Jay Leno's Rare 1954 Dodge Hemi Wagon: Don't Let the Look Fool You

[00:04] it kind of cool. It's funny, you know, almost every other grandfather had one of those. Oh, I rode one of those when I was a kid." I I don't think I've ever met anybody that knew somebody had one of these. I

[00:18] think they're pretty rare even back in the day. Welcome to another episode of Jay Leno's Garage car featuring today, my 1954

[00:31] Dodge Coronet Suburban Wagon. This thing is great. You know, it I know it doesn't look like McLaren or or even a Porsche Carrera GT, but sometimes

[00:43] in the room, you see a beautiful woman, you just drawn to it. That's what this was. I went to a car show and I just looked at this and I said, "You know, I I just like the look of it, the way it sat, the right size." When I was a kid,

[00:57] a a neighbor's friend's mom had this with the six-cylinder flathead engine in it. It was really nothing. But this one has the 241 Red Ram Hemi engine. '53, '54 was the beginning of the Hemi engine for Dodge. The big

[01:12] Chryslers had the 331, Dodge got the 241. It looks big, but it's pretty small engine, 241. Think about that. But it's a Hemi head. It's about 150 horsepower.

[01:24] But this thing, it only weighs 3,400 lb. You see, with the complete absence of any safety equipment of any kind, allows you to get a good power-to-weight ratio cuz you've got no airbag, no door guard, you've got no This is a This is a a beer

[01:38] can. You get hit by this in the road, that's it. It's like I always say, you off, they sell it to somebody else. That's the way this works on these things. But I just thought you know, people go nuts when I I take

[01:50] this to shows or even take my wife out to eat, they come running over because it's so innocent-looking, you know, and it and it's got all these stickers in here that that are period correct. And my favorite thing, we got the kid seat

[02:02] in the back there. That's where you put your That was a child safety seat. It It does look so with the back of the seat belt. I mean, if you hit the brake, the windshield. But the cops see your kid in that now, they're calling the child

[02:16] services. Come on, pops, let's go. You're going to No, so but it's just fun to have. But I I remember those when I was little. The whitewall tires, the wire wheel. This is a fully loaded car in the day. It's got overdrive, which is

[02:28] really cool cuz you get up on the freeway, you push the overdrive in, you you just drop down a whole gear, revs drop about 4,500 rpm, and you're is pretty powerful. It keeps up with traffic really, really good. I mean, I

[02:43] get on the freeway and I nail it on the exit ramp and boom, right up to 70, 75 >> [laughter] >> handles. It's hilarious. You know the old movies when you see people driving like this in movies and

[02:57] ridiculous." This is what they were driving cuz you're literally going down the road, you're doing this. Yeah, so it's really funny. Oh, and then oh. Take a look at that. You know what that

[03:09] is? That comes from the J.C. Whitney catalog. Now, when I was a young man, there was a company named J.C. Whitney that would whistles, woo woo, you know, all these kind of thing. Hey,

[03:22] were attracted to Oh, I with the wolf whistle, yeah, I'll go talk to him. Yeah, that's going to happen, you know. Just that stupid stuff. But this thing, Just that stupid stuff. But this thing, in the ad, they show the family driving

[03:35] lightning bolts are hitting this and on the radio, you hear Russian Radio Moscow. Like you This would This would enable you to pick up pick up radio signals from all over the world.

[03:49] Fantastic, really. For just for just I think it was a dollar $1.98, you could pick up radio signals from all over the world. Well, I I couldn't I can't even pick up the Burbank, but but that that's okay. It just looks good and it's a

[04:03] period correct accessory. It's a three-speed on the tree, what that means used to shifters on the floor, but the great breakthrough came in the '30s you got it off the floor, so people wouldn't have to reach for it. That was

[04:18] seen as just a boon to motoring at the time. And right now, it's just an archaic sort of accessory, but it's it's fun to use. It's a two-door wagon. You know, it's a nice size. I I realize this is probably about the size of a Mini

[04:32] little bit shorter, but I think it's it's it's pretty cool. It's got the cooler in the back. We'll show you how the tailgate works. You have sliding windows here, no roll-up windows in the back. And you got these were an

[04:44] accessory, too. These are to protect the paint, you know, so your watch or your ring doesn't constantly scratch the paint. You had these pieces here. I think those were $2 that ooh hit that option list. But hey, let's

[04:59] open up Let me show Let me show you this engine.

[05:11] motor. Look at it. There's a lot of lot of meat in that block there, big cast iron piece. But you see, it says Red Ram. And you know, the nice thing is, to hot rod this or make it something it wasn't. And it's got more than enough

[05:25] power to to uh keep up with traffic. And it just runs terrific. It just runs it just runs terrific. It just runs terrific. Here's your generator up here. alternator. There's a company called Gen-N-ator that

[05:40] uh they take your your generator and they convert it into a 6 V alternator, so you got much more power and more consistent power. with oil, then they're actually quite effective. Even got the original sticker

[05:54] As you see, everything is easily accessible, easy car to work on. Uh got the four-barrel on. I'm sorry. I forgot about that, yeah. But yeah, horns

[06:06] up front, radio I mean, pretty pretty simple. Check the oil right here.

[06:18] I like the fact that the windshield washer bottle is an actual bottle. Here And this is the original one right here. You see, it's got the sticker on it, the kind of things that make it fun if you like these old cars, just collecting

[06:34] these sort of period stickers and just unobtainable things. There's your firewall. Uh we keep everything on a battery charger just to keep the batteries up. These are CTEK. I I think CTEK makes the

[06:49] best chargers that you can get because when you go to some sort of big box stores, you might it just says battery minder or what just They don't really do a good job. You

[07:01] battery and especially if you're dealing with Oh, this is a regular 6 V battery. Uh if you're dealing with an Optima or you know, a sophisticated modern battery, you got to have the charger

[07:13] that goes with that battery. All right, here we go. Let's check this again. of our crew members said, "Hey, is the hood not shut?" Well, you know, this is what body panels were like in the day when you got it from the factory,

[07:27] sometimes they were wider here than they were down here. Everything didn't you know, modern laser welding and all these other kind of things we have now. But this is all kind of hand done and they weren't perfect. They're okay, but

[07:40] whitewalls are sort of period correct and this has got the the factory uh wire Gives it a little bit more of a sporty appearance. It's a great-looking car.

[07:52] because let's face it, with that Hemi, this is the part of the car most people are going to see, the rearview cuz, you know, it's it's a Hemi, you know. And to drive home that fact, look at the little emblem. V8

[08:05] Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling. Dang dang dang dang. There you go. Now, your tailgate Okay, now nowadays, you press a button, the window goes down, This is really old school. You get this massive thing here, you pull

[08:21] uh you pull that up. And then see, it falls into the slots here, and then you tighten this down. And then you reach down here, two handles here. This comes And you got the matching cooler that fits

[08:35] Look where you're going. Look at all the stickers on this thing. Look where you're traveling, Utah, Montana. There you go. And they sit back here on this and while you look at the Grand Canyon.

[08:48] There you go. Yeah, it's a pretty cool pretty cool. Okay, let's put this back up. Oh boy, that's a heavy tailgate. And then you lock it down here. Oh, two handles.

[09:15] here, so. There you go. Even got the original plates from back in the day. Come on, let's take it for a ride. I mean, let's go to see the Grand Canyon and Utah and yeah.

[09:28] them now? And believe me, they don't look like that anymore. No, sadly.

[10:25] one of these that had the flat head six in it and it was just a slug. And when this thing came out with a Hemi, it just transformed transformed the car. You know, that old adage horsepower cures a

[10:37] lot of problems. Well, that was the case with this cuz you put your foot in it. I'm in third gear and overdrive now and you feel the sport. This is This is it pulls really strong. This is a really 100% stock car, drum brakes,

[10:50] nothing new on it, nothing modded on it. Didn't even upgrade the electric, just kept it exactly as it was. And it runs fine. I mean, this Hemi engine was a revelation. It really was. Well, it was the most powerful American

[11:05] automobile engine since the Duesenberg of 1928. When the Duesenberg came out, it was 421 cubic inches, about 6.97 L something cubic inches, about 6.97 L something like that. Uh had 265 horsepower and

[11:20] in the supercharged version it had over 300 horsepower. And that was the most powerful American engine until the Hemi came along. Now, although this is only 150, it just makes a boatload of torque. And you can drive

[11:34] it like a modern car. And you know, with with the old six-cylinder boy, 60 miles an hour you could do it, but boy that engine was working. Uh this with the overdrive, oh it just just makes it a wonderful car. It really

[11:50] is a lot of fun. I just smile every time I drive it cuz it's so unassuming. It's the most unthreatening car. You know, women look at this car going something funny about it. But you see, it's the sort of

[12:06] it's got that big Hemi engine in it which boom shuts them down pretty quick. You know, one thing I like about these early cars, just the the color combinations. We don't have that anymore. Every car I see now is white or

[12:21] anymore. Every car I see now is white or gray or matte black flat, you know, a matte black that flat black, you know. It Yeah, it's When you see When you see these things coming at you, they're just bright and

[12:34] fun and you had turquoise and just all kinds of colors. It was really really a a fascinating time for art and color.

[12:53] getting it right the first time. This engine Even on the hottest day temperature never really goes much above normal. Uh maybe a few degrees, but it just runs cool. It runs under you know, it's not

[13:06] stressed out, it's not being a compression not raised to ridiculous. I think Actually, I think the compression ratio on this is 7.5, which is pretty good for 1954. You know, premium gas had just come into

[13:20] horsepower. So, this is the beginning of the horsepower wars, the engine this engine would go from 241 cubic inch cubic inch to 426 cubic inch by 1966.

[13:33] Pretty amazing. A lot of sportsmen like these cars, you know, you're down in Louisiana, you have a couple of dogs in the back and a couple of rifles and boom you go out for the weekend.

[14:07] drive this car. It's just this massive steering wheel. plate. It's hilarious. You know, when I was uh like seven six or seven Oh, no younger than that. I guess like five, I'd sit in my dad's lap

[14:22] and hold the big steering wheel like this. He had a '57 Plymouth. And that's what I feel like every time I'm I'm in this car.

[14:38] done to this car would be adding seat belts. But other than that, everything's fine. Brakes work good. No power steering, but you don't really need it, you know, it's it's it's pretty good, especially on the way.

[14:50] Here's how the overdrive works. I'm in third, take my foot off the gas. Boom, it kicks down in overdrive. The revs drop. There's no tachometer in this car, but you can pretty much drive by feel.

[15:03] And this is the original windshield. It's still pretty clean, not many nicks or So, I don't think whoever had I think this has always been a California car. I know I was told originally they used it

[15:16] to tow a boat out to the lake somewhere, maybe Tahoe or something like that. And this would certainly do it. You got more than enough power.

[15:35] it kind of cool. It's funny, you know, almost every other grandfather had one of those. Oh, I rode in one of those when I was a kid." I I don't think I've ever met anybody that knew somebody had one of these. I

[15:48] the day. It also has what they call freewheeling. What that means is you know, normally in a car when you're gas say you're in top gear or if like you're

[16:01] in second, it'll slow the car down. With freewheeling, you take your foot off and it completely disconnects the engine from the from from the drive.

[16:13] But it's it's pretty fast. And it's a perfect California day for And it's a perfect California day for something like this. About 68°, don't Window down, just the right amount of breeze.

[16:26] And about 1954 was just the beginning of the American highway plan, you know, across the United States. And this was the vehicle to to drive on interstate 65, 70 miles an hour.

[16:42] Cuz really up to about the mid-60s speed limit was about 45 most places. You know, it's a pretty simple car, but it's well engineered. it shifts smoothly. The clutch very progressive. I mean, everything's great.

[16:57] everything clicks right in. I kind of like this period right before full on power accessories come out because everything was nicely weighted. The steering wheel is well, I guess if you consider it heavy

[17:12] But compared to what came previous, I mean, you had to go like this all the time just to park it. It's not bad and the shift linkage very Yeah. You got the synchromesh in second and

[17:25] Not first, but second's a good enough gear. It's got enough torque that you don't need it. easily. When I was about uh

[17:38] I guess nine years old my friend's mom who had one of these with the six took us to the movies. I think the movies were 60 cents or 25 cents for kids. And the movie we went to see in this car was I think it was the Three Stooges Go

[17:51] to the Moon, something like that. And the Three Stooges were so You know, Stooges in the '50s and '60s as just a cheap form of entertainment for kids on Saturday morning. It became

[18:05] a huge hit. So, when they were well into their '60s or '70s they made this movie And then when Moe hits Larry in the face, you see Larry like back the pain. Why you I ought to You know, he's poking him in the eye and

[18:20] he'd really poke him in the I mean, hilarious. It just you know, just brings back all those kind of stupid memories. Got to admit, it's very relaxed car to drive. You could use this car as an everyday vehicle today.

[18:33] Just looking at the thermostat, it's still on the cool side of normal which is good. Uh it'll probably go up to about 80° today, maybe 85. But this thing never

[18:46] gets hot. I've never had it boil over on me or anything like that. I just like how everything's mechanical. And when you reach down, you pull it out of overdrive by hand. There's no electric button or switch, just

[19:00] electric button or switch, just you got to manhandle it. down here which is nowadays called a parking brake or emergency brake.

[19:14] I always like these old ones cuz you can pull it and feel exactly how much pressure you're applying on the brakes, how much it'll take to stop it, you I don't know how modern cars work. They have an electric brake, you know, if you

[19:27] and you push that electric park switch, does that light up? Does it just lock up works, but I've never tried it. With this, you know, the brakes go and you can pull the handle and it's

[19:41] kind of slow yourself down. This would This would have been a perfect drive-in movie car. Uh when I was a kid I used to go with my parents to drive-in movies cuz it was cheaper and you could

[19:54] kind of stuff. It had that awful speaker that hung on the window, you know. Uh and this would have been perfect for Uh and this would have been perfect for that.

[20:06] vintage car, an old car, you got to try at least once. It's just so different from especially if you were born especially if you were born oh, after 1980. It's like nothing else.

[20:18] it based more on mechanical feel than on anything else, you know. But, it's you tend to bond with the older automobile cuz you learn its quirks and what you have to do and how hard you have to

[20:32] break uh press the brake pedal and things of that nature, but it's an interesting experience. I If you're a car fan, you got to try at least once. I mean, I like restomods and hot rods are fun, but sometimes it's fun

[20:45] this. And this is exactly what it was like to And this is exactly what it was like to drive in 1954. And it's impressive. I if not one of the fastest cars on the road, right up there. I mean, it's

[20:59] road, right up there. I mean, it's pretty quick. A Hemi V8, 150 horse, 3,400 lb, three-speed, lots of torque. It goes good. Anyway, I hope you uh enjoyed this little trip down memory lane here. And

[21:13] we got more cool stuff coming. So, uh thanks, you guys, and then we'll see you thanks, you guys, and then we'll see you next week.