PLYMOUTH SUBURBAN
HEARSE TURNED RATCATCHER
Graham Baird is one of those fortunate individuals who, despite the enormity of the challenge, can sum up the potential in a rusty project car and visualize it through to a stunning
conclusion.
In this case, his metal-crafting skills have worked wonders with his latest creation, a 1959 Plymouth Suburban station wagon.
The body-panel technician from Gore has revived a very rusty piece of Americana and added a few personal touches. With the help of some equally skilled local mates, he has created something with the X-factor needed to keep on winning show awards. Restoring the chrome and stainless-steel trim has helped return the Plymouth to its pristine condition. It has provided the finishing touch for the number of hours put into getting the bodywork just right.
In the little over three years since he finished the project, which he began some 15 years ago, Graham has enjoyed cruising to shows all over the South Island, usually with a group of mates on board.
“It’s done over 5000 miles [8000km] of trouble-free running since its first outing to the Great USA Day in Dunedin. I get to every show I can,” he says.
That event scored him the first of a long line of accolades: a Top 10 car award.
The distinctive metallic green colour is quite a head-turner, somewhat different from the vehicle Graham rescued from the Christie family in Gore some 17 years ago.
“It was pretty dilapidated and had been sitting rusting away in Wyndham for some years after Jack and Betty Geary had used it for their building business. Before that, it had been a hearse,” he explains.
First life
It was built as a right-hand-drive vehicle to Plymouth factory order in 1959 in Detroit, US, with a dashboard made in Canada. The Plymouth arrived in Auckland to serve as a hearse for Shirley’s Funeral Directors, then, in January 1963, it was sold to the newly established funeral company of GM Pellow Ltd in Hamilton.
Pellow’s assistant manager, Mike Mckeown, was able to provide some old laminated photos and information about the company, which showed that the Plymouth joined the fleet from Shirley’s for £1850 ($3700).
Next, builder Jack Geary from Wyndham in Southland bought the Plymouth from a Nelson funeral home in 1973. As well as being local builders, the Gearys were contractors to Invercargill undertakers Macdonald & Weston. The Plymouth
hearse enabled the Gearys to replace a 1929 Dodge hearse, which was then turned into a utility vehicle. Jack has passed on, but his wife, Betty, now in her 90s, remembers well the long trip to Nelson to pick up the Plymouth in their Humber Super Snipe accompanied by her son, John.
“We followed Jack home. I didn’t drive the Plymouth much at all. I didn’t like that pushbutton transmission on the dashboard; I just couldn’t get used to it,” Betty says.
The Plymouth eventually become a builder’s hack in Gore, which was where Graham acquired the vehicle and started on its 17-year restoration, deciding to add some subtle modern touches along the way.
“It was pretty bad everywhere,” he recalls. “There was rust in the roof and all through the rear guards. The doors were bad too.
I had to buy replacement doors from the States. It really was a labour of love.”
Tinted glass was sourced from the US. The Plymouth’s old side-valve six was replaced with a Chrysler Poly 313-cubic-inch (ci) V8 motor rebuilt by Autoworx Gore’s Chris Gillan. Chris also tended to the wiring. The original two-speed Powerflite automatic transmission was sent to Auckland to be rebuilt. A friend, Gore panel beater Michael Hood, came to the rescue with a replacement back end in the form of a Ford nine-inch differential with a 2.75:1 ratio out of his old tow truck.
“It makes a very sedate cruiser with that gearing; it’s nice to drive, with about 20 miles per gallon [14.1 litres/100km] easily achievable on a run. Mike also made the entire exhaust system for the 313 motor,” Graham mentions.
In the interests of safety, the original Chrysler front drum brakes were replaced with Ford Falcon disc brakes, and all the added features were checked off by Gore vehicle compliance certifier Peter Watson.
Graham toyed with various ideas that he wanted to incorporate and how he was going to restore the Plymouth.
“I have to thank my wife Ann and two boys Campbell and Harry for their patience,” he says. “Family life takes over — you know, the usual day-to-day stuff, and there was only a limited amount of time and money to spend on the Plymouth. The most difficult part, made even harder for me, I guess, was that I never had a set plan. I had a number of different ideas for the exhaust and body mods, front-guard extensions, that sort of thing. The ideas kept coming to me.”
The result can be seen in the subtle extensions to the front leading edges of the mudguards and tiny air vents in the bonnet edges, as well as changes such as the side exhausts exiting in the lower rear mudguards.
“It was pretty rusty in those areas. On one side was a door panel for the spare tyre and on the other side was the fuel tank, so that all had to be replaced and that’s what I ended up with,” says Graham.
The end result is a striking change that works and looks the part without being too customized.
The interior has been fitted with Chrysler limousine six-way electric front seats covered in grey upholstery with green piping, completed by Arrow Upholstery’s Hemi Hikawai in
It was built as a right-hand-drive vehicle to Plymouth factory order in 1959 in Detroit, US, with a dashboard made in Canada.
Hundreds of hours of work went into the stunningly straight bodywork before it received its Envy Green mica metallic colour scheme from local painter Thomas Morris
Invercargill. The front passenger seat has been widened slightly for more comfort.
Hundreds of hours of work went into the stunningly straight bodywork before it received its Envy Green mica metallic colour scheme from local painter Thomas Morris. Setting off the colour is a set of chrome Boyds by Cragar wheels, with 15x8-inch front and 15x10-inch rear tyres complementing the stunning finish.
“The colour choice was not an easy one, with many colours considered,” Graham reveals.
The distinctive rear end and tailgate mural, proclaiming the Plymouth ‘The Ratcatcher’, was added by Invercargill artist Robbie Miller. It is a subtle dig at rat rods, which are not at the top of Graham’s list of popular car modifications.
This is a big wagon at 5.6m, and it seats six with ease. The audio speakers in the rear look a little lost in the space.
“There’s more than 10 feet [3m] in the back with the rear seats folded down. It drives very nicely and sits nicely on the road. So far, the longest trip has been to the Timaru [Caroline Bay] Beach Hop. We will all be going back to that again next year,” says Graham.
Reaping the rewards
In August 2017, Betty Geary celebrated her 90th birthday and, along with a turnout of her family, some arriving from up north and Australia, she received an additional surprise when Graham turned up at the celebrations with the Plymouth, now completely restored.
“I just love the colour and what Graham has done to it. It looked lovely,” Betty says. This time accompanied by her grandchildren, she enjoyed her ride in the Plymouth, as well as being reunited with a car she remembered as being very untidy and needing a lot of work when she last saw it.
Graham’s labour of love has been a long time coming together, but the result is outstanding and is something that he is very proud of: “I’m very pleased with the result. I think it’s come out just as I wanted it — even better — and, with the awards it has received from car shows, it’s good to see how much other people like it.”
The list of those awards is a long one, and growing. Besides its Top 10 award from its first outing, it rated another Top 10 award at Riverton, People’s Choice at Mataura in 2017 and the Wyndham Races, and Judges’ Choice, a runner up, and People’s Choice awards at the Otautau Car Show this year. The latest and probably one of Graham’s favourites is the impressive Public Choice Trophy that he won at this year’s Caroline Bay Rock and Hop in March.
“I just enjoy driving it, and seeing everyone else enjoying and appreciating it,” Graham tells us.