In the late 1950s, Chevrolet had the Impala, Ford had the Galaxie 500, and Plymouth had the Fury. All were nicely trimmed mainstream, full-size automobiles (the Big 3’s compacts wouldn’t arrive until 1960). This 1959 Plymouth Fury spent many years in a Mopar collection after sitting in a Minnesota barn. It’s far from perfect cosmetically and mechanically but presents well enough from 20 feet. Now in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this product of the “Forward Look” era is available here on eBay where the Buy It Now price is $10,000, or you can submit an offer. Another 1950s tip brought to us by Larry D!
Tailfins were all the rage in 1959 and – except for Cadillac – no car wore them bigger or prouder than Plymouth. Fleet buyers were the target audience for the Savoy, budget-conscious buyers ordered the Belvedere, and the rest of us would seek out the Fury (the Sport Fury was back, too, but only as a 2-door hardtop and convertible). The 1959 models were an evolution of the styling trend the marque started two years earlier and enabled Plymouth to hold on to third in the sales game (yet only 14% of the market because Chevy and Ford were so dominant).
Out of 458,000 Plymouths assembled in 1959, the seller’s Fury 4-door hardtop was one of more than 13,000 built that year. You could only get a Fury with a V8 engine and the seller’s car has the basic 318 cubic inch “Poly” which is paired with a TorqueFlite push-button automatic transmission. With a compression ratio that let the motor happily run on leaded, “regular” gasoline, that 318 produced 230 hp.
We get the impression that the seller has only owned this Plymouth for a shorter period. With the radiator (and perhaps the gas tank) out of the car, the seller changed some fluids and hooked up a temporary fuel source, enabling the motor to fire up and sound good at idle. You’ll likely be replacing the exhaust system, though, sooner rather than later. So, some assembly will be required to bring this car back to daily driver status. And the overall auto may only have 33,000 miles.
And daily driver is a good way to describe the machine as it will need body, paint, and interior work. Some prior patchwork has been done on the floors and rocker panels, and the brightwork in the front is a little bent and dented, but you may be able to pound it out. Inside the auto, the carpeting is worn down to the floors and the driver’s side of the front seat has some rips. But the headliner is good, and the dashboard may be fine after a good scrubbing.
The seller has done some other mechanical work, such as installing new rear leaf springs, recoring the radiator, and redoing some of the brakes. But the rest will be up to the buyer with parts that have already been purchased, like new hoses, water pump, and wheel cylinders. The Plymouth sports a newer set of Coker wide whitewall tires. With a few weekends of hard work, this old workhorse could be ready for at least a couple of jaunts around town. The only reason the seller is letting the Fury go is that he/she is losing his/her garage space.
As I recall, the base model in this 59 Plymouth came with a flathead
6-cylinder engine. Am I not remembering correctly?
0-60mph in about 30 seconds. Sluggo.
The “V-800” 318 V8 was standard on all Fury models except the Sport Fury, which came standard with the “V-800 With Super-Pak”.
Savoy & Belvedere came standard with the “Power Flow 6” 230 6 cylinder, except convertible.
The “Golden Commando 395”, 361 V8 was also optional on all models except Savoy business coupe.
The Plaza model was dropped after `58, so Savoy then became the lowest priced model.
`59 was the first year for the Sport Fury.
It was dropped for `60/`61 and returned again in `62 through`71.
Notice someone ‘installed’ the “Sport Fury” rear quarter medallions on the fins. regular Fury models did not have these.
I noticed that all Chryslers, DeSotos, and Dodges kept their own bodies for ’57 to ’59 but the ’59 Plymouth got a makeover in the fin department. Also every Chrysler product used the same station wagon body for 3 years, except the ’59 plymouth wagon which had the new fins on it. Ya gotta wonder how they rated being at the bottom of the totem pole? I think the new fins were a big improvement for the ’59 Plymouth.
Chrysler Corp was trying out fins on the Plymouth to see how the
customers and public reacted? ….prior to remodeling the rest of the line.
Whelp, Chrysler got their answer.
They were known as “Finmobiles” in 60’s and 70’s…..as Used Cars
they were “on sale”.
SOLD – Best Offer Accepted.
BF: “In the late 1950s, Chevrolet had the Impala, Ford had the Galaxie 500…”
No, Ford did not have the Galaxie 500 until 1962. In the late ’50s (actually just ’59) Ford had the Galaxie without the 500. Is this auto history stuff really that hard to get right?