Benjaminson-14-