Plymouth Fury

Virgil Exener's Forward Look

Featuring in Stephen King's horror flick "Christine" did little to enhance the reputation of the Plymouth Fury as a sought after classic for the collecting connoisseur, nevertheless it remains as one of the finest examples of stylist Virgil Exner's 'Forward Look' period at Chrysler, a watershed in 1950's contemporary design.

The process had begun quietly, with the 1955 Plymouth's marked by a gradual increase in fin size in the fight to 'out-glam' its mid priced rivals. The Fury was Plymouth's top of the range vehicle at the time, topping the ever popular 'Belvedere'. Available in either 2 door coupe or convertible, the purchaser could choose from either a 5.2 litre V8 or the 'Sport Fury', fitted with a 6.0 litre "Golden Commando" V8 delivering over 300bhp.

As manufacturers have re-learnt in recent times, (such as Nissan with the 350Z and Mazda with the RX7), having a "hero car" in your lineup improves buyers perceptions of the marque, and so the Fury played an important part in helping sales in 1958, Plymouth risingto 4th position in the US sales charts. 1960 saw the demise of the Fury, and with it the tail fins that were now considered an excess of the previous decade.

Plymouth Fury 6th Generation

In 1975, Chrysler moved the Fury nameplate to Plymouth's redesigned mid-size models that had previously been marketed as the Satellite. The "Road Runner" was offered as the top-line model of the redesigned coupe, but was moved to the Plymouth Volare line the following year. The full-sized Plymouth then became known as the Plymouth Gran Fury. The Gran Fury was dropped after 1977, and the mid-sized models were dropped after 1978, replaced in Canada by the rebadged Dodge Diplomat model named the Plymouth Caravelle (not the be confused with the E-body Plymouth Caravelle from 1983 - 1988).

There was no 1979 Fury, Gran or otherwise. Only minor styling changes were made between 1975 and 1978, most notably in 1977 from dual round headlights to a quad stacked square arrangement. Front turn signals moved from the outboard edges of the grille to cut-outs in the front bumper. Tail lights added an amber turn lens in favor of the previous red. The 1975 Fury shared its B-body and uni-body structure with the Dodge Coronet and the corporation's new personal-luxury coupes including the Chrysler Cordoba and Dodge Charger SE.

Sedans and wagons, which continued with their basic 1971 body-shells, rode on a 118 in (3,000 mm) wheelbase, while coupes - which were restyled with new and more formal sheet-metal and rooflines - rode on the 115 in (2,900 mm) wheelbase. The Plymouth Fury was offered in three basic subseries for 1975 in sedans and coupes and two for the station wagon. The sedan was offered in base, Custom and Salon models, with interior/exterior trim ranging from austere to luxurious. The Salon featured plush velour bench seats with recliners and folding armrests and carpeted trunks, along with a spring-loaded hood ornament with the Plymouth logo. In addition to the Road Runner, the Fury coupes were offered in base, Custom and Sport models. The "Sport" was the top-line coupe featuring body pin-striping on the upper door and front and rear fenders, interiors with all-vinyl bucket seats and center cushion and armrest, or optional center console; or split bench seats with armrest, along with plusher shag carpeting on floor and door panels plus lower door carpeting.

The wagons were available as either the Fury Suburban or Fury Custom Suburban. Engine offerings included the base 225 in3 Slant Six which was standard on all models except Fury Sport, Road Runner and station wagon, all of which came with the 318 in3 V8 as the base engine which was optional on other models. Optional engines on all models included 360 and 400 in3 V8s with two- or four-barrel carburetor, and the 440 four-barrel was only as a "police" option on four-door sedans. Transmission offerings included a standard three-speed manual or optional TorqueFlite automatic. The 1976 Fury saw very few appearance changes from the previous year other than the availability of a dual opera window roof on Sport Fury coupes. Engine/transmission offerings were also unchanged except that the 360 two-barrel V8 was now the standard engine on station wagons along with the TorqueFlite automatic transmission, both items of which were optional on other models.

For 1977, the Fury received a new front end with a chrome vertical bar grille and outline along with stacked rectangular headlights. Model and drivetrain offerings were unchanged from 1976 except that the Slant Six now had two-barrel carburetion replacing the one-barrel pot of previous years and was now standard on the Sport Fury coupe. Of course V8 engines were still offered including the 318 two-barrel, 360 two- or four-barrel and 400 two- or four-barrel. The 440 four-barrel V8 was still only offered in four-door models as part of the police package.

The 1978 Fury was now Plymouth's largest car as the C-body Gran Fury was dropped after the 1977. TorqueFlite automatic transmission and power steering were now standard on all Fury models and the same selection of V-8 engines was still available. Very few appearance changes were made from 1977, and this would turn out to be the final year for the Fury (and similar-bodied Dodge Monaco, which it was renamed in 1977 from Coronet, while the big Dodge became the Royal Monaco in 1977 before it was dropped after that one year). The personal-luxury coupes based on the B-body including the Chrysler Cordoba and Dodge Magnum (renamed from Charger in 1978) would soldier on for one more year until they were downsized (and renamed Mirada for the Dodge version) in 1980 to the M-body platform used for the Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler LeBaron.