Some of you surely remember the era when “color-keyed carpet” was listed on the standard features list, along with padded armrests – front and rear (!), not to mention a one-piece headliner. Fancy stuff! And that’s on the highest trim-level version, this 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury Brougham. The seller has this survivor sedan listed here on craigslist in Tomah, Wisconsin and they’re asking $5,000. Here is the original listing.
My favorite line from the ’77 Plymouth Gran Fury brochure is, “Its singular headlamp grille, topped off by a bright stand-up hood ornament, tells you what Brougham is all about: it’s something special.” I’m not sure if those two features would sway too many buyers into a showroom today, but hey, it was just after the Bicentennial, it was a different era for cars and car buyers. Some might say it was about the lowest point in U.S. vehicle production with so many regulations hitting car makers at once.
Other than one spot of missing paint in front of the left front wheel well, under the trim, or just in front of the wheel well trim, this car looks almost perfect to me. The seller has the mileage listed as being 52,500 so it could theoretically be a solid one if it hasn’t been driven in Wisconsin winters.
I don’t see anything scary at all, rust-wise. Even the door sills and areas where rust often shows up look perfect on this car. I’m amazed, having grown up in northern Minnesota with an endless string of rusty vehicles that weren’t rusty just a handful of years prior to being rusty. I expected to see power windows on this car since it’s a top trim level, but this wasn’t the era when everyone neeeeeeeeeeeeded power windows as apparently we all do now, since it’s almost impossible to get a new vehicle without them now. The seats look great both front and rear and I’m sure that fabric is more comfortable than all vinyl would have been.
The engine appears to be a 360-cu.in. OHV V8 and I’m assuming it’s the two-barrel version but we don’t know for sure. The two-barrel 360 had 155 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque and sent power through a TorqueFlite to the rear wheels as expected. That this car gets fewer MPG than my former 500-hp AWD SUV is a bummer, but that’s the way things were in the mid/late-70s. Have any of you owned a Gran Fury from this era?
Gilbertson what model was your SUV🚀
Stan, it was a Cayenne Turbo, a wicked fast, super smooth and quiet vehicle with surprisingly few issues in the five+ years I owned it. It was quite a change from my former winter vehicle, a 1997 Subaru Outback that we bought new and still ran like new with 365,000 miles but rusted out so badly that both oil pans were dripping, ouch. I donated it to an automotive tech college, I hope they fixed it.
Nice car, good deal for someone who wants one. A/C, cloth seats and cruise control, more than most people had in those days.
There is one in my garage as we speak; Metallic maroon with white top and maroon brocade interior. A 360 V/8 which my Mom and Dad bought brand new. Sadly they are both now gone and had left it in their will…… I will never, ever sell it, and my brother will get it when I am gone. He has their ’79 Cordoba already. Both are low mileage cars and rust free.
These were not sold in great volume and one just never sees any around anymore. I always thought the single headlight looked a bit out of place as every one which one saw new had the quad lights; the Brougham had the single. Air was always ice cold, the brakes and steering very ‘quick’ as most all Chrysler products of this time had the over-boosted response as a trademark of the line. The ride was very good and the seats very comfortable. Thanks for bringing an oft not thought of car to our attention…. all good memories
Oh yeah, I love a full-sized Mopar. But, man, that panel gap at the front door is like 3/4 of an inch!
This is the kind of car I like to drive to pick up my kids at the airport.
Fun write-up Scotty on a largely forgotten car. “Singular headlamp grille”; one has to give the brochure writers credit for trying to come up with verbiage to make what is a regular full-size sedan seem interesting. Maybe they could have mentioned the “styled disks made from lightweight metal which fully cover the wheels” or the “easy to use pull-up-style exterior door handles.”
Loving aspirational names, I always liked Plymouths Very Important Person and Fords La Ti Da. No I haven’t had too much eggnog, just crazy 😜 after all These years. So here goes! Grand Royal Regal Marquis Imperial Crown Victoria Fleetwood Brougham deElegance. Offered as a Town Car Signature Limited formal sedan with coachwork by LeBaron or as a Starfire Super Sport MonteBird with Magnum Corinthian Leather! Once again wishing ALL Barn Finders a Very Happy merry HanaKwanzaMas! May Santa 🎅 fill your garages and barns with great Barn Finds!
The 1974 Plymouth Gran Fury was a very good looking car. I especially like the two door hardtop. It was a real hardtop. They changed the attractive front end styling to the ugly one featured here. That was a mistake and didn’t help sales. This was a full size car with single headlights. Ugly! Cars such as this ALL featured quad lights. Styling mistakes such as this plagued Plymouth from then on. Think Volare!
Yes. I had an ex-USA military fleet Gran Fury sedan when stationed in Germany in the late 1980s. I could bury the 100mph speedometer needle on the Autobahn where it was legal to do so with the 360 V8. The car was so big the polezi made me repark it because it impeded the flow of traffic on a narrow street. Smaller European cars could easily park where I did. MY driveshaft fell out merging on the Autobahn once but the AAFES garage fixed it well. Later, the transmission failed and the previous owner took it back in trade on a smaller car and parted it out. Roomy. Powerful. The essence of big American good riding cars.