The Last Plymouth Ever Built: A 68-Mile Neon Time Capsule
Plymouth did not go out with a special-edition muscle car or a dramatic farewell model. Its final vehicle was a 2001 Plymouth Neon LX, a compact sedan that became historically important because it marked the end of the brand itself and was carefully preserved almost from the moment it left the assembly line.
The End of the Plymouth Brand
By 2001, Plymouth had already faded from the prominence it once held within Chrysler. The company chose to end the brand without a major sendoff, which meant the final Plymouth ever built was not a halo model at all, but a modest Neon assembled at Belvidere, Illinois, on June 28, 2001.
That car is documented today on Neon Registry’s vehicle profile page, where it is recognized as the last Plymouth-branded Neon and tied to one of the final moments in Chrysler compact-car history.
Ordered to Be Preserved
This Neon was custom-ordered by Darrell Davis, a former Senior Vice President of Parts and Service for DaimlerChrysler and a longtime Plymouth believer. According to Hagerty, Davis used his position and timing to make sure the final Plymouth would not disappear into anonymous fleet use or eventually be lost like so many ordinary economy cars.
He specified the car in Bright Silver Metallic with a Dark Slate Gray leather interior and chose a five-speed manual transmission rather than the optional automatic. The option list also included a power sunroof, woodgrain trim, cruise control, and an in-dash CD changer, giving the car a surprisingly upscale feel for a compact Plymouth sedan.
The Build and Delivery Story
The car was built at the Belvidere assembly plant, where a celebratory banner was hung over it to mark the end of Plymouth production. Hagerty reports that Davis had the rare experience of driving the car off the assembly line before it was shipped to Daytona Chrysler-Plymouth in Florida.
Once it arrived at the dealership, normal dealer preparation was intentionally avoided so factory protective materials and details could remain intact. That decision helped preserve the car as a near-new artifact rather than just a low-mile used car.
A True Time Capsule
Bring a Trailer described the car as showing just 68 miles and noted that many original details were still present decades later. The antenna had reportedly never been installed, the documentation remained with the