BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT

You got a lot for your money in 1957, at least you did if you visited a Dodge dealer. We think the base price of this car when new was $3635, which was a $500 bump up from the regular Custom Royal convertible thanks to the high-performance D500 specification. This one is actually quicker still; a Super D500 with two four-barrel Carter WCFB carbs feeding the hemi heads on the 325cu in V8. But $3635 was still $1000 less than the cheapest Chrysler convertible -– basically the same car, remember – and $1500 less than the least expensive rag-top Cadillac.

Despite the saving, you’d expect this Dodge to show them both a clean pair of heels: with 310bhp it had more than the Cadillac and was only 15bhp down on the 392cu in Chrysler, but weighed 400lb less. It’s been hard to find exactly what