Chrysler Royal (Australia)

The Chrysler Royal was a car that Chrysler Australia built from 1957 to 1963. Having tooled up to stamp the body panels of the 1954 P25 Plymouth locally, and with Detroit unwilling to pay to retool for the new American models, Chrysler Australia decided to develop its own range using as much of the existing tooling as it could. It kept the doors and structure of the P25 sedan, adapted the 1955 Plymouth front sheet metal and redesigned the rear quarter panels. The Royal was offered only as a four-door sedan, with a station wagon sold as the Plainsman and a coupe utility as the Wayfarer. The first version, the AP1, appeared in May 1957.