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1957 Dodge D501

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:20 am
by 57Dodge
Could someone please shed some light on the 1957 Dodge D501? I recently purchased an exceptionally nice 57 club coupe which has sparked conversation from two people who remember riding in a D501 in the late 50's/early 60's. One guy said that when he was in the Air Force in 1960, a guy hauled him and a couple of other guys from down south up to Pennsylvania in unbelievably good time (with a froze up clutch no less). I can't find much about these things except for one that is supposedly in Big Daddy's Museum in Florida. I would appreciate any info just for my own satisfaction since this car was such an impressive creation.

(By the way, my '57 is in process of getting a '54 Chrysler 331. I think I'll call it a "D five-O-what?")

Thanks,
Justin

57 Dodge D-501

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:38 am
by HerdofHemis
57 Dodge
I'm old enough to remember these cars as I was a member of nascar
back then. The D-501 was a hotter version of the D-500. There was
2 nascar versions as I recall with 354 cid Chrysler engines 340 hp
355 hp over 1 hp per cubic inch. The latter having higher compression
and solid lifter cam I don't remember the specs. however It was hot
for those days. These were designated as D-501-1 and D-501-2 if my
memory serves me. A story can relay is the latter would fly. I
witnessed one run 106 in 1/4 in low 13's on skinny street tires and
thru the mufflers in 1957 at Madera, Ca dragstrip.
I can't recall the base engine. I hope this helps you. I might say
you have keeper.
Thanks Tom

Re: 1957 Dodge D501

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:24 pm
by Ol Car Guy
I know Lee Smith and am familiar with his D-501. As you probably know, it was originally Arnie B swicks 57 car. Arnie previously had A 56 D500. Lee bought the car from Arnie and then Lee sold it to someone. He ended up buying it back, but the D501, but it was missing the D501 emblem. Lee found one in Hemmings. Lee has a factory build sheet for D501 components. Lee thinks the car came with Chrysler 300 wheels. 300's had full wheel covers so the car didn't have any tabs for hub caps. Lee wanteed little hub caps, so he welded tabs on the wheels to retain the caps. Darrell Davis, if you read trhis, I lost your email address and I have a new one. Contact me at w9pj at charter.net
Paul in IL

Re: 1957 Dodge D501

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:12 pm
by Ol Car Guy
I am trying to reach David O Davis, not Darrell. Has any one heard anything from Dave lately?
Thanks,
Paul

Re: 1957 Dodge D501

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:07 am
by fifties_forever
I never owned a 57 however I did own 2 1956 Dodges when I was in high school 61 - 64. One was a Royal Lancer 2 door hardtop 2 tone gray and white. The other was a Coronet 2 door sedan and it was a D 500. Not only was it a D 500 but it was a 354 Chrysler hemi D 500 with dual Carter 4 barrel carbs. I was a real gearhead and had a bullet nosed Studebaker, 56 Ford 312 and a flathead Ford coupe all at the same time as well as the Dodges. My 500 had the flags on the front and back and a very heavy duty clutch and tranny. In fact at the time since I only weighed about 125 pounds it was all I could do to depress the clutch pedal and I rarely ever used 1st gear since it was not synchronized. It wasn't needed anyway. No one in my class had anything that was faster and indeed I remember one time beating a 62 Ford Galaxie 406 with it. That car was so fast it actually scared me. When I got it the carb linkage was missing so I rigged up my own so that it idled on both carbs' front barrels and it responded very quickly. I don't know what happened to it; I joined the military and when I came home on leave my brother had done something with it and the others leaving only the flathead Ford coupe and I had planned to pull the engine from the Dodge and put it in the back seat of the Ford coupe. But I can tell you that the 354 engine was available even in 56. And there were many witnesses; every time I popped the hood to shine all the chrome a crowd would immediately form around it.