Man finds surprise under the hood of 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook left sitting for 59 years

  • This 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook had been parked for almost 60 years
  • The car was in seriously bad shape
  • But there was an interesting surprise under the hood

Published on Oct 11, 2024 at 3:36 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid

Last updated on Oct 11, 2024 at 5:42 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Kate Bain

A man was left pleasantly surprised after checking under the hood of a 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook that had been parked for 59 years. 

The Plymouth Cranbrook had a relatively short production from between 1951 and 1953.

In the model year 1953 around 400,00 Cranbrooks were produced, but by 1954 the Cranbrook name was replaced by the Belvedere, which had been the top trim level for the car. 

Sadly, this example hadn’t had the best care over the years – and had been off-the road since the 1960s. 

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The old Plymouth Cranbrook was falling to pieces

The car was rescued by Dustin Jennings, who runs the Jennings Motor Sports YouTube channel.

And this is far from Jennings’ first rodeo when it comes to long-neglected cars – you may remember the time he discovered this 1929 GMC truck that was parked for 80 years, but still turned over.

Seemingly hoping for more of the same good luck, Jennings discovered this old Cranbrook sat in a field and decided to see if it would roar back to life. 

To say the car was in bad condition would be a huge understatement – the poor old Cranbrook was rotting, rusting and falling to pieces.

Although Jennings didn’t reveal much about the car’s previous owner, or how it come to end up in the field, he did say it had been been sitting ‘upside down and every which way’ since 1964. Ouch. 

He also quickly spotted a bit of water in the engine, which – as we know – isn’t good news. 

The engine was an ‘amazing’ surprise

However, after taking a closer look, Jennings was left shocked by how well preserved the engine was.

“I got to say, so far so good,” he said. 

“I mean, a little bit of rust – but there’s some oil here, from being upside down, which is great. 

“It’s not real rusted – there’s a little bit of rust here and there.”
Jennings then gave the engine a nice clean and added some fresh fluids while revealing he was ‘amazed’ by how good shape the old motor was in. 

After a bit more elbow grease and with the assistance of a new battery Jennings was able to bring the old Cranbrook back from the dead. 

Sure, it was smoky and it didn’t sound too healthy – but it’s impossible not to be impressed, isn’t it?

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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.