Here’s an interesting discovery, courtesy of Zappenduster, a 1971 Plymouth Fury Custom Suburban – one that definitely doesn’t surface often. Old full-size station wagons have definitely found a niche with enthusiasts, though ChryCo products don’t comprise a large portion of discovery, and for that reason, this Plymouth is a welcome find. St. Charles, Missouri, is where you’ll find it, and it’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $8,000, OBO.
Volumes matter, and as near as I could research (station wagon volumes can be difficult to extract from totals), it appears that Plymouth produced 44K full-size wagons compared to Chevrolet’s 91K (likely curtailed by the big September ’70 GM strike), and Ford’s outsized volume of 237K in ’71. And that’s one reason these Plymouths don’t make the scene in modern times. And to add further focus to scarcity, this Custom Suburban is one of only 2,662 examples assembled 55 long years ago – hardly common! Plymouth’s trim levels included the Sport Suburban on top, the Custom Suburban (our subject) in the middle, and the Suburban bringing up the rear. The listing for this wagon includes an image of an earlier ad that was placed in what appears to be a British publication. Apparently, this California native took a trip to the U.K. for a while, a sale was attempted, and then it returned to the U.S. Anyway, the repainted Glacial Blue finish is fair, the stainless trim is nice, and the seller considers the body panels to be “laser-straight“. What’s not said, but is obvious, is rust; it has seeped into the lower portions of both quarter panels. The exterior presentation is pulled together by a set of American Racing Torque-Thrust wheels.
The blue vinyl upholstery is in decent nick, though there is some confusion as the aforementioned British ad makes mention of “excellent original carpeting…headliner is original factory perforated material and is in excellent shape.” I’m not certain how old that ad is, but the carpet looks less than excellent, and the headliner appears to have mostly fallen out. The dash is wearing a toupee, so you can assume something’s up with that. As for the wayback, it’s suitably scuffed but hardly wrecked, as is often the case with old wagons that spent their lives hauling all sorts of animal, vegetable, mineral, and, of course, the kiddies – this is a nine-passenger rig. Oh, almost forgot, A/C is included, and it is claimed to work.
Slinging this 4,600 lb. staple of suburbia around is a 275 gross HP, 383 CI V8 engine, employing an A727 TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission. The engine, however, has been modified with a four-barrel carburetor, sitting atop an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold, and exhausting itself via a Flowmaster dual exhaust system. A nice inclusion is the factory dual-inlet air cleaner assembly. The seller claims, “runs and drives with no problems.”
The back story on this car is a bit confusing, but this is a solid find and one that is rarely encountered today. While it needs some work, it’s a solid base and a fine example of ChryCo’s contribution to the all-important early-seventies station wagon segment. I don’t know whether the seller will get his price or not, but I imagine this Custom Suburban will find a new home soon, wouldn’t you agree?
Big block wagons 😎 👍
I AM SELLING DUE TO THE COUNTY CORRUPTION AND NEIGHBORS COMPLAINTS 🤷……….that’s a new one…..
Corruption is actually a thing these days if you’ve noticed…
Based on the reviews, this seller has reliability issues.
My cousin just bailed out of Illinois because of the corruption and state of politics.
A big block with A/C, as long as it isn’t hopelessly rotted, it should find a buyer.
love the car hate the wheels, gas can in the back is never a good sign. why would you sell your car due to county corruption? that makes no sense to me.
It depends on where you live, city regulations and how whiny your neighbors are.
Several years ago a house on my block went up for sale, every car within several blocks that didn’t look like it was driven regularly, even with current registration, within a two block was tagged by the city. I live on a corner, a few years ago someone tagged my side fence on a Thursday night, I primed it on a Saturday, it rained on Sunday, and got a notice from the city the following Tuesday showing pictures of the graffiti, that were taken before I could prime the fence the city said if I didn’t have the entire 100+ feet of fence painted in three days I would be fined and the city would send out a work crew and would be billed $1,000+ for them to paint it. The area isn’t the greatest, there is often graffiti in the neighborhood that doesn’t get fixed for months. Enforcement is often selective, this is a common occurrence, often driven by realtors. I’d hate to live in a house with an HOA, I’ve heard they are worse.
Steve R
A town my friend lived in passed an ordinance and every car had to have current registration, plates, and inspection.
His neighbor was restoring a car and had it under cover, up on blocks, wheels off. He told me one day a flat bed came and drug the car with no wheels up on to the wrecker and took it. His neighbor came home to find his car gone. He thought somebody stole it and called the police. they came and told him it was impounded.
That’s what’s meant by county or city regulations.
love the wagon, AND the wheels :)
Ive been looking for one of these, my Father had one when i was driving a big wheel.
Wheels are THE most changed and easiliest changed part, so hate is best saved for things like corruption, pedophilia, and grifting ;)
I had to laugh at the description picture “lack of garage space”. With this car, few garages would be able to hold it! I liked the grilles on the ’69 and ’70 Plymouths better, but you get what you take. There is some exterior rust on the quarters and the kick panel ahead of the rear wheels, some look serious, but it may be repairable in the right hands. The other rust inside of the doors looks more like surface rust and can be cleaned up pretty easy. I’m wondering how difficult it would be to get the interior roof panels after 55 years, but I’m sure it can be done. The thing I loved the most on these was the fuselage style worked on the wagons as well and makes for a beautiful profile! Someone will be happy to get this car, and with a little work, it can be a prized Mopar again!
I like it. It brings back memories. A neighbor had a 69 Plymouth Fury and friend’s parents had a 65 Fury wagon with the 383, a 69 Polara with a 318 and he had Darts( 67, 71) I like these wheels on anything, so it works for me unless you have a set of small Caps with Redline tires…
Cool wagon, but don’t know that it’s 8k cool.
I’m pretty sure I had a wagon like this that I got used. I was putting up aluminum siding at the time and I would carry ladders and scaffolding on that skinny roof rack. It’s a miracle I didn’t kill somebody with it. It was gold but may have had the 318 V8. I eventually cracked the frame, go figure, and sold it to a guy running a janitorial service carrying nothing heavier than buckets and mops. For all I know it’s still being driven somewhere.
My parents bought a new 71 Plymouth wagon but theirs was with the wood grain sides and hidden headlights, two tone brown leather seats. It was a sharp beast!
In the quoted production numbers. I believe that in 1971 is when the GM wagons started the “clamp shell” tail gates which were very popular. You could load/unload the back end with the garage door closed to the elements. Or was that in 1973? My old brain can’t remember that particular date. I do remember providing alot of tailgate drive cables under warranty.
Yes, ’71 through ’76
JO
That beast reeks of restomod. Too much to put back to original, but its traveled the world, been on TV, id go boogie van interior on it and smile at all the guys shaking their heads in disgust. But sadly no barndominium to hold it.
For 1971 Fury, the 2bbl 383 was rated at 290HP, and the 4bbl 383 was rated at 330HP, according to, “Automoblie-Catalog.com”
And that’s wrong, those are the ’70 ratings. Here it is for ’71, directly from Plymouth.
JO
Wow. Breaks my heart seeing this car, because my best friend (who passed last year) had the exact same car, only Pat’s had a 440. Beautiful blue paint, blue interior, great runner. I wasn’t interested ‘at the time’ so he sold it to his neighbor at a really good price. It became a demo-derby car. Destroyed it. A lot of old Mopars met the same fate but this one really hits home. Great looking car, I hope it finds a good home.
“…wouldn’t you agree?…”
as Wagonman, of course !
My fav Suburban of their’s? (well B4 cheb took the moniker):
https://journal.classiccars.com/2017/11/19/1953-plymouth-suburban/
Love the pontoon, slab-side look (want the 4dor long roof)