Jalopnik: fury

DOTS-O-Rama Sunday: 1967 Plymouth Fury III

Murilee Martin — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Yes, we've got another POLAЯ DOTSBE car for you, this time a 1967 Plymouth Fury III (much like the one we saw in Orange County last Sunday).

Within the same block as the 1959 Desoto, I discovered this 1967 Plymouth Fury III parked on the same side. Unfortunately there wasn't a drunken stinky man around this time to let me know if this Fury was going Commando as indicated or not. Needless to say, she's looking pretty good against the curbstone.

DOTS-O-Rama Sunday: 1967 Plymouth Sport Fury III

Murilee Martin — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EDT

We're still in lovely Costa Mesa, California, where Tomsk photographed this '67 Plymouth Fury for us. The hood ornament and "Commando V8" badging indicate that the car shipped with a 270- or 325-horsepower 383 under the hood (although there's no telling what sort of powerplant lives there now, what with the ready availability of so many flavors of Mopar engines over the decades). Jump like the cost of filling this thing up with high-octane to read Tomsk's observations.

This fine specimen of droptop Plymouth was captured in an area of Costa Mesa, CA that houses a veritable treasure trove of vehicles guaranteed to make the dragon in your life have a love explosion in his or her pants. I'll be submitting more of this neighborhood's inhabitants for tha Jalop's collective...er, "viewing pleasure" over the coming weeks, including one vehicle that may very well be the most Jalopnik in all of Orange County (and no, it's not a camino).
Until the next one comes along, please enjoy this golden chariot hailing from a time when men were men, smoking in front of the kids was kosher, Chrysler needed a brand below Dodge, and "Commando" had yet to become the title of one of the Governator's most quoted movies.

Tomsk

1967: The Dawn Of A New Day For Plymouth

Murilee Martin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT

"Dawn Of A New Day" sounds much better than "Plymouth: Only 34 Years To Go," though of course Chrysler's marketers at the time had no idea that the Plymouth brand would barely outlive the current century. What we have here is the '67 Belvedere (a "whale of a lot of car for the money"), the "rich-looking compact" '67 Valiant and the '67 Fury, whose "beauty and luxury make it hard to believe you're in the low-price field." Hmm, for a minute there we were thinking we were actually listening to Chrysler's most recent "new day" marketing campaign. Well, except without the animated kid, of course.

1978 Dodge Monaco Brougham

Murilee Martin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:00:00 EDT

What was it with Detroit and the word Brougham? GM, Ford, and Chrysler each slapped their share of "Brougham" emblems all over various crypto-upscale models of the 1960s and 1970s, apparently believing that buyers would feel that the elegance of 18th-century horse-drawn vehicles would rub off on their gasoline buggies. This '78 Dodge has all the Malaise Brougham features, from its vinyl top to its lo-po powerplant, and there's some puzzling Fury-ness to it to make things interesting.

Brougham just plain means class! But where are the opera lights?

It's always fun when I find multiple DOTS cars on the same block; here we have the 1942 Pontiac Torpedo across the street and down the block. And maybe you Mopar experts can tell us why this car seems to have '77 Fury taillights. Bumper swap? Perhaps the Plymouth hubcaps came from the same donor car.

Alameda has a good climate for keeping rust at bay, but vinyl tops tend to fare badly in the harsh sunlight. This top is quite three-dimensional by now.

Hey, we've had quite a few 1978 DOTS cars, so let's have a poll to see which one is the readers' choice!

First 200 DOTS

Cars From The House Of The Rising Sun

Murilee Martin — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST

We all loved the New Orleans Impala, so A Strolling Player took it upon himself to photograph six Down On The New Orleans Street cars for us (I couldn't help but use a HOTRS reference in the post title, having just read an interesting book about the history of the song; otherwise you'd probably be getting a bunch of Algrenesque Big Stingaree jokes). Make the jump to see the entire collection and read Strolling's descriptions.

The first is what looks to be a 1966 Plymouth Fury III, which was, from what I can tell, Plymouth's halo car at the time. Pretty clean example; I really dig the design for being clean and classy and imposing at the same time. While it's not as fantastic as, say, a late-'50s anything or a '71-'73 boattail Riviera, it does what it sets out to do well.
Next I will show you the other end of Plymouth's spectrum, which I happened to find and photograph about 5 minutes after this one.

This is the opposite end of Plymouth's line from the Fury III I'd photographed five minutes before this Valiant. This one was just around the corner and couple blocks up Magazine Street from the Fury in one of New Orleans's more popular Uptown shopping districts. The Valiant seems to be Plymouth's pre-Malaise economy badge (replaced by the Volare! YES!); this one's in pretty awful condition but is driven at least some, considering its condition, the fact that it's on Mississippi tags, and that I saw it on the road a couple miles away about seven hours later and thought "Wow, look at that old drab-green car coming down the—hey I photographed that car this morning!" Everything cosmetic on this car seems to be falling apart/off, especially the grille and the side trim. Dents everywhere, tooNext is a different sort of Detroit iron from the same year as the Fury.

I'm not sure how I'd convinced myself beyond a doubt earlier that this was definitely a '66, but the shape of the dashboard plants it firmly between '64 and '66. Regardless, I've seen this old multicoloured workhorse parked Uptown on Magazine Street a number of times. I thought it had been in a different place each time but the notice on the dashboard indicated it hadn't been moved in over a month. Either way, I finally shot it between my walk from the Fury to the Valiant. I wonder what the original colour was, because the internet would have me believe that the grilles on these were all chrome.
Next: another day, another car... same five blocks.

While I was photographing this car around the corner from the cigar shop at which my buddy Andrew works, a couple walked by and said something about their landlord trying to sell this car, or something. I passed, because I'm broke, but if I'd had the cash to throw around I'm sure I'd have made an offer. It's advertised as a '65 so I didn't really look into identification other than it's definitely a '64-'66. I can't get over the generally spacey design, but where are the hubcaps? Also, I apologise for the grainy/washed-out photos, most of them have been enhanced because these were taken on my iPhone (decent sensor, awful lens) in the shade. The straight-on rear shot is probably the only one accurate colour-wise.
The next car is a break from Detroit and a break from New Orleans, as well.

This one comes from a rainy day on LSU's campus. I see this car parked in central campus almost every day, so it must be some faculty/staff member's daily driver. I always notice that there's about a half inch between the windows and the roof and wondered what happened when it rained. Well, apparently he/she drives it anyway. I caught it on a campus street and not in a parking lot once so I thought it would be a good opportunity to photograph it. I want to say it's between '74 and '76 mostly because of the enormous Malaise rubber bumper... things (though this example only has one) that seem to have grown for '74, and I think a couple details were changed for '77. Paraphrasing Clarkson, I'd say the driver is very brave, or stupid.
Finally I'll take you back to New Orleans, but the next car comes from a different part of Uptown.

Finally, a car I found driving through a different part of Uptown avoiding Mardi Gras parade traffic. Pretty good example of the transition between the flash of the late '50s and the more subdued mid-late '60s. Crown on the grille, but a small one; tiny fins above the headlights; grille-thing under the trunklid. Also, fuzzy dice!

Looks like I got each half of my Prius in a couple of the photos; interesting to note the differences in automotive-design-inspired-by-spacecraft-design from 1963 to 2006, although I'm sure comparisons with that '65 T-bird would have been more appropriate.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the submissions, I know I'll enjoy seeing them on the site...eventually. Keep up the good work; DOTS is one of my favourite parts of Jalopnik!

Many thanks, A Strolling Player, and also thanks to the rest of you who send your Down On The Street Bonus Edition photos my way. Apologies to those of you who have been waiting and waiting to see your DOTSBE photos on the site; my time- and file-management systems haven't been quite as efficient as they might be, but I'll get caught up yet!

1972 Plymouth Fury III

Murilee Martin — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST

I try to post cars made by defunct manufacturers on a regular basis (e.g., the Studebaker Lark of a few weeks back), but it's been months since we last saw one of Alameda's street-parked Plymouths (and even longer since we've seen an Olds). So here we go: a nice rust-free '72 Fury to start our day!

I found this car parked in the West End, not far from the 1950 Plymouth Deluxe.

I consider 1972 to be the first year of the Malaise Era, what with the Watergate break-in, but this car has the chrome bumpers and powerful engine of the pre-Malaise Era. I drove a cop-spec '73 Fury for a while in high school, and I recall it being a pretty decent car (though the engine had less power and the '72s awesome grille had been replaced by a less imposing unit).

It's hard not to love a huge expanse of chrome with a big rectangular opening for the car's nameplate!

First 150 DOTS Cars

Race Is On, Size Still Matters

Murilee Martin — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:00:00 EST

Back in the October Altamont 24 Hours of LeMons race, we were all impressed by the Size Matters Plymouth Fury. It wasn't all that fast, but the ol' 318 never gave up and the car finished a respectable 23rd place. Now that today's race is officially on, we're pleased to report that the Size Matters Fury is here and doing its thing once again. Of course, its team can no longer claim to have the oldest car on the track, as Team Field Find's 1965 Mercedes-Benz takes that honor today, but we'll see which car is still driving in the next race...

Before the Corvette Z06 Speedboat there was the Charger Runaboat

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST

While they may not have the obsessive mimicry of the Corvette Speed Boat, Chrysler produced a rather large line of their own boats, including the pair of Chargers pictured above. The folks at ALLPAR have a great history of models from 1969, which included popular models such as the Valliant, Fury, Barracuda, Dart, Charger and Polara. Though none of the '69 models were HEMI-powered (and a few had GM engines), you could still get one with 225-horsepower.

The boats used a hull design with a specialized foam that eventually became a standard for the industry as the foam helped prevent the boat from becoming completely submurged in the event of an accident. While there's no Charger Daytona to gawk at, the boats are attractive in their own way (we particularly like the little green Dart). Enjoy! [ALLPAR]

Oldest Car At LeMons: The Size Matters '67 Fury!

Murilee Martin — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EDT

What do you do with a beater '67 Plymouth Fury four-door hardtop with a 318? Why, you race it, of course! The Size Matters Fury came in 23rd in last weekend's 24 Hours of LeMons race at Altamont, overcoming its handling disadvantages thanks to a combo of driver skill and reliability. The team members claimed it got pretty good mileage, too. Jump like an Eclipse bouncing off a big Mopar's flank to see the Size Matters Fury gallery...

Petula Clark Beats On The Groovy New Fury

Murilee Martin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:30:48 EDT

You can just imagine the ad-agency guys brainstorming on how to get the new generation of young car buyers to dig the '68 Fury. Get Petula Clark! Get a strangely earthtoned psychedelic set! Stick some fake sideburns and mustaches on some actors pretending to be acid-droppin' freak musicians! Then, of course, make everyone play the car! Petula's obvious English accent kinda takes away from the desired effect, since of course it triggers Americans' subliminal fear of the Prince of Darkness; they'd have been better off with Grace Slick, huge pupils and all.

Plymouth Introduces Smokeymobiles For '72!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:45:37 EDT

We've already taken a look at Chrysler's vintage cabbie-friendly offerings, and now it's time for the cop-grade Fury and Satellite for '72. You've seen this car in countless 70s action movies, usually driven by evil free-spirit-persecutin' Smokeys but sometimes piloted by heroic scumbag-bustin' lawmen bent on stemming the tide of lawlessness sweeping the land. Now we totally want a '72 Police Special Satellite with 440, 4-speed, and vintage gumball machine on the roof! [The Old Car Manual Project]

Cabs From Plymouth For '68

Murilee Martin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EDT

The Crown Victoria has reigned supreme in the cab world for so long that it's hard to imagine a time when other cars served as taxis. Oh, sure, we know about the Checker Marathon, but it's easy to forget that each of Detroit's Big Three used to put a lot of effort into pushing their full- and mid-sized models to cab companies. Here's a factory brochure for the taxi-ized Fury and Belvedere for 1968, courtesy of the folks at the amazing Old Car Manual Project. [TOCMP.com]

Plymouth Rapid Transit System Brochure

Mike Bumbeck — Fri, 04 May 2007 13:00:00 EDT

While modern automakers try to infuse us with computer generated images of brush strokes morphing into luxury cars or show us smarmy future executives happily tossing their light blues and khakis out of the window on their way out of town, they seem to have long and truly forgotten something. Driving is supposed to be wicked fun - and budget performance counts. To think that Plymouth had an entire system of budget minded performance machines in 1970, yet went out with a mere breeze thirty years down the road makes for a sad ending to the once mighty name. Glorious text excerpt from the 1970 Rapid Transit Brochure after the jump. – Mike Bumbeck

1970

Those of us at Plymouth who design and build high-performance cars have been inspired to go beyond just offering cars with big engines, good suspensions, great brakes and fat tires.

We now have a System. An integrated program. It's Mathematics rather than numbers. Oceanography rather than salt water. It's a total concept in high-performance transportation which combines the lessons learned in competition, an information network, people who understand high-performance, trick parts, and great products.

The Rapid Transit System is years of racing experience at Daytona, Indianapolis, Riverside, Irwindale, Cecil County. It's the race cars themselves drag racing cars, Grand National stackers, rally and Championship cars. And it's the input (and output) gained from all this racing.

The Rapid Transit System is information — the straight scoop from us to you — on how to tune and modify your car, which equipment to use, and how to set the whole thing up for racing. (The subject matter covers everything from this high-performance car catalog, to Supercar Clinics, to Road Runner decals, to tips on full-race Hemis.) See your dealer or write the Rapid Transit System, P.O. Box 7749, Detroit, Michigan 48207.

The System is people. People like yourself who Like cars.

The System is high-performance parts — special cams, manifolds, pistons, bearings, etc. — which are now more readily available through parts centers strategically located across the country.

The System is even a piece of the action for beginners. Let's say you're still a few years away from a driver's license, but that hasn't dampened your enthusiasm for cars. Your favorite cartoon is Road Runner, your favorite car is Road Runner, and you only wish your driveway were a couple of miles long. Well, maybe you're not old enough to drive, but you sure can wear a Plymouth racing jacket. And you can also pick up or send for a handful of our decals, stickers, catalogs and brochures. And go to free Sox & Martin or Don Grotheer Super Car Clinics.

Above all, the RTS is the product, Everything from a "sleeper" Duster with a 340 cu. in. V-8, to a giant 440 cu. in. Sport Fury GT, all the way up to a Hemi-'Cuda with a Quivering Exposed Cold Air Grabber.

And, in between, there are Road Runners and GTXs available with 6-barrel carburetion, and vacuum-controlled induction systems. And 'Cudas with light-weight, high-winding 340 V8s. Each one is a complete high-performance car. With suspension, brakes, driveline and tires to match, (The system doesn't allow for a car that won't corner or stop or stand up under the strain when you stand on it.)

Finally, the Rapid Transit System is common sense on your part. You know when you want to really turn it on, turn it on at a sanctioned strip.

This year, give the Rapid Transit System careful consideration.

Compare it with mere cars. And, if you come to the conclusion you can't beat it—join it.

Related:
En Fuego! The Plymouth Fire Arrow [Internal]

Classic Ad Watch: 1970 Plymouth Rapid Transit System

Mike Bumbeck — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:00:00 EDT

From the something slightly less ballistic to wrap up the day department comes the very old news that Plymouth is out to win you over this year - with the 1970 lineup. Who says speed, luxury, and low price don't mix? Dig this. – Mike Bumbeck