Once the washy sister of sports - automobile companies , Plymouth jumped into the performance field for 1956 with its circumscribed edition Plymouth Fury that did nothing but get better for 1957 and 1958 . The first Furys were the plushest and most potent Plymouths of the decade . Today , they ’re sought after for their high style , down output , and bully go .
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Chrysler Corporation chairman Kaufman Thuma Keller preview his company ’s all - new 1955 model shortly before they travel into production . At the Plymouth studio apartment he see a the Great Compromiser exemplar unlike any old Plymouth , with sleek lines , peaked fenders , and a sportsmanlike bar grillwork . Stylists told him they thought it was jolly good . " It ’d well be , " old K.T. fool back . " We ca n’t afford another mistake . “Keller admitted that he was partly responsible for for Chrysler ’s styling inertia in the years travel along World War II . For the troupe ’s first post - war redesign of 1949 , he ’d insisted on cars " tall enough to get into while wearing a hat , " and he got them .
Styling was n’t too crucial during the unprecedented trafficker ’s market of the late-1940s , but once challenger toughened and Ford launch its 1953 sales blitz , Chrysler products were perceived as dumpy and outdated . Bread - winning Plymouth demand a sale lacing in 1954 . Calendar class intensity number only 399,000 units , a unsatisfying 5th - home finish that strike off the first time since 1930 that Plymouth had not been act three . But Keller could relax . The 1955 Plymouth was no mistake , and neither was its finned 1956 replacement . Entirely restyled and available with Plymouth ’s first V-8 , they were dramatically new , colourful , fine-looking , and nimble .
Plymouth duly claim fourth in industry production for both years , then regained third place in 1957 . Its sister makes did equally well . Today , however , historian think back banner 1955 mainly for the greening it lend Chrysler Corporation . A key soma in a more recent Chrysler greening , Lee Iacocca , has target out that once you ’re sell standard clobber at a good clip , you ’re allowed to have fun . For Iacocca , play commence with the reborn convertible . For Chrysler in the mid-1950s , fun meant mellow performance .
The company had stick in its hemispherical - head V-8 for 1951 . Just four years later , this mighty engine was powering the first of the great Chrysler 300s , which quick dominated NASCAR and AAA stock - car competitor . The 300s temptingness was a heavy plus in the showroom , where it cue many buyers to plump for a Windsor or New Yorker . This sales value by nature promote other divisions to think similar thoughts , and each had a modified - production , high - public presentation special usable for 1956 . Dodge offered the D-500 selection for any manakin in its card , while DeSoto added the Adventurer hardtop coupe and Plymouth fielded the Fury . The last outsold all its high - power stablemates combined . Keep reading to learn more about the 1956 Plymouth Fury . For more data on cars , see :
1956 Plymouth Fury
On the exterior was one - tone eggshell white rouge , set off by a full - distance bodyside sweepspear with a Au - anodized aluminum inset . Anodized amber also adorn the grille center and the extra " spoke " bike covers . ( The latter interchanged with those of the DeSoto Adventurer , except that the hubs were apparent on the Plymouth Fury , monogrammed " DeS " on the Adventurer . )
inwardly was eggshell vinyl group upholstery with bootleg jacquard inserts . On the sharply finned 1956 hardtop body , all this looked rather dashing indeed . But what really made the Plymouth Fury memorable was what befall when you blow out of the water its accelerator . In addressing Fury functioning , Plymouth engineers did not soup up an existing V-8 like Ford and Chevy . They view as their 277 - cubic - column inch polyspherical - principal locomotive engine too small and adjudicate against take any fortune with superchargers or fuel shot .
out of the blue , they also shunned using one of the corporate hemis , though it ’s not do it whether this was out of choice or because other division would n’t cooperate . What they did do was opt an engine from across the river : the 303 - Criminal Investigation Command poly - head V-8 from the Canadian Chrysler Windsor and Dodge Royal . The 303 was a prime weft , because it was proper at the top of the displacement limit for NASCAR Class 5 ( 259 - 305 cid ) .
To this basic block the engineers applied a high - lift cam , solid lifters , vaulted plunger , a four - barrel carb , free - rate of flow twofold exhausts , and 9.25:1 compaction . The resolution was 240 H.P. , about .8 horse cavalry per three-dimensional inch . ( It ’s a scuttlebutt on the pace of the 1950s " HP wash " that Chevrolet reach a full 1.0 horsepower per cubic inch just one yr later on , though the 1956 Chrysler 300B also managed that magical bell ringer , with optional high - condensation heads.)To handle the extra poke , the Fury was equipped with large - tariff spring and jounce , jumbo Dodge brakes of 11 - inch diameter , wide 7.10 x 15 tires , and a front anti - sway bar . put it on the route was a heavy - duty three - focal ratio manual contagion with beefed - up clutch . Optional was Chrysler ’s two - focal ratio PowerFlite reflex , now with pushbutton control .
While other 1956 Plymouths front passably high - sided , the Fury hunker down on its well - damped suspension an column inch nigher to the road . It was visibly different and looked like it meant business . The Fury may have looked decent , but how did it perform ? Go to the next page to find out . For more information on cable car , see :
1956 Plymouth Fury Performance
But if anybody doubted that " business concern " was incisively what Plymouth intend , they had only to read about the exploit of a pre - production 1956 Fury that run on the sands of Daytona Beach , Florida , on the same day the newfangled mannikin was being read in Chicago .
Driven by Phil Walters , fresh from campaigns with the Chrysler - powered Cunningham racers , it blasted through the flying mile at 124 miles per hour , with a best one - style upper of 124.611 mph , and covered the tolerate mile at 82.54 miles per hour – extraordinary for a dear - broth passenger car count 3,650 pounds . ( The only nod to streamline was mask off the headlamp housing and removing the roulette wheel covers.)The newfangled Fury looked like a certain success at the Daytona Speed Weeks in February , but NASCAR regulations intervened . Plymouth was informed that the Fury did not qualify for the Stock class because it had not been in yield the required 90 days . The only alternative was to run it as a Factory Experimental against what promise to be rather more serious competition . Plymouth gave it a effort , outfit a higher - ski lift cam , new heads with close to 10:1 compression , and a Chrysler manifold carrying matching four - gun barrel carbs . On its first run , this change Fury scorched through the traps at 143.596 mph , but a incorrect fuel cap created a tank vacancy that starved the auto for flatulency on the retort slip , when Walters fall short of 130 miles per hour .
In any case , the Plymouth Fury would have been beaten : A Mercury prepared by Bill Stroppe shortly become in a 147.26 miles per hour mediocre in the same class . Nevertheless , it was an impressive carrying out .
But what would a craze do right off a principal ’s lot , with no streamlining tricks or razor - edge tuning by mill experts ? astonishingly , the answer was almost as well .
Motor Trendmagazine ’s example , " Though no Daytona car . . . still clock a furious 114 miles per hour on its 3.73 axle ; the not - too - accurate Fury tachometer was registering 4,400 - 4,600 revolutions per minute . Plymouth engineers evoke that with a longer rivulet , we would have nudged it nearer to 118 - 120 at 4,900 revolutions per minute . “MT ’s test car did the 0 - 60 mph dash in 9.5 instant and the standing quarter - mile at 83.5 miles per hour in 16.9 seconds . It ride about as well as any Belvedere but had less pitch shot over extrusion and less body roll , which translated into more accurate steering .
The editor felt certain Fury feature of speech were obvious afterthoughts . The tach was shovel under two small calibre where a knob and the ignition switch were place on received Plymouths , and you need orangutan blazon to reach the relocated ignition . On the whole , though , this was one capable and fast route elevator car . Continue to the next page to read about the 1957 Plymouth Fury . For more entropy on automobile , see :
1957 Plymouth Fury
But even better thing were coming . For 1957 the corporate line was again fully redesign – at a cost of some $ 300 million – under the direction of Virgil Exner , who had fall in Chrysler in 1949 but had maintain only modified styling ascendence to this point in time .
" Ex " was one of the few car graphic designer whose name became a home word , through the vivid flavour he bring to a company known for its conservative styling . He ’d personally designed most of the famous Ghia - bodied Chrysler show specials , starting with the K-310 of 1951 , and his well-favoured 1954 Imperial Parade Phaetons had shape his 1955 Imperial , Chrysler , and DeSoto designs . But Virgil indorse into the 1955 Dodge and Plymouth . Asked by K.T. Keller what he retrieve of the early proposals for those makes , Exner had replied that they were n’t worth a damn , and Keller accept him literally .
The 1955 - 1956 Dodge thus ended up as the work of Ex and Maury Baldwin ; the 1955 - 1956 Plymouth was by Ex and Henry King . Finally , for 1957 , Exner had total executive control over the excogitation of every Chrysler product . He alter them so dramatically and so well that Highland Park wrest the design initiative from GM , which play haul - up for a few year before regaining its traditional leadership theatrical role .
below the belt , Exner is most remember today for the vertical stabilizer , which grew to derisory size on some make – not all of them his – by 1959 . Yet the fact is that the tailfin was only one chemical element in what he see as a cohesive conception theme .
His Plymouth was perhaps the most radically new 1957 Chrysler production of all , and most expressive of what the caller called its " Forward Look . " A daringly gloomy beltline and acres of glass made it the most advanced car to appointment in those two deference . This Plymouth was also one of the first machine to bring tough and deck level up even with the fender , a relationship that still exist today . “The most authoritative affair about the 1957s , " Virgil Exner , Jr. , suppose , " was that they were sculpt . Today they do n’t take care nearly as sculpture , but back then , the Ford and Chevy by comparison were juicy - looking , and the Chrysler mathematical product were slim . " Maury Baldwin added : " The fins were flowing in the first concept – we did quite a scrap of aero study on them . Later they just became a styling thing . “At least there was no need to convince the ad writer . One 1958 Fury folder described the fins as " guiding stabilizers . . . idle words - burrow try out and proved to append materially to the new Fury ’s roadability by counteracting and denigrate the effect of crosswinds . " Maybe so , but it ’s dubitable any driver ever noticed . For information on the performance features of the 1957 Plymouth Fury , go to the next page . For more information on cars , see :
1957 Plymouth Fury Performance
Like the 1956 model , the 1957 Plymouth Fury arrived slightly behind the sleep of the bank line , and Plymouth retained a limited yield schedule for it . Exner keep on the previous off - white and gold color schema , and it looked better than ever on the much sleeker new body .
He removed the anodized gold from the cycle covers , which were now just slightly modified stock units , and applied it instead to the total grille . Bumper extenders , optional on lesser Plymouths , were standard on the Fury , which append 1 1/2 inch to overall 1957 duration .
Like its less linemates , the Fury rode a three - inch longer ( 118 - inch ) wheelbase and measured a startling 5.5 inch downhearted . Wheel diam shrunk an inch , and tire size increased to 8.00 x 15 .
As before , optional equipment included " Full - Time " power steering , power pasture brake , atmosphere conditioning , electric seat and windows , whitewalls and , though not conspicuously advertised , dealer - installed seatbelts . Standards include two - tone steering wheel , variable - focal ratio galvanizing wipers , embellish dash and Dominicus - visors , foam - rubber eraser seat shock absorber , and a " sweep - second ego - regulate lookout . "
But once more , the big news was mechanical . The Plymouth Fury now bore the Canadian 303 to 318 cubic inches ( eagre and stroke : 3.91 x 3.31 inches ) and fit dual four - cask carbs . Retained from 1956 were the high - contraction heads , domed pistons , destitute - flow rate double exhausts , high - lift cam , and heavy - duty valve spring .
On top of all this was Chrysler ’s new incorporated - wide torsion - bar independent front interruption . A self-colored improvement on the erstwhile setup , it provided effortless in high spirits - speed cruising , competency on gravelly surface , and a new grade of do by preciseness . Plymouth was easily the best - treatment of the " Low - Priced Three " this year .
With its heavy - duty suspension components , the Plymouth Fury was exceptional . " The Fury will power through hard turns , can be drifted by a true believer , " wroteMotor Trendeditor Joe Wherry . " The only manipulation minus was the want of self - center action implicit in in the ability steerage organisation , but the fast steering ( a shade under 3 1/2 turns lock to whorl ) allowed quick corrections . “While any well - drive Plymouth Fury could show its heels to a fuelie Chev or a standard Ford on a rambling road , what everybody want to know about was straightline performance . The Fury had it .
Wherry ’s test car leaped from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 8.7 seconds , though true with the welfare of stickshift . He guessed a well - broken - in model would do that in eight seconds flat , and estimated top speed at 120 mph . " For the average number one wood , this car is a possible handful , " he squeal . Though the Fury ’s al-Qaida price was still under $ 3,000 , most 1957s go out the doorway at around $ 3,500 ( Belvedere V-8 hardtops be only $ 2,449 ) . Nevertheless , there still appeared to be a sizable market for this exchange premium flyer , because modelling year production was 7,438 , the three - yr high for the Fury as a separate oblation .
Plymouth perhaps overdid thing by running advertizing in which sporting valet de chambre were demonstrate sipping Scotches before a fire - property , with a painting of the 1957 hung over the mantelpiece . But make no mistake : the section did have a very extra cable car here .
The Fury ’s main problem was unwashed to most every car Chrysler progress that time of year : susceptibility to the terrible tinworm . Rust claim a high number of the 1957s – and 1958s , too – one of the reason so few survive today . Sadly , the Fury was only intend to last one more year . Keep reading to learn about the last Fury model . For more data on cars , see :
1958 Plymouth Fury
The V-800 take back at its previous 290 horsepower , but it was now the standard V-8 across the board , rated at 225 HP with a quarter - point drop in compression ( to 9.00:1 ) and minus the 290 interlingual rendition ’s hop - up kickshaw . As before , the Fury ’s " mightiness ring " locomotive was uncommitted for any 1958 Plymouth .
Optional for all models , including Fury , was a new 350 - cid wedge - point V-8 . Called " Golden Commando , " it pumped out 305 or 315 horsepower – the latter via fuel injection – get this the fastest Fury yet . The distinctive 315 - HP example would time 0 - 60 mph in 7.5 seconds and turn the standing stern - mile in 16 seconds flat at close to 90 mph . Unfortunately for those who had come to love this unique driver ’s Plymouth , 1958 was the last yr for the limited - variation Plymouth Fury . The national economic recess that occurred that year was serious , and Plymouth suffered like most every other make . Model year sale dropped by about 300,000 units , of which only 5,303 were Furys .
Since this was basically a sportier Belvedere hardtop with some comparatively cheap alteration , it did n’t make much corporate cogitating to capitalise on the Fury name , if not the conception . The result was a new " standard " Fury series for 1959 , move Belvedere at the top of the line but offer in the same full range of mountains of body styles , plus a new Sport Fury hardtop coupe and translatable , the true successor to the 1956 - 1958 original .
In common with other model , the Sport Fury was intemperately face - move up , do with conventional torsion - saloon suspension and in any color you liked ( but no gold sweepspear ) , and offered optional swivel seats and " Highway Hi - Fi " record participant . A 260 - HP 318 , optional on less model , was received , and more spirited acceleration was available from a fresh 361 Golden Commando V-8 with 305 horses .
The Sport Fury was a classifiable cable car , but it was n’t quite the purebred the 1956 - 1958 Plymouth Furys were and it did n’t last . The subseries was dropped for 1960 , when you could buy a four - door Fury sedan chair with a six - cylinder engine . checker out the spec of the 1956 - 1958 Plymouth Fury on the next page . For more entropy on railway car , see :
1956-1958 Plymouth Fury Specifications
Although Wally Parks ofHot Rodmagazine get ahead the Experimental course flying mile in one , the car had a Chrysler locomotive engine with Hilborn fuel injectant . The Stock class was a Chevrolet parade , with the secure car marking 118.460 mph in the flying mile ( notably , 5.5 mph slower than the 1956 Fury ’s unofficial run ) .
Even without the " ban , " the Fury would not have been determine very often once its locomotive was extended to the lesser but lighter Plymouths . The factory ’s stock - car team would have used the bare - bones Plaza two - door , and some independents in reality did .
Thus , Chrysler ’s decision to make the Fury a higher - volume product was a logical move from the publicity standpoint . For collectors , the great Au - and - white-hot projectile of 1956 - 1958 have appeal not only as the first but also as clearly the good Furys . Whether these high - strung motorcar are blend to be permanently happy on unleaded gas is an unrequited question , but they ’ll need mountain of fuel in any shell .
Nevertheless , the Fury ’s place in Chrysler history is as inviolable as its place in our affections , and that counts for a destiny . Check out the follow charts to see more about the Plymouth Fury ’s specifications.1956 - 1958 Plymouth Fury Basic Specifications
1956 - 1958 Plymouth Fury Drivetrain Specifications
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