Too Many Doors? 1971 Plymouth Fury III Project

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Plymouth used numerical designations to differentiate their full-size cars from 1965 to 1974. The Fury I was the basic entry, sort of like the Chevy Biscayne. Next up was the Fury II, not unlike the Bel Air. And the Fury III was akin to the Impala, so Plymouth had all their competitive bases covered. The cars were redesigned in 1969 with a “fuselage” look added to their styling. The cars were minimally changed in 1971 and Plymouth built 259,000 of the big cars that year. The seller’s Fury III needs some mechanical tinkering and if the seller continues working on it, the price is likely to increase. For now, the asking price is $3,200 in St. Francis, Wisconsin and it is available here on craigslist.

Fifth-generation Fury’s came with a wide range of engine choices. You could still get a 225 cubic inch Slant-Six, but that was such a small engine for such a large vehicle. We suspect that most were ordered with a 318 V8, but the 383 and 440 were also on the list. The seller says this Plymouth has a rebuilt 360 under the hood, but that engine didn’t hit the roster until 1973/74, so this is no doubt a transplant. The motor has about 10,000 miles on it and has a few upgrades.

The seller sounds frustrated. He/she is converting parts of the ignition and said wiring isn’t working out, so he’s willing to sell the car at a lower price and just move on. Ownership spans back several years and the car was a daily driver until Covid, which means it may have been off the road for a few turns of the calendar. The seller is open to you fixing it in the driveway and piloting it away or bringing a trailer and making it disappear.

This Mopar is not without rust which the seller says is in the “usual places” – specifically the quarter panels, but also “etc.” (wouldn’t hurt to elaborate). This Mopar might not appeal to everyone because it has four doors. But you see them less often than comparable Chevies and Fords, so it might be worth taking a shot at it because the asking price isn’t crazy money. Yet another great tip from Tony Primo!

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Comments

  1. Fordor

    “TOO MANY DOORS”??? No, just the right amount—no 8 foot doors with the crawl-over-your-back seats.

    Like 14
    • Daral

      I agree. I belong to the “ more door mafia”. lol. 2 Pontiac wagons.

      Like 8
    • nlpnt

      Fuselage C-bodies always looked to me like they were designed as 4-doors first, they also look great as station wagons and the 2-door hardtop looks like an afterthought, and as though they were forced to use the side glass from a smaller car.

      Like 5
  2. Don Holt

    360 came out on 1971 .

    Like 7
    • Phil D

      I came here to make that point, but you beat me to it. Russ is correct that the 360 4 bbl. didn’t arrive until 1973 (and even then, not for C-bodies like this Fury, but to replace the 340), but the garden variety 360 2 bbl, was introduced in 1971 specifically for cars like this, to compete with the 350 Impalas and 351 Galaxies.

      Like 5
  3. Steve R

    Barely running rusty project that’s been sitting close to 5 years. It’s not a make or model that has a strong following, the asking price is enticing, but there are much better turn key cars available for not much more. This car is likely best suited as an engine donor if it doesn’t have more serious problems such as a flat cam.

    Steve R

    Like 4
  4. eric22t

    nope not too many doors. especially for those long sunday drives on the Kancamagus for lunch in conway, and some antique shop stops

    Like 7
  5. Steve Weiman

    Have always thought the four-door hardtop variant of these C bodies to be the best looking of the lot. Two-door models were always rather awkward looking to me. So yea, Four-door not a detriment here!
    ‘71 was is the first year for the 360 in these full-size Plymouths So quite likely it was indeed born with one.
    I would prefer this one in its original “quiet” form, This ain’t no muscle car…..

    Like 6
  6. Stan Stan 🏁Member

    Four door Fitch takes issue w that heading Dixon lol 😅

    Like 5
    • Fordor

      Nice to see a “Kindred Spirit” on this site for a change!

      Like 4
  7. RNR

    Friends of ours had a white ’69 Fury III four door hardtop in the 80’s.

    Nickname? “Moby”

    Like 2
  8. Kanak Attak

    I got me a Mopar and it’s big as a whale 🐳 and it’s about to set sail! Tin roof! Rusty! lol 😂 I love this big ol’ Mopars! Yep that thing needs a Hami between them fenders! Wouldn’t mind having it! Sleeper action dreams like that cop car on Dirty Mary Crazy Larry lol 🤙🏽🤙🏽🍻🍻💚💚🙏🙏🏦🏦🏦

    Like 4
  9. John Muller

    Not a Plymouth historian nor would I claim to be by any means but I owned a 1971 Fury that had been my grandfather’s, then my brothers, then sisters, then mine, and it had a 360-2 barrel in it. I used to race a friend of mine who owned a 64′ Belvedere 2-door with a 318 in it and I always wished grandpa had ordered it with the 4-barrel instead. It was brown and had the old paisley vinyl roof and matching interior with bucket seats and the covered head lamps, rear fender skirts. Great car that I should have treated better!

    Like 3
    • Phil D

      In defense of your grandpa, John, he didn’t have that option. In 1971 the 360 two barrel was introduced to allow Plymouth Furys and Dodge Polaras and Monacos to better compete with Impalas and Caprices with 350s and Galaxies and LTDs with 351s. The four barrel variant was still a couple of years off, when they were phased in to replace the 340, but only in those applications which had previously offered the 340. With the possible exception of police package cars, I don’t recall the 360 four barrel ever being offered in a C-body.

      Like 4
  10. "Edsel" Al leonardMember

    C’mon Russ!! Get off the “too many doors” mantra!!!

    Like 3
  11. Nelson C

    Pretty cool. Remember when a rusty trusty like this was a $300-$400 car?

    Like 2
  12. John Muller

    I paid $750.00 for mine and I would guess that was around 1980-1983 as my sister bought a Ford Escort in 1983 or 1984, which I drove up and down the street we lived on after everyone went to sleep to teach myself to drive a manual transmission. Later in life I taught my sister how to downshift to pass.

    Like 3
  13. Matt Webb

    360s were lopo motors. If they built them in 71, they would have had 10:1 compression, or very close. They were a product of the oil crisis.

    Like 0
    • Phil D

      The 1971 360 was just a larger 318, and while it evolved into the replacement for the 340 in the malaise era, there was never a truly high compression 360.

      The 360 2 barrel engine was a “grandpa’s car” engine that filled the gap between the 318 and the 383/400 B-block engines. Prior to that, Plymouth and Dodge dealers didn’t have a mid-300s CI engine to offer their full-sized car buyers like the GM and Ford dealers did, and that was quickly becoming the “go to” displacement in cars like this.

      Like 0

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