Power Package: 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer D-500 Convertible – Sold?
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May 11, 2022, Update – We just confirmed the listing for this “Classifind” expired, so with no replacement found we’re assuming this ride “Sold?” While this one got away, please reach out either by email or call us directly if you’d like to be informed when we come across something similar.
April 10, 2022 Update – We just confirmed the private seller replaced their expiring original listing with a fresh Craigslist list ad. In it, the pictures, description, and $80,000 asking price all remain the same.
Chrysler turned the U.S. automotive industry on notice for the 1957 model year with its new line of Virgile-Exner-designed “Forward Look” models. At Dodge, the top-of-the-line version of this new design language was the 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer D-500 Convertible. One of less than 300 examples believed to remain today was once listed in April 2022 on Craigslist in Austin, Texas. The seller and the pictures reveal a nicely restored car in a great 1950s color scheme that is believed to have less than 53K original miles.
Currently offered for $80,000, comparing that price against the Hagerty Insurance Online Valuation Tool confirms the private seller has their Royal Lancer priced above this guide’s #1 “Concours” appraisal of $69,100. Conversely, the Collector Car Market Review Online Tool reveals the seller’s ask falls between this guide’s #2 “Very Good” estimate of $63,200 and its #1 “Excellent” appraisal of $89,700.
Dodge produced its top-of-the-line Custom Royal for the 1955 through 1959 model years. In Dodge pecking order, the Custom Royal sat above the mid-level Dodge Royal and the base-level Dodge Coronet. All Hardtop and convertible versions were labeled “Custom Royal Lancers” while only the four-door was known as strictly a “Custom Royal.” The Custom Royal Lancer featured a big-block V8 engine, the 361 cubic inch V8 producing 305 horsepower. A D-500 option was available, which included a 383 cubic engine with a single Carter four-barrel carburetor rated at 320 horsepower.
The US Auto Industry YouTube Channel features this 1957 Dodge commercial that tugged on the Christmas heartstrings of potential buyers that year:
Here’s the seller’s description:
“1957 Dodge Lancer 500 Convertible
D-500 Hemi Power Package
325 cu. In. 4 BBL Carter Carb
Believed to be 52, 850 original miles
3 Speed push-button automatic transmission
Frame up, picture documented restoration 2016
Original California car, restored in Washington State
Hagerty says less than 300 D-500 convertibles left
Paint codes for exterior and receipts for the engine, transmission, carb, radio, power brake booster, power steering pump, brakes, distributor, plus 5 new tires and top hydraulics are included.”
A reprinted shop manual and a little extra paint are included also.
The valve covers, plug wire covers, air filter, and door and window escutcheons (sills, armrests) are powder coated for long life
This car is immaculate, the best. The car and the owner are in the Lakeway/Bee Cave Texas area”
Do you have a 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer story to share? If so, comment below and let us know!
In 1957 I was 10 years old and lived in Arlington, Kentucky. There was a guy in town that had one of these cars only in red. I have never forgotten that car from the first time I saw it. The guy who owned it was a young man; a farmer, who had lost his arm in a hay bailer accident. Not all that uncommon in those days.
Ironically, three years ago I fell from a tree 20 feet, and hit the ground standing up. Broke both ankles and as a result; today I am an amputee as well. Wish I could afford it.