The Dodge Royal is an automobile that Dodge produced in the United States from the 1954 through 1959 model years. It arrived as the top trim level of the Dodge line and became the intermediate model after the Custom Royal was introduced for 1955.
Dodge Royal at a glance
| Production | 1954-1959 |
|---|---|
| Class | full-size car |
| 1954 position | top trim, above the Coronet and Meadowbrook |
| 1954 engine | 241 cu in Hemi V8 |
| 1954 bodies | four-door sedan, convertible, Club Coupe, Sport Coupe |
| Royal 500 | 701 pace car replicas built |
| From 1955 | intermediate trim below the Custom Royal |
| Model names | Royal Lancer for hardtops, Royal Sierra and Custom Sierra for wagons |
| Discontinued | after 1959 |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Dodge Royal.
History of the Dodge Royal
The Royal was introduced for 1954 as the top trim level of the Dodge line, above the mid-level Coronet and the base Meadowbrook, and it was offered only with the 241 cubic inch Hemi V8. The 1954 Royal V8 range included a four-door sedan, a convertible, a Club Coupe and a Sport Coupe, the last being a two-door hardtop. In 1954 Dodge president William Newberg drove a yellow Hemi-powered Dodge convertible as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500, the first Dodge to do so. To mark the event Dodge offered a mid-year package called the Royal 500 for the Royal convertible, with chrome wire wheels, special badging and a continental spare wheel kit on the rear; 701 pace car replicas were built.
The introduction of the Dodge Custom Royal for 1955 moved the Royal down to the intermediate trim level, above the now base-model Coronet. The Royal Lancer name was applied to the two-door hardtop and Royal Sierra to the new station wagons. For 1956 the Royal Lancer name was extended to a new four-door hardtop, and the wagons were sold as the two-door Royal Custom Suburban and the four-door Royal Custom Sierra. External changes were mainly the growth of tail fins, redesigned tail light housings and new side trim, while at the front there were six fins in the grille, which the lower-grade Coronet did not have, and an altered bonnet ornament.
The Royal continued as the intermediate trim level from 1957 through 1959. A Royal Lancer convertible was added for 1957 only, and the station wagons moved to their own series that year. The Royal was discontinued for 1960, when the full-size Dodge line was reduced to two trim levels. The Custom Royal, which had been the top model from 1955, also disappeared at that point, leaving the Polara and Matador as the senior Dodges for 1960.
Design and features
- Only a Hemi: the 1954 Royal came solely with the 241 cu in V8.
- Royal 500: a pace car replica package with wire wheels and a continental spare.
- Royal Lancer: the hardtop name used on two- and later four-door models.
- Sierra wagons: the Royal Sierra and later Royal Custom Sierra estates.
Dodge Royal versions
- Royal (1954): the top-of-the-line model with the Hemi V8.
- Royal 500 (1954): the pace car replica convertible, 701 built.
- Royal Lancer (1955-1959): the two-door and later four-door hardtop.
- Royal Sierra and Custom Sierra: the station wagon versions.
The Royal sat above the Dodge Coronet and below the Dodge Custom 880 era, and its station wagons shared their bodies with the Dodge Meadowbrook generation. More Dodge models are in the Dodge collection.
Sources
- Dodge Royal, English Wikipedia: 1954 model, Royal 500, later trims
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