1956 Dodge Coronet vs Chevrolet Bel Air Dealer Promo Film Mopar is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC. Master Tech series training materials are the property of Chrysler Group LLC and are used with permission. MyMopar.com
My dad owns a 56 Dodge, pretty rare now...most of them rusted out or got wrecked racing. The 56 Chevy outlasted it after 60 years...just look at any antique car show. Still though, I love the styling of the Dodge better, and the push button automatic was really cool and very advanced for the time. But I may be a bit biased because I grew up with my dad's 1956 Dodge Custom Royal(basically the same as the Coronet with slightly different trim) with 315 cid Super Red Ram engine(sadly only the 2bbl version & not the 4bbl version....or even better yet, the mid-year D-500 option...but still, it's a great sounding engine, and it moves!). Old car commercials are sooo much fun to watch, regardless of make & model.
My first car in 1966 was a 1956 Dodge Lancer. I hated the push button transmission, because the was nothing to shift. Bur it was what it was supposed to be, a very reliable car.
My Grandpa ordered a 1956 D-500! My Dad made sure it ran okay!! He said the only car in town that could hang with was a 1958 Fury!! My Dad eventually bought the car (2 door) and drag raced it some. He traded it on a 61 Impala SS 409! He wished he would have keep the Dodge!
my neighbor bought a new 56 dodge shortly before his daughter was born. He kept it for 15 years, junking it when he realized that his daughter was developing a "blunt front and a square rear"
My uber driver picked me up in the Dodge the other day. I did notice a big difference in the oriflow shocks. So much so that my hat didnt blow off and my fat ass made it threw the door. Thank You Uber driver u earned those 5 stars.
The '56 Dodge was a handsome car, Especially in two tone paint. I think the Lancer was the higher end Dodge model. Always thought the '55 and '56 chevys were overrated.
I love these videos. Thanks for posting. I never knew the Coronet name went back to the '50s!!! Loved the late '60s models, though. That being said, i was born in '57 and grew up with a plain Jane "56 4 door Chevy, 265, 3 speed with OD. I loved that car but it was gone before i could drive (over heating incident).
The Coronet name actually goes back to the forties. I had a 1949 Coronet "Club Coupe" a few years back, (there's a video of it on my channel). Cool old car.
1949 saw the introduction of CORONET as Dodge's top trim level, which lasted into 1953 when Royal took it's place. I was with Mama when we got a 1950 Dodge Coronet DeLuxe, buttercream Yellow with brown mohair upholstery and chocolate wool carpet. It was like crawling into a butterscotch sundae.
Dodge was one step over Chevrolet and Coronet was one step under Bel Air! And so it evens up the comparison! Plymouth Belvedere was actually the rival for Bel Air! Plymouth was a little cheaper but gave you more and the Dodge was a little more and it gave you even more! Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler and Imperial v Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Continental v Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac, all in ascending order of price and plush in 1956!
It's funny how the announcer mentions that the Coronet is the best "low-priced car." The Coronet wasn't Chrysler's low-priced car and wasn't intended to be directly competitive with the Bel Air. That car was the Belvedere, which was STILL more car than the Chevy.
Coronet was low-price Dodge. Belvedere was low-price Plymouth. I believe the line up for Chrysler was Plymouth, Dodge, Desoto, Chrysler (w/the Imperial as a Chrysler or sometimes a separate marq.)
@@tomguyone Exactly. Plymouth's top offering (excluding the hi-po, limited-edition Fury) was Belvedere, which was produced specifically in response to Chevrolet's well-established top offering, Bel Air.
The Dodge wasn’t superior in collector resale value, even though the 57 dodged with the “Hemi” engines are getting a lot more attention ( if you can find one).
There is no question, the 56 dodge had a way better looking rear end than the 56 Chev. Probably why Chev basically copied it for their famous 57 bel air.
I love them all, but I love how you can get a small block chevy intake free at 7-11 with the purchase of a Big Gulp and Big Bite hot dog. Or every guy with a 74 Nova has a Corvette 350.
@@awesomeone2979 on going joke with my car buddies. I've had my 69 Charger since 86, and I just say that because GM stuff is so easy to get. 90 percent of Summit is Chevy. I own a 68 fastback Bullitt replica, 78 Pontiac Trans Am Se Y82 W72 400, and a 13000 mile documented all original 68 Chevelle along with a couple others and like I said, I love all of them.
The Chevrolet is by far the better looking of the two. Although there are plenty of advantages with the Dodge it really should be compared to the Pontiac not the Chevrolet which really is a Plymouth rival
It's a false choice. Ford would have been your best bet in the 1950s, up until 1958 anyway. From '58 until '63 Fords sucked and Chevrolet was king until the 1970s. Chrysler Corp always had some weird little gimmick going on that made their cars lemons, or uglier than hell. The "Magic Touch" transmission is a prime example of one of those. In the late sixties/early seventies, Dodge had some really hot cars, though. Coronets, Demons, Chargers, Challengers, Darts, etc. sold like hot cakes, and for good reason. Fun to drive, good looking, and reliable.
Tri 5 chevys in stock trim were not fast. Just about anything on the road could get ahead of them. All the small block chevy had to do at that time was to be faster than a Flathead V8. But the bowtie boys are very loyal, that's why they are worth 10 times what the dodge is.
P47 Thunderbolt How? Chrysler’s Torqueflite 3 speed was bulletproof, and that’s why it was used for decades after this in every application they built.
P47 Thunderbolt Also, Chrysler had the most reliable push-button trans, as it was cable operated and seldom ever failed. Other brands tried the idea but with electric relays and such, and THOSE had lots of problems.
@@billypate2479 It's safe to say that there isn't any 50s Chevy as desirable as the Mercedes-Benz SL300 gullwing. My personal favorite car from the 50s is the Rocket 88, the first production muscle car and to be honest if I had to pick a 50s chevy I think it would be a Corvette or a 59 Impala. Don't get me wrong I love the styling of the Tri-five Bel Airs, there just isn't anything that makes me crazy about them, they don't have legendary engines and the X frame is notoriously dangerous at any speed. In their days they didn't really stand out.
A car selling more units is not by itself a virtue. Because the 1956 Chevrolet sedan is nothing more than the second verse in a three-part song, it actually works against it in terms of desirability. It is likely the least unique American car ever, as every Boomer worth his senior discount wants one or owns one.
@@p47thunderbolt68 Yeah, General Motors actively got government contracts and over-produced on a yearly basis. This is very evident in the Ford-Chevrolet price war of 1953. This event wounded Chrysler and basically crippled all of the remaining Independents. That's why I'm not really a fan of that company.
@@bextar6365 A car selling more units is not by itself a virtue. Because the 1956 Chevrolet sedan is nothing more than the second verse in a three-part song, it actually works against it in terms of desirability. It is likely the least unique American car ever, as every Boomer worth his senior discount wants one or owns one.
my favorite Chevy, cuz It's the most sexy and it's also the year my Pop's was hatched... but, these old commercials are just too cool... Wish He could have watched them back before a Ford killed Him in a head-on! Damn Mustang Drivers!!! :D \,,/
For 1956 Dodge produced 241,000 vehicles compared with 1,560,000 for Chevrolet. So this 30 cents a day gimmick plus all this other bs must not have worked very well. Let’s compare apples with apples and compare the Dodge with Pontiac or Mercury.
Dodge came up with these gimmicks and lies to deter people from buying the Chevy because the Dodge was so ugly they had to try anything in their power. Push button transmission that never worked right. 5 years later ur buying a chevy cause ur dodge rotted out😂😂😂😂
