Few people appreciate or even remember the La Femme, the auto industry’s first attempt to market directly to women. Based on the 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer, it was paradoxical then, and nearly sixty years later, the few remaining traces aren’t easy to read.

Maybe the result would have been better if this two-door hardtop model hadn’t expressed the worst styling cliches of the 1950s. To begin with, the Royal had too much ornamentation. Its chrome face was an atrocity. The hood scoop was fake, and the diving beltline failed to distract from the body’s ungainly proportions. Stupid little fins were tacked on atop the rear fenders.

Discern for yourself whether the special La Femme trim level aimed at women was a cynical ploy to move some sheetmetal out of showrooms or a genuine effort to create a new market niche.

“Won’t the gals love this?” we can imagine Dodge president W.C. Newberg saying.

“Won’t the gals love this?” we can imagine Dodge president W.C. Newberg saying to vice-president R.C. Somerville and sales manager L.F. Desmond before unveiling the La Femme option. This was in the spring of 1955—the middle of the model year. “Yes, Boss,” we can imagine Somerville and Desmond answering.

The La Femme was cloaked in a pink-and-white paint job, but the name Heather Rose was used. To ensure irresistibility, a unique rosebud pattern was chosen for the jacquard-weave upholstery.

Personal accessories—all in pink—were included: a four-button raincoat, rain hat, and umbrella. Additionally, a large and awkwardly shaped purse, very tall and narrow as if for storing nightsticks, contained a compact, a cigarette case, and a lighter.

These extras stowed away in pouches that clung to the backs of the first-row seats.

If the Dodge La Femme website is to be believed, the accessories were widely coveted: “Unfortunately, many…disappeared before they even reached the dealer showroom.”

If the Dodge La Femme website is to be believed, the accessories were widely coveted. “Unfortunately, it seems that many…disappeared before they even reached the dealer showroom,” the site says. (We presume Pinkerton detectives couldn’t track down the pilfered goods.)

One ad supported the La Femme with the slogan, “Now for the first time anywhere, a car glamorously, personally yours.” It promised “every sophisticated touch your heart could desire!”

Another played on the Royal name, saying, “By appointment to Her Majesty…the American Woman.”

We can’t pin down exactly how many examples of the La Femme were sold. Did women demand them and—rare at the time—independently transact the purchases? Did men buy the cars as gifts? A combination of both?

Some 30,500 Custom Royal Lancers were produced in 1955. No figures are broken out for Her Majesty’s favorite trim level, but we imagine dozens of women lining up in Coral Gables alone. After all, the pink handbag in combination with Dodge’s Red Ram V-8 engine represented the new automotive black.

Only twelve surviving examples are listed in the La Femme website’s registry, though.

The worst thing Dodge did after the ’55 La Femme? When repeating it one more time, in 1956, they deleted the purse.

That’s what we call a pink slip.

Illustration by Ronald Ahrens
Brochure images courtesy of DodgeLaFemme.com