We see some extraordinary cars here at Barn Finds, but this 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP has to rate as one of the more interesting. It has led a remarkable life, and in 52-years, it has only managed to accrue a genuine 1,770 miles on its odometer. That doesn’t mean that it has been languishing in a dusty barn because it has probably led the sort of life that other classic cars can only dream of. The time has come for it to head off to a new home, so the owner has listed it for sale here on eBay. The Plymouth is located in Portland, Oregon, and while the BIN has been set at $12,950, there is the option to make an offer. I have to say a big thank you to Barn Finder John in NC for referring this fantastic car to us.
This is where the story of this Plymouth begins. The vehicle was delivered new to Hahn Chrysler-Plymouth in Yakima, Washington, in 1968. The dealership donated the car to the Davis High School, where it was used as a training vehicle for the school’s auto shop classes. It remained there for the next decade and was returned to Hahn’s in 1978. For the next 34-years, the Fury was placed on display at the dealership. It was treated to a comprehensive service in 2014, but its history after that time is not clear. What the owner does say is that the Plymouth has never seen a street in its life.
Finished in Forest Green, the Plymouth presents exceptionally well. It has received a repaint in its original color, although it isn’t clear when this occurred. There’s a lot to like about the exterior and not a lot to be critical of. The paint shines beautifully, and the panels are laser straight. The owner mentions no problems with rust and the type of life that the car has led means that this isn’t surprising. The chrome is in good order, as is the glass. There is no visible damage to the wheel trims, while the Plymouth rolls on a set of whitewall tires.
Buyers could choose from a fair selection of engines when ordering their VIP back in 1968. Given this car’s history, it is no surprise to learn that it was delivered with the entry-level 318ci V8. This is backed by a 3-speed TorqueFlite transmission, while the vehicle also features power steering and power brakes. With 230hp on tap, the Fury would be capable of a 17.6-second ¼-mile ET. A life spent training students means that the Plymouth has probably come in for its share of mechanical attention. It isn’t clear how comprehensive this would have been, but if most of the drivetrain has been out at some time, that wouldn’t be a surprise. After returning as a display vehicle at Hahn’s in 1978, the car sat for 34-years. It was treated to a major service in 2014, which cost $3,470. Receipts for this work are included in the sale. As well as the original Owner’s Manual, a letter from the President of Hahn’s is included with the vehicle. This letter confirms its history, and I have included a shot of this in the photo gallery at the bottom of this article.
The Plymouth’s interior has all of the wear that you might expect from a car with less than 1,800 miles on the clock. There is some wrinkling of the tan vinyl on the driver’s seat, but that’s about all there is to be critical of. The remaining upholstery is perfect, and I doubt that anyone has ever sat in the back seat. The dash and pad are free from defects, the carpet appears to be flawless, and there is no wear on the wheel. Since it was destined for a life as a training vehicle, Hahn’s didn’t load the car with optional extras. They even chose to order it as a radio-delete vehicle.
I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few high schools in the past, and I was amazed by the diversity of the vehicles that the auto shop students had at their disposal. While some of these cars were relatively new, some were more than 40-years-old. One thing that struck me about all of them was their extraordinary condition. These cars are regularly serviced and maintained s part of the training process, and the only mileage that they tend to accumulate is within the school grounds themselves. That is almost certainly where this Fury VIP has clocked its 1,770 miles. That raises the question as to what the next owner of this car would do. Will they continue to preserve it, or will they give it a taste of freedom on the open road? What would you do?
Our high school got a basic (non-hatchback), automatic Vega.
I read the ad,but don’t see where it says that “it’s never seen a street-
in it’s life”.IF that’s so,just how could it have that many miles on it?
Plus,it says that it has an “average repaint”,so it’s not a totally
original car.
WOW! What a time capsule! You just don’t see these anymore, would be a real standout at Coffee & Chrome. This one needs to taste the freedom of the open road, after its’ release from “captivity”! GLWTA!! :-)
This green one is a lovely sled. The wheel covers surely look like optional 15″ wheels which meant rare disc brakes. Confusing with so few other options, hmmm. I had electric blue metallic 68 VIP for 15 years, 200,000 miles. Rare model, maybe 7800/year compared to 300,000 various Fury Models. Plymouth was sold with Chrysler, easy upgrade the top cost Plymouth VIP to a Chrysler Newport. Mine had powerful and thirsty 383 4 barrel. 12 mpgs about max. Quicker 3:23 rear end, dual snorkel air cleaner. Would burn rubber in 2 gears. Ice cold air. Forever my fav car even tho hardtop windows very wind noise prone and power steering always a little leak. Carb liked to “boil” when hot, could be a hard starter, as well as when below zero. Still fav. Modern fuel injection is a wonderful thing!! Young people not familiar with choke, flood, lean, rich, pump the gas, backfire, etc. Carburetors are fussy.
Does anyone know the paint code? It’s beautiful.
The repaint is a little off from the original shade. Compare the underhood shot to the exterior shots. The original shade is the typical late-60s green and has a little more yellow. This shade is more like the green that was popular in the early-mid 90s.
Not a Mopar guy so the paint code is an unknown. The original color was called Forest Green. In the Dodge world it was called Racing Green
The villains in MANNIX seemed to favor these cars. This one looks great, but there are reasons these weren’t all that popular…
So it’s probably 1,700 miles of high school parking lot burnouts. I worked for an Acura dealership about fifteen years ago when a client showed up in a showroom- flawless ‘88 Legend Coupe that had lived a similar life as training vehicle at the tech school. Gorgeous from every angle, but it had been taken apart and put back together so many times it was constantly at our dealership with electrical issues. In the end it was a great piece for a showroom or a museum, but as a daily- definitely not.
My grandfather had the same car … had many dates in it and made good use of the back seat … he never knew how hard I drove it … traded it for a ’67 New Yorker which I never got to drive …
Amen to that Jon! Your story brings back similar memories of my own interludes in the back seat of my Uncle Roy’s Dodge Monaco. I think his was a 67 but anyway I can vividly remember “parking” with Samantha Kline sitting on my face in that old boat! We had a few beers and one hell of an evening. Sweet girl let me tell ya.
I had an uncle that retired in 1968, he bought a new Plymouth Fury III, looks to be the same car right down to the hub caps. His had power windows and AC though. Silver with black interior. I’d never heard the VIP term until this post. What’s the difference between this and a Fury III?
VIP was the top trim level on the fury III
“Very Important Plymouth”.
It’s a slightly nicer, slightly more expensive model than a Fury III. Supposed to be more luxurious… like the Caprice was to the Impala. But the Fury III interior was definitely nice in 1968. They also had the Sport Fury at the time. I’m wondering if the Sport Fury might have only been offered as a coupe & convertible and the VIP only offered as a 4 door hardtop (?)
VIP was always a much smaller percentage of Plymouth sales than the LTD was to Ford and the Caprice to Chevy in that era. Partly that’s because Mopar had such a high share of the police and taxi markets which took strippo Fury Is, partly because the universal showroom dualing with Chrysler meant VIP prospects were an easy upsell to a Chrysler Newport.
Really, Plymouth needed a Satellite VIP and a Valiant VIP much more than a Fury VIP in those days of the “no jr editions” policy for the Chrysler brand/division.
I had a 2 door 1969 VIP great car
My HS back in `78 got a flooded out new Malibu coupe as a shop guinea pig. About 4 weeks into Junior year, we had the engine out & rebuilt already!
Amazing! In my high school annual (A.C.Davis High School, 1976) there is a picture of my best fried Ken C., autoshop teacher Frank Hagel and myself in front of this car. Ken and I competed in the Plymouth Troubleshooting Competition under Mr. Hagel’s tutelage.
Nice car and really good write-up.
However, I’m curious to know why on most vehicles posted, the 1/4 mile times are mentioned?
On cars like this that aren’t going to be run down the strip, the quoted 0-60 “entrance ramp performance” times would be interesting to know as some can’t get out of their own way on the street.
GLWTS.
And its Green!
That red 318 certainly brings back memories of my first car. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t donate a cheaper model Fury to serve as a guinea pig. I have always liked the 1967 and 68 years for these.
We’re there red painted engines by mopar?
Yes, pre 1970. Mine was a 68 Coronet and it was red. Slant sixes as well.
Yes, there were many red Chrysler engines.
Prior to the beginning of the Corporate Blue engine era in 1970, for much of the 1960s the “big” (225) Slant Sixes and the small block V8s were painted red, while the “small” (170) sixes and big block V8s, with the exception of certain high performance engines, were painted turquoise.
My dad ordered a 67 VIP his first new ordered car and it was a 383 4bl. car with A/C and tilt /telescopic steering wheel. Great car and then traded it on a 70 Grand Prix and that was better car for me to learn how to drive on.
GM,s Wilmington Delaware assembly plant donated a Chevrolet Beretta convertible to Howard high school in Wilmington Delaware. We only produced about 90 of these convertibles before GM decided not to put them into production due to major production issues. I’m sure other schools have received rare cars. Wondering if it’s still there?
$12,950? Wrap it up, I’ll take it! (Oh wait, the wife says ‘No way!’)
You need a different wife.
Mark,
Yes. I own an original unmolested 55,000 68 Barracuda with the 318. The engine is red.
Looks like it’s still in its original box.
Road Trip! Great for the open highway, not so for parallel parking. Only drawback, the V8 water pump replacement is a total bear – no fun atall!
The Mopar big block water pumps were awesomely quick to change compared to small blocks. 4 bolts on smaller round portion plus fan bolts was about it. Fuel pumps on motor easy to replace compared to modern electric ones buried in the fuel tank.
Hi Mayor,
What do you remember about the car? Did you guys pull it apart or do any rebuilding on it? Thanks
The car mostly sat and looked nice. Occasionally it was used as practice for the Plymouth Troubleshooting competition. A malfunction would be introduced and then we would have to find it. These were mostly ignition and fuel related. I don’t believe it was ever subject to any major disassembly and the paint work was done after it left the school. The school also had a ’73 or’74 Chevy Suburban that had been damaged in a train derailment and then donated by GM.
I remember a shop teacher telling me their high school received a 1957 chev 210 4 door hardtop for the auto shop to learn off of, It was never drove on the road, and it never got beat on in the parking lot either! he kept the keys for it! heres the deal! know how rare 57 chev 210 4 door hardtops are? don’t know if GM canada took it back or what a lot of these cars like this had no serial # so they could not be driven on the road!
I recall reading somewhere that the reason there were so many ’57 Chevys was because they continued to build them after 1957. I find that hard to believe.
There was a Fisher Body plant in West Mifflin, near Pittsburgh, that had all of the dies for all of the 57 Chevy body work. They would run the dies for a week every year to make new panels. Until they closed the door they made replacement sheet metal for everything GM built for decades.
Nothing there now, they closed and tore it down. Good jobs lost.
I worked at that plant from 2000 to closure in 2008. We had a ton of old stamping dies in storage that got mainly scrapped in the waning years of the plant. My Dad was a die-maker there and worked on a few ridiculously old dies for service.
I would love to see the looks on the faces of the high school students today, having to learn to drive on this very non-Corolla size automobile.
Chrysler had a annual contest for troubleshooting autos during the ’60/’70’s and donated many vehicles to schools. We had one too!
A “VIP” ( whistles), who was sportin’ THAT kind of cash? I picture some guy, works in the mail room all his life, finally buys a car,,a “VIP”, to the envy of his neighbors,,,like the Pontiac “Executive”,,,same thing. This, IDK, it’s a great find of a car nobody really wanted, and were trashed accordingly. A Plymouth 4 door was not something you cruised Wisconsin Ave. with( although many of us did), and that alone makes this a rare find. About the only way you’ll find one, is if they weren’t used. Nobody saved a Plymouth 4 door, VIP or not. Great find, seems legit. Now to find someone that wants a 60’s tank with only one “power port”,,,
No cup holders is a deal breaker for me…
There is room for 5-6 cupholders in this car. They are also referred to as “passengers” ;)
The VIP was the absolute top of the line full size Plymouth in 1968. To build such a car with nothing more than its basic equipment is probably the best reason to deduce that the dealer gave the car to a high school automotive class. No vinyl roof, no a/c, no p/w, p/d/l, no p/seat, no tinted glass, not even a radio. Normally a car given to a training facility is done so on the provision that the car can never be licensed for the street. If Hahn still had the MSO for the car, it potentially could be now licensed. The low mileage is definitely a plus, but the “average” repaint is a big negative. Sure, it got repainted as an exercise for the shop class, but to leave the repaint as “average” does the car a dis-service. The value in the car is in its originality. The ’78 Aspen listed earlier in this email is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Completely original (except tires/battery) but high mileage. So it’s anybody’s guess whether this car will sell. There are a growing number of C-body Plymouth fans, so who knows?
I love the lack of B pillars on this beauty.
No air, wind up windows and NO radio – in a VIP? Could have been a Fury II if I didn’t see the trim. Shame about the paint
I think it’s bizarre the school didn’t order a Fury I. Why spend all that money on a VIP? And a 4 door hardtop instead of a sedan? And as someone mentioned, a nice car with so little optional equipment?
I bet salesmen ( sorry, ladies, very few salesladies then) could tell a rift of stories as to how or why some folks ordered what they did. Some times, people would order oddly optioned cars and back out, leaving a car, kind of like this, that nobody else would want. Perfect for a charity, like a school. I suppose, one of my concerns would be, what the HS kids did, or didn’t did to that car. I can hear it now,,”Old man Olsen is in a meeting, lets take the Plymouth out in the parking lot and do burnouts”,,
Wow! What a beauty! She may be a 4 dr but at least she’s a 4dr Hardtop. Doesnt need anything but enjoying , therefore price isnt that unreasonable.
I owned a 1968 Fury III two-door from 1978 to 1980. Silver with white interior. It had the 383 two barrel V8. I loved the dashboard, especially at night with the green lighting. Wish I still had it.
If I could check out and see it first hand within 100 miles, 250 miles that car would be driving home with me and be mine till death do us part.
Life long friends parents were freaks when it came to Plymouth Fury’s and VIP’s. They were “Very Important People” with Chrysler’s products. The 50’s and 60’s Plymouth cars, Chrysler products were very popular in St.Louis
I would go to my Brother procure a 440 Super Commando 4 gear A833 with a Dana 60 put a 3:55 gearset in and add a/c for the hot summer days.
The next owner will be very happy at 15k and enjoy cruising a new 68′ Plymouth.
Really like those optional wheel covers!
When I was at Tech school a local Pontiac dealership donated a new 1981 Gran Prix to our shop. It been damaged in transport ; the back part of the roof was dented and the back window broken out .It was a boring tan with a V6 , So I’m sure donating it made more sense than trying to fix it. Years later I went back to the shop to say hi to the teacher, and he now had two brand new Olds Cutlass’s , one a rear drive Supreme ( the last of the rear drives.), the other a front drive Calais .both deep blue, and both fully loaded ! Nothing wrong with either of them ; GM donated both. I really wanted that Supreme . It even had the Rally wheels and white letter tires ! I know it ended its days getting chopped up by the underclassmen, never to be driven.
Nice car! My dad had the two door version of this with a black interior. It was quite the car.