In 1965, Ford launched the LTD as a luxurious version of the Galaxie 500. Chevrolet quickly followed suit with the Caprice, a gussied-up version of the Impala. Since “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” (and to remain competitive), Plymouth joined the party in 1966 with its VIP, a fancy Fury. The seller has a well-preserved first-year VIP with perhaps just 54,000 miles, hailing from Toms River, New Jersey. It’s available here on craigslist for $19,500 and has received a lot of new parts in the past three years. Another fine tip from Barn Finder T.J.!
The VIP moniker stood for “Very Important Plymouth” rather than what you thought it meant. The car was a dressed-up Fury to draw in buyers who wanted more personal comforts but lacked the budget to buy a Chrysler New Yorker or Imperial. It didn’t sell nearly as well as its competition, so the VIP was retired in 1969 while the LTD and Caprice kept on going and going. Chances are that buyers just didn’t envision anything with a Plymouth badge as truly being a luxury car. Some 12,000 VIPs were produced in 1966.
In its first year, the VIP was sold only as a 4-door hardtop with a 383 cubic inch V8 as standard, exactly like this car. We assume none of them left the lot with anything other than a TorqueFlite automatic transmission. This beauty has its original interior and vinyl top, but we assume the paint was refreshed at some point. Since Ford advertised that its LTD rode quieter than a Rolls-Royce, did Plymouth come anywhere close to that with the VIP?
New or newer parts on this Mopar include tires, brakes, shocks, and a heater core. Also, the factory A/C is said to have been upgraded to modern standards. Since the seller is willing to consider trades, we wonder if a dealer is involved in the sale (the photos also show it in the company of other classic vehicles). When was the last time you saw a ’66 VIP (or a Fury for that matter)?
Plymouth with the VIP treatment. 😎
Dixon stick shifts were available 3 and 4sp. Neat and rare car. 👍
Thanks T.J.
What a great car! Reminds me of my girlfriend’s Dodge Polara. Well made, as was the car. Nothin’ like a 383 under the hood!
we wonder if a dealer is involved in the sale (the photos also show it in the company of other classic vehicles).
looks like a car show to me….
I’m not a fan of most wheel covers, so I’d swap these for a set of Magnums and really make this beauty pop!! GLWTS!! :-)
Yeah, why keep it authentic when you can ruin it with aftermarket wheels? SMH
Seriously. To some people the word stock is a four letter word.
Ditto, Magnum 500s make every car look better, especially the late model 18″ versions.
Talk about what could be a sleeper! With that up right cab & fender skirts & low stance lol a built 440 would be hilarious!
Very nice & rare car, although, & this seems to be a common gripe on here, no underside and engine pics!
The interior is a similar pattern to the ’66 Caprice and the fabric is rich looking. The fender skirts and formal roof line make the car.
My first car was a white 66 Fury with a 318.If I remember right around 70k miles Paid $400 for it in 1980. It was a very clean car.
It had aftermarket AC. It was previously owned by a car mechanic.
You never see many of these classic cool cars anymore. Good luck to the buyer of this one.
Boss had a ’67 or ’68, mechanically similar. I was the designated driver since I had no problem not drinking, and the other 3 guys, including the boss, had a problem with drinking. Early days of electronic engine controls and it surged, fast, slow, fast, slow, no real effect on maintaining a constant speed, but quite disconcerting. Dealer, of course, said, “they are all like that”. And, they rusted out in New England, very quickly.
just like the Fords and Chevies, New England isnt particular to car brands – the Fords of this era were notorious for early frame rot
Wow! This is one rare automobile. It looks fantastic. Power steering power brakes air-conditioning automatic transmission, tinted glass, vinyl top whitewall tires and fender skirts! It’s a nice Plymouth. Top-of-the-line. I was not in the least surprised that it had no power windows or locks. You never know, you might drive into the river and not be able to get out of your car if you had those things.
Lol. The Kennedy Chappaquiddick thing certainly didn’t help the sale of power windows in that day. I grew up in florida and heard plenty about not having power windows because it was unsafe if you drove off the bridge. I definitely felt it would be better to have power windows and not drive off the bridge.
That was the exact reason my dad wouldn’t buy any car with power windows. I once asked him how many times he had driven off a bridge into the water, but it didn’t get me anywhere. When I had the opportunity to buy my first project car, I came home with a ’63 Fleetwood with eight, count ’em, eight power windows. They all worked, but I never did have the opportunity to check them out while submerged in a river. Probably a good thing.
I don’t think anything they build today rides as nice as these old cars did. This is just a nice road trip machine
@Troy
Understand, this is JMO but they certainly don’t build’em like they used to. Cheaper materials, government mandates making them more expensive to build, and sell. Labor….. let’s face it, UAW gets $40 an hour, to start, has a dumbass supervisor on his back nitpicking everything. 90% of recalls are because labor didn’t do it’s job. The other 10% is because subcontractors didn’t do their job. (@$12 an hour)
There is nothing I love more than American cars. But starting in the late 1970s & early 1980s there is nothing American built worth owning.
After my 1976 Cadillac CdV I owned a 1992 Cadillac Eldorado. Extremely disappointed in it and had it less than a year. My next car was a 2004 Saturn Vue SUV. Do we really need to go there? A plastic car. The only thing metal on that car was the hood, roof and liftgate.
I now have a Hyundai SUV and I love it. Never thought I’d stray from American cars but was pretty much forced to.
GM cars I won’t own anything later than a 1976 (maybe an ’85 Seville) Ford (Lincoln) nothing newer than a ’79 and Mopar, nothing newer than a ’73.
That’s just the way I roll.
I’m with you Angel, because I could still do some work on them. That said, I drive an ’09 Lucerne CXL & my wife has a ’15 Equinox LTZ with a V6. Cost me $500 to change the plugs on the Equinox! I think I’ll do them myself on the Lucerne, less complicated. Thank God for you-tube videos!. Had to pull the front tire and fender liner on the Lucerne to change the washer pump. Same thing on the Equinox to change the headlight bulb.
I had a ’04 LeSabre Ltd. and disconnected the battery when we went to Alaska. Came back and the climate control was never the same.
Sometimes I want a’66 Chevrolet Biscayne, 3 speed 6 cyl.! Lol!
To another of your posts, I don’t think you’d be happy in Maryland without a/c, but that’s my opinion. 😀
Gotta be honest I don’t think I’ve ever seen a VIP Plymouth Fury. Not that I was looking. With the Fury l, ll & lll who knew there was a Fury lV? (VIP)
I’d love to get my hands on the B pillar crest.
I have a 1966 Plymouth Fury 1, the bottom end of the Fury line-up. It has a slant six, torqueflite AND fender skirts….no other options. Who orders a low-end car with fender skirts? I don’t know, but the skirts sure add to the lines of the car from a side view. This VIP is rare and in excellent condition. The 383 helps make this a desireable car and would be fun to take to cruise nights and car shows. No doubt you’d be the only VIP there.
“Don’t touch” and keep liquids away from it!
just like the Fords and Chevies, New England isnt particular to car brands – the Fords of this era were notorious for early frame rot
Hi Jon!
Yeah, it’s just starting to warm up here in MD and I can feel the humidity already. That’s why I loved Vegas so much, it was hot, but dry.
I grew up in NJ so I know about hot & humid summers. Spent 8 years in Florida. Lived all over this great nation.
My Hyundai does have a/c so I’m not worried about that. That damn Saturn the a/c stopped working in Vegas so I’m glad my ex totalled it. That’s how I ended up with the Hyundai.
That’s another thing I hate about newer cars you have to rip them completely apart to work on them.
I wanted to do something simple on the Hyundai (it’s an ’08) just replace the horns with louder ones. To do that you need to remove the front bumper and grill. Not this girl. I can take things apart but I suck at putting them back together.
Hi Angel, we’re thinking of going to Niagara Falls in the fall. Sort of your neck of the woods.
A bus tour from here was all set but blew up which is another story about overly sensitive gen-xers. Waaaa, waaa.
So we’re looking at driving. About 2,000 miles round trip. The hotter weather should be over in the northern tier by then. Chance to catch some fall colors, too. Good bus tours run about $5k for 2 from here.
I’ve even used a/c in Alaska! Don’t like having all the noise of windows down.
Another thing with newer cars. I replaced the ABS module on my Lucerne in Jan. By the time I was done, about $2k including a tow and new battery. If I knew the problem for sure I would’ve done it myself. But the GM Buick GMC dealer did it.
The Buick Club kicks off the car show season Sun. Must be spring!
Spring is springing and the car shows are ready! Although I seem to find out about them AFTER the fact.
There is one show here in Dundalk just outside of Baltimore in a week or so that I supposed to go to with someone but as usual they got pissy over something stupid. So I guess I’m going alone.