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59 explorer

Posted 2008-01-01 10:52 PM (#109304)
Subject: 1961 Plymouth Fury

Extreme Veteran

Posts: 384
100

Location: Hershey PA

Viewing the ultimate 61 Fury tread got me to thinking...

In the fall of 60, our 57 Belvedere club coupe was badly rusted and in need of replacement. Dad had his heart set on a leftover Dodge Phoenix 4 door sedan but couldn't find one. He took one look at the 61 Dodges and went to the Pymouth dealer and ordered a new 61 Fury 4 door sedan. Being all of 12 I took him at his word when he said it was like the one in the catalog. I though we were getting a black one with a red interior. December 31 he picks up the car and comes home. To my utter dismay it is a solid fawn beige Fury 4 door sedan complete with radio/heater/automatic. Other options include whitewalls, the double strut driver's side mirror and windshield washers. Somehow he forgot the wheel covers- he got the dog dish hubcaps attached to fawn beige wheels. I told him then that even Car 54 and Ward Cleaver had wheel covers on their 61's

The car served us well for 5 years with a only bit of rust on the lower left front fender and the cloth seat replaced on front cushion My first legal driving mile was in that car and it did over 100 mph on the NY Thruway. When we traded it in for a 66 Fury III 2 door HT, the dealer turned the mileage back 30,000 miles and sold the car off the lot for what we got in trade. The new buyer, an engineer for the South Buffalo Railroad, had a habit of stopping off at local bars after work. For over 4 years we followed the car, the dog dish hubcaps made it easy to identify. January 1970 the Plymouth sits at a Shell station for sale at $125 where it was lost to the ages.

You know I kind of miss her...

Doctor DeSoto

Posted 2008-01-01 11:51 PM (#109311 - in reply to #109304)
Subject: RE: 1961 Plymouth Fury

Location: Parts Unknown

I can't speak to foreign makers, but American car mfr's had a bad habit of taking a good thing and slowly making it obese or watered down. Ford took the lean Mustang and within 5 years it looked like a bloated version of its former self. It is a wonder they didn't make sedans and wagons out of it.

Ma Mopar didn't miss THAT opportunity with the Fury though. Color me nostalgic, but the "Fury" moniker should have remained the epitome of Plymouth's .... what else ? ..... FURY !

Instead, the poor name fell victim to a series of put-downs until it sounded like a Rambo movie ...... Fury IV. Whatever the 58 and earlier Furys had going for them just by being Furys now required explanation ..... "no, no, .... this is an EARLY Fury .... you know, the ones that only came as go-fast machines". Not some six cylinder wagon.

I am not sure where American car styling was heading - what design objective they were shooting for in the early 60's. They all seem sort of "lost" in the vacuum of what to do after the futuristic fins became the past. Not just Mopar, but everyone. A 61 Plymouth is interesting, but standing next to a 58, I can't help but want to ask "What was going on at those design meetings" in between? It isn't that I don't like them, because I do. But I can see a solid evolution and purpose from year to year from 1939 to 58. Then it seems they just weren't sure if more chrome was in order, higher fins, reverse fins, no fins .... ?

History is what it is. I just would love to hear the audio tapes from those design meetings.

Those dog dishies may have represented "poverty caps" in the day. Anymore, they are a neat way to set a car apart as something special, even if it is a lovely shade of beige !

Ozzie 61

Posted 2008-01-02 9:34 AM (#109319 - in reply to #109304)
Subject: RE: 1961 Plymouth Fury

Veteran

Posts: 291
100

Location: Enfield, CT

My wife and I were chatting about this yesterday! (Yes, she expresses interest in my hobby, how cool is that?) To me it seems the 57-58 designs in general were very clean and cohesive. Look at a 58 Plymouth and walk around it, the design flows from all angles...the 59-60s lost something that the 57-58's had, but were still nice in their own way. 1961, especially at Dodge and Plymouth, were a hodgepodge of ideas. Looks like someone designed a front, someone else designed the backs, a third guy did the sides....please don't get me wrong. I'm a BIG 61 Plymouth fan (own 2) love them for what they are. But when you walk around my Fury, and look at the OVERALL design, it is awkward. Certain body styles have a better look than others, but overall, you have to wonder, in Mr. Exner's absense, what chaos was going on in the design studios for that model year in particular.....would love to get more detailed information on that!

d500neil

Posted 2008-01-02 6:09 PM (#109409 - in reply to #109304)
Subject: Re: 1961 Plymouth Fury

Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!

Posts: 19146
5000

Location: bishop, ca

Ray brings up an interesting question: The abortive 1962 ("Plucked Chicken") car designs have been well preserved in design- studio photographs.

Does anyone have any photographs of the 1961 cars' styling renderings, from the late 50's????

How early were the 61 stylings finalized?

Edited by d500neil 2008-01-02 6:11 PM

Doctor DeSoto

Posted 2008-01-03 1:08 AM (#109490 - in reply to #109319)
Subject: RE: 1961 Plymouth Fury

Location: Parts Unknown

Ozzie 61 - 2008-01-03 6:34 AM

My wife and I were chatting about this yesterday! (Yes, she expresses interest in my hobby, how cool is that?) To me it seems the 57-58 designs in general were very clean and cohesive. Look at a 58 Plymouth and walk around it, the design flows from all angles...the 59-60s lost something that the 57-58's had, but were still nice in their own way. 1961, especially at Dodge and Plymouth, were a hodgepodge of ideas. Looks like someone designed a front, someone else designed the backs, a third guy did the sides....please don't get me wrong. I'm a BIG 61 Plymouth fan (own 2) love them for what they are. But when you walk around my Fury, and look at the OVERALL design, it is awkward. Certain body styles have a better look than others, but overall, you have to wonder, in Mr. Exner's absense, what chaos was going on in the design studios for that model year in particular.....would love to get more detailed information on that!

********************************

I too have that duality of thinking when it comes to cars. Hell, I even like dumpy old Ramblers just cuz, you know ?

But then comes the critical analysis thinking. It doesn't mean I don't like something. I might even like it BECAUSE it is awkward or ungainly !

I remember the first time I considered buying a 61 Plymouth for my own personal fun / use. It was a 2HT Belvedere, painted an *almost* Plum Crazy kind of purple metallic. The roofline of the 2HT really worked well on that car, and the very long and horizontal look from the sides is quite a design. Even the rear carried the theme. The front though ? The blunted hood turn down and those wild *sinister* eyebrows with the reverse cutaway. I will admit it was creative ! And I loved the way "Belvedere" was cut into the side trim line like chatter marks. Now THAT was cool ! I'd still like to have one. I have just accepted my limitations, .... I can only afford so many cars !

And as much as I like them all, some I like even more than others.

I want to know why I wasn't born a trust fund child ????

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