I think many of us have seen and appreciate the Stephen King book, and movie “Christine”. Many of us have thought about it, many of us have kept it a secret, but we all want to see, or own Christine. These two door Belvedere’s are difficult to find and even more so when in complete and original condition. This green example needs some love, but it is clear it has been stored away somewhere that it would gain it dusty appearance. With outrageous styling this is such a cool car. For $12,500 you too could live the dream of owning your own Christine! Find this Plymouth here on craigslist out of Eugene, Oregon.
The pictures don’t paint that clear of a picture, but they certainly give hints as to what we may be looking at. Right off the bat, the first thing you probably noticed was the rust in the tops of the front fenders. Fairly common area of rust on these cars. The seller claims that the trunk floor, the rockers and the floors are in good shape, aside from the driver side floor. The exterior looks fairly clean and original with no other major apparent flaws to the car. The trim looks to be complete and in good shape as well. The grill and front bumper look excellent as well. It is not immediately clear what engine or transmission is in this car, but it certainly has a push button style transmission. It would appear that this Plymouth has been sitting since 1976, but the seller says that it runs with gas in the carb. So there is a flicker of hope for this old Plymouth.
Difficult to make out, the interior looks clean to acceptable. The red seat looks to be a cover. The steering wheel and the door panel look to wear a similar color combination to the exterior of this Belvedere. Again there is just enough information to get an idea of the condition of this car. Better photos would certainly shine light on the situation and really give a clue as to what we are looking at.
We are certainly intrigued by this Belvedere as they are a rare commodity. This one being green doesn’t hurt our feelings, and we rather like the color combination. With what appears to be minimal rust, this Belvedere is an excellent opportunity, as most of these cars are restored, or are scrap heaps. This Belvedere is certainly deserving of a restoration, but we would love to get a better idea of its condition to see if it would be a worthy preservation. Hard to say, what do you think would be best for this Plymouth? Would you take on this 1958 Plymouth Belvedere like Arnie Cunningham did?
I love the movie. I certainly wish that I had the money to buy this it would look good next to my 48 Plymouth.
I enjoyed the book, and the movie. I wasn’t very impressed with the number of ’58 Plymouths they destroyed making the movie though. I’d like a car like Christine; that is to say, a red and white Fury, even though Furies were never painted in that scheme. It would be a neat car. I might add that I was always looking forward to seeing the ’57 Belvedere being dug out of its time capsule in Tulsa. What a letdown, seeing a rusty hulk, a shadow of what once was…
@geomechs
I couldn’t agree more about how disappointing it was to see the 57 Belvedere time capsule car. I was excited as well to see what a brand new Belvedere looked like. It was devastating to see what it had become over time. Oh well, that time capsule car is still in “good” condition compared to most remaining unrestored Belvederes.
Looked up the car and found this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Belvedere
Just thought you should know if you did not already.
It says it is in Roscoe, IL.
My folks lived there in the early 70’s.
Many people who acquire ’58 Plymouths paint them red and white because of the book and the movie. It’s a little passe and overdone at this point. Worse yet, a lot of people who buy 1957 Plymouths make them into ’58s with grille, headlight, taillight, and trim changes, and repaint them…. yep, red and white. Yawn.
To preserve is to maintain! So what that means to me is you give the body and interior as much attention as you give the mechanical side of the car. Preservation can mean refurbishment and that is how I’d handle this car, repair of the rust and blend the paint, remember this is single stage paint and easier to blend . Repair the seats but not necessarily recover them completely, repair only what is required mechanically. Than detail and polish the whole car. This a rare car but unfortunately that doesn’t mean valuable, but it is one of my favourite cars so I hope it gets saved.
Get Christine’s brother together with Miss Belvedere (the one buried in Oklahoma in the ’50s) and see what the kids look like. This photo taken AFTER she was ‘De Rusted”!
I followed the story of the Fury buried in OK and was so disappointed when they discovered it’s condition.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it since it came out, though .Great story.
I followed that story too, and I cannot believe that people were that stupid back in the day. Frankly, it was just an experiment in how to destroy a perfectly good car.
Bob
The frontend of that car scares the crap out of me. I could never be in my garge working and turn my back on the car. Guess I watched the movie too many times. Awesome Belvedere though and love the green exterior.
Don’t let the rust & damage scare you—it will repair itself !!
Ha! I thought the exact same thing…
I really love the styling of this, so much so I own an Exner design–I enjoy it for what it is– an ephemeral, flamboyant, parade-float of a car body style which is heavy on styling and light on durability considerations. See tall tailfins on a car and you know it was from about those three years when the car industry went crazy for them–then *poof*, on to the next thing–Detroit couldn’t have done Planned Obsolescence any clearer with an expiration date stamped on the trunklid. Most of them are as gone as returnable glass bottles and drive-in movies, so the ones still around are striking eyecatchers. Some of the tailfinned MoPars that have spent all of their existence in the swampy muggy south or in salt country don’t weigh much more than fifty pounds now (When I couldn’t stand it any longer, and had to Scratch That Itch, I bought a 57 Belvedere out of high desert country). This one doesn’t look too far gone–the two door is very desireable. The rust issue was such a Known that Foxcraft apparently stamped out replacement fender “eyebrow” patches about the same time they were doing fender skirts for the same models.
Compare to the glossy coupe that underwent a “frame-on” resto, rechroming, etc., and sold for 18k in June (ebay listing) http://archive.is/Ny2bF
From the craigslist ad: “This car is so cool if I dont get 12,500 I will restore it myself.”
Then you should restore it yourself. I like this car an awful lot, I really do, but not at that price. I can’t see anyone ponying up that kind of starting cash for the condition it’s in. And the dark garage pics? If you want that kind of money, you have to take better photos and provide better info. Period. It’s a Belvedere, likely with a 318. It’s 2x – 4x overpriced.
JMHO. I could very well be wrong.
Seller has a lot of attitude. Bet he paid the old man $1,250 for it.
Ugh, those guys. Just like the “only needs this $10 part to run” – if the part was that cheap, why on earth wouldn’t you just put it in?
Yeah, I know – it also only just needs the A/C recharged.
*sigh*
You ARE wrong. There is a fairly large community of people who are fanatically devoted to these Plymouths and other Mopar Forward Look cars. A two-door hardtop ’57-’58 Belvedere is near the top of the desirability list. Plenty of sedans out there, but not many hardtops left. This will be snapped up in no time, and that price is not out of the ballpark. It will bring at least $8000, maybe even $10K or $11K. And it may go to Sweden or another European country, where, again, there’s a rabid group of fans who seem to have endless resources to import and restore these cars to showroom condition. Indeed, some of the best examples of Exner design are now overseas.
If it repairs itself it’s worth his asking price other wise NO !!!
14 Red Plymouth Furies were destroyed in the making of “Christine”. The movie had an expensive budget for 1983, 9.7 million dollars. Never cared for those “thriller ” movies, and never saw Christine. Seems the seller is trying to capture some of that with this car, and it was a very influential movies, ’58 Plymouth wise. Coming from the rust belt, that was bad spot for any car with headlights like that. The salt water would lay there, and saw many cars with headlights duct taped in ( and eventually, fell out) Cool car ( sagging rear springs, and all) Might be worth it, certainly, not to me, movie or not.
Sad.
I have always loved this movie, but as I grew older, I realized the special effects were just too good. I read up and discovered how many of these cars were sacrificed for the movie. I have never really looked at the movie the same. Its a fantastic movie, and I don’t really know if a 57 Chevy or any other car would have the presence for the part. But its over and done with now, so I still find joy in the movie.
Most of the cars destroyed in the movie were Belvederes or Savoys, not real Furys.
Here’s something most people don’t remember: in the book, Christine had four doors.
And she was a Belvedere, correct? Doesn’t matter. If this one will start with a bit of fuel from a bottle, I’d be tempted to at least say “OK, show me” and walk away for the night. See what happens… lol… with my luck a fender would fall off overnight instead of it restoring itself.
Great movie!
In the book, she was titled as a four-door 1958 Fury. No such thing. From ’56-’58 the Fury was a limited-edition performance-oriented car, only available as a two-door hardtop, and only offered in Sand Dune White with gold trim (’56-’57) or Buckskin Beige (’58), again with gold trim.
Stephen King simply didn’t do his research.
A four-door Fury was finally offered for the 1959 model year and beyond, when the Fury became the main top-of-the-line series for Plymouth (replacing Belvedere, which moved down to midline status, replacing Savoy).
And on the back cover of the original hardcover, the photographer of “Stephen King and Friend”, had him seated on a ’57 (parking light lenses instead of duals) because a ’58 couldn’t be found. The movie images were so ingrained on me I was really confused where the door lock buttons were (*Not* on top of the doorsills like the Christine movie cars, and on later Plymouths like my mom’s ’60 Valiant.)
Great opportunity to add this – I belong to a 24 Hours of Lemons team and our ’87 BMW 325e was turned into a what I feel was a fairly decent recreation of the car. We even had it displayed at SEMA one year (the picture was taken on LV blvd afterwards)
Does this car still exist? Do you still race it?
It does and we do. It has been rethemed (one of the big things in Lemons racing is the car/team theme and running the exact same thing over and over again is boring).
http://homercar.com/
My dad had a ’58 work station wagon. Huge rust after 2 years in Iowa winters. Best memory was the time the right front torsion bar broke. Fortunately parked. Great cloud of dust and window shattering crash as the front end smashed into the concrete. His fianl Mopar. He went to Chevys.
Price isn’t really above market given the rarity and desirability of ’58 coupes. There is a huge fan base of Exner cars in Scandinavia.
Hmmmm…
Poster deleted post.
Maybe Stephen King ‘heard’ we were talking about him?
That link went to LA Craigslist. Was there a crossed wire?
The seller listed it on Los Angeles craigslist saying “he knows that’s where the money is.” But I have found many cars listed on a certain city craigslist locations, but were actually located elsewhere. This car was is Oregon.
posting removed by seller, I was hoping to get a closer look at the pics. with the rust repair, the car would obviously need a repaint, hard to tell by the pics posted here, but I may go with a darker shade of green , other than that, get ‘er up and running, and SAFE.. and I’m good to go!
Yep, she’s gone. Too bad, I wanted to see the listing and possibly more pics. I love the giant fins of the late 50’s and hope to own one some day…. sigh.
I love looking at all of my old cars. I love looking at them even more than driving them. I like to park them in the driveway and….look at them.
I would never get tired of seeing this one.
I agree Marty, I would love to just stare at that Plymouth in my driveway.
If you turn on it’s radio, and it starts playing 50’s Rock n Roll, RUN LIKE HELL!
I think 57-58-& 59 Plymouths are beautiful cars. I have a 1959 Belvedere 2 dr hardtop I’ve been wanting to restore for years and have never gotten to it. If anyone on Barn Finds would be interested I should list it with this great site.
Bob V, I am a Mopar fan myself. We would love to do a Barns Finds Exclusive on your 59 Belvedere. If you decide the time is right, contact us and send us some photos of the ole girl.
http://barnfinds.com/submissions/
with ya….not worth what he’s asking…..if it was a Fury and had the two four 318….that might be a high dollar car…still a little high at that….just not a lot of demand for them – that was the first year for the B-block engine at 350 cubes and a single four barrel.
If it was a real Fury, even with a 318 2X4-barrel engine, it would go for at least $20K in that condition. These cars are rare and popular, folks.
If this had a 350 “Golden Commando” big block it would be with two four-barrel carbs… that’s only way a 350 was equipped in a Plymouth in ’58. No single four-barrel option (those were available in Dodges and Firesweep DeSotos). More of the Golden Commando engines were put in real Furys but some made their way into Belevederes and Savoys.
A genuine 1958 Fury with a Golden Commando is worth a LOT of money even in rough condition. Restored, $50-$80K.
As a kid we had a ’59 Plymouth wagon….grey……I love the dash! Traded it for a ’61 Chevy 4 door stripper. Man, my dad was pecunious! So am I……..unfortunately
Thanks Brian, Watch for it in the next couple of weeks. I will un-tomb her and get some pictures and put her for sale with you. Thank You, Bob V.
Sounds like a plan Bob, we look forward to checking out your Belvedere.