About 66 years ago, if you wanted the most affordable Dodge coupe, you bought a Wayfarer.
While attending a local car show, St. Louis Dispatch contributorBruce Kunz came across the 1952 Dodge Wayfarer two-door sedan shown above. In a car show lined with far-more-common vehicles from every automaker, the rare Dodge two-door stood out to the writer, so he snapped a few pictures and did a piece about a model that a great many diehard Mopar fans don’t remember.
Entry Two-door
Let’s say that you want to buy the smallest, least expensive two-door car at your local Dodge dealership today. The smallest and least expensive two-door car at your local Dodge dealership right now is the Challenger SXT with a 305-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6. The base price of the Challenger SXT is $28,640.
Now, say that you had the same plans back in 1952. The smallest and least-expensive two-door was the Wayfarer with a 3.8-liter inline-six engine that offered just 103 horsepower. The Wayfarer two-door sedan had an MSRP in 1952 of $2,052.
While the Wayfarer is absolutely nothing like that Challenger SXT, this curvy two-door was pretty popular during its four model year run from 1949 through 1952. This car accounted for a quarter of Dodge’s sales in 1949 with a total of more than 63,000 and almost 50,000 of them were sedans. More than 75,000 Wayfarers were sold in 1950 and through 1951 and 1952, more than 78,000 were sold.
Over the course of four years, more than 185,000 Wayfarer two-door sedans were sold, so it sold slightly better than the modern Challenger does (as a lineup).
Rare Find
The writer of the original article spoke with the current owner, who got the car for an undisclosed-yet-remarkably low price. It turns out that the original owner of this car was the grandfather of the person from whom the current owner purchased the 1952 Dodge.
The grandfather was so impressed by the Wayfarer back in the early 1950s that he bought two of them, one for work and one for pleasure driving. This was the pleasure car, meaning that it was kept in good condition for all of these years. The grandmother called it the Blue Goose, which is still reflected on the license plate today.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
