the fin man
Let’s clear the air and debunk the myths once and for all. Other than the half dozen or so red and white Plymouth Furys created exclusively for the movie Christine, there were no such red and white 1958 Plymouth Furys. The beautiful red and white Plymouth pictured above (owned by Michael Heredia of Mission Viejo, California) is a Belvedere sport coupe, NOT a Fury.
Plymouth’s flagship sport coupe was offered in but one color combo– Buckskin Beige with a textured, gold anodized accent panel running the length of the car. This color scheme was carried over from previous models since the introduction of the Fury in 1956.
Unlike its closest competitors Chevrolet and Ford, which had all new styling for 1958, Plymouth retained the highly popular styling of its previous models from 1957, with only a minor face lift. The ‘Forward Look’ created by famed automotive stylist Virgil Exner was, at least partly, responsible for Plymouth’s number three ranking in sales for both years.
So why is it you see so few 1957 and 1958 Plymouths at car shows today? Although mechanically as good or better than the competition, Chrysler products of the period were known for severe and early onset rust.
One of a handful of definitions found in Webster’s dictionary for the term ‘fury’ is, "a violent or vengeful person; esp., such a woman". Wow! With that in mind, one might expect that Mopar marketing would have targeted the Plymouth Fury at women... (especially those scorned!) But such was not the case. As a matter of fact, the wording I found, while perusing the Plymouth sales brochure for 1958, would not pass today’s political correctness standards.
Make no mistake ladies... this was a ‘MAN’s CAR’, so don’t even think about walking over to it on the showroom floor. They actually printed this... (and I’m NOT making this up)– "The third, limited edition Fury by Plymouth (is)– ‘for the MAN who really loves cars.’ "
Perhaps there was an element of Freudian psychology involved on the part of Mopar’s market gurus (which, I’d bet my last buck were all male). Maybe they figured that, behind the wheel, a man had control over this ‘tempest’ of ‘violence and rage’ (other Webster defs.).
Unleashing all that rage came easily with assistance from the ‘Fury’ line of V-8 engines. Standard was the Fury V-800... a small block (318 cubic inches– that’s 5.2 liters for all the ‘gen-Xers’ in the audience) mill which produced 225 horsepower... more than enough to satisfy my aunt Dorothy’s need for speed.
Those desiring a bit more muscle, could spend an extra $146.00 for the Fury ‘Super-Pak’ ... the same engine topped with a Carter four-barrel carb which boosted the output by an additional 25 ponies.
Still not enough to satisfy your fury? Plymouth buyers who weren’t afraid to dig a little deeper in the pocketbook could opt for the ‘Dual Fury V-800’ which came with a pair of Carters perched on top and an output rating of 290 at 5,200 RPM.
If you really wanted to vent your Fury’s rage, king-of-the-mills© was the ‘Golden Commando’ V-8... a 305-horse powerhouse with ‘advanced Deep-Block design’ , a special, high-performance camshaft and a pair of Carter carbs. This beefy, 350 cube engine produced 370 pounds of twist and was available in any 1958 Plymouth for an additional $324.00... making for some very successful ‘sleepers’ at the stoplights in and around the neighborhood! 1958 Plymouths equipped with this option were capable of accelerating from zero-to-sixty in 7.7 seconds and quarter-mile times of 16.1.
With a compression ratio of 10.0:1, it wasn’t happy sipping (perhaps ‘gulping’ is a better choice of words) on anything less than the best high-octane, ‘Ethyl’ gasolines. But at twenty or so cents per gallon... who really cared?
A short lived, Fury-only option was Bendix fuel injection, which squeezed another 10 horsepower out of the Golden Commando V-8, but it met with significant technical difficulties to the point that most so-equipped Plymouths were recalled and fitted with the Carter dual quad set up.
Long story short... when you put the ‘pedal to the metal’ of any Golden Commando-equipped Plymouth, carbed or injected, you knew what ‘fury’ was all about!
Mild-mannered Plymouths were driven by the 132 horsepower, ‘Powerflow 6’... the latest version of Plymouth’s time-tested, in-line, cast iron six. I could go into technical details, but after covering the ‘Golden Cs’, such a discussion would be rather anti-climatic.
Transmitting Plymouth’s power to the pavement was accomplished by the ‘Synchro-Silent’ three-speed manual transmission (standard on all models except Fury and Belvedere convertibles), and a Hypoid rear axle in various ratios depending on model and engine.
A two-speed fully automatic PowerFlite was available for an additional $180.00 and the top-of-the-line (and highly desirable) Mopar’s legendary TorqueFlite, three-speed automatic was available in any V-8-equipped Plymouth for an additional $220.00 and it was well worth every additional twenty-two thousand pennies!
Both automatics were controlled by Chrysler’s celebrated, dash-mounted push-button selector. Plymouth hyped the system as being "as easy to operate as a doorbell". From a safety standpoint, it was located "within easy reach of the driver, just left of the instrument cluster... out of children’s reach!"
And while we’re on the subject of push-buttons... three, push-button AM radios were offered for 1958 Plymouths including a basic, entry level transistor (solid-state) model for just seventy-three ‘buh’ (as Mike Evans would say). And, speaking of ‘automatics’, a signal-seeking ‘Search Tune’ model was offered for $106.00. At the top of the line was the ‘Search Tune with HI-FI’ for $187.00.
Other popular 1958 options included power steering ($77.00); power brakes ($38.00); power windows ($102.00) and a power seat, limited to just forward and backward movement, was priced at $48.00. All that ‘fury’ produced a lot of heat of course, so keeping your cool was accomplished courtesy of Chrysler’s Air Temp air conditioner for an extra 446.00. That equals just over $3,400.00 in ‘09 bucks!! (And they say cars are expensive today!!)
While we’re on the subject of money, the 1958 Belvedere coupe, like the one above, had a base price of $2,529.00 when equipped with the base model V-8 engine. In ‘09 dollars, that equals $19.412.00.
Only one in one hundred Plymouth buyers were fortunate to experience the Fury for 1958. For that distinction they paid an additional $631.00... nearly $5,000.00 in ‘09 bucks.
Add it all up... compare the advanced safety and technology that comes with today’s modern cars, and you quickly see what a bargain they are compared to our beloved classics.
A long list of accessories to make your Plymouth pretty was presented for 1958. The Belvedere coupe shown above has whitewall tires, a $33.00 option. The full wheel covers were standard on Belvedere and Fury, but an $18.00 option on Savoy and Plaza models.
Standard side trim for the Belvedere was just a single, stainless strip which ran the full length of the car and turned up at the tail fin… basically, the top section only of the trim shown in the photo above.
The attractive two-tone trim seen on this Belvedere was called ‘Sport-Tone’ finish and consisted of an additional, lower stainless strip which provided a natural setting for a two-tone ‘sweepspear’ finished in paint or anodized aluminium inserts… silver on Belvederes and gold on the Fury only.
Two tone ‘Sport-Tone’ motifs were also offered on Savoy and Plaza models, although the designs were each distinctly different.
One other trim/appearance option featured on this Belvedere coupe are the front and rear bumper guards, an extension of the straight bumper which added a fin shape and also provided additional protection for the otherwise vulnerable quarter panel corners.
Curiosity sidebar...
Those of you whose parents owned a mid fifties Mopar, may well remember the dash-mounted rear view mirrors– a curiosity for kids of GM and Ford families. Although touted by Plymouth sales literature as a benefit, ("A 30% increase in visibility has been achieved by placing the rear-view mirror to the left of center of the dash panel, and moving it closer to the driver."), in real life, the lower position improved the visibility of us rug rats in the back seat more than it did the cars approaching from behind.
Eventually Chrysler conceded and the mirror returned to its rightful position, suspended from the windshield header.
ROADWORTHY READER RECOLLECTIONSTM
Lindell Blackford of Godfrey, Illinois wrote:
"Finman: Thanks for reading my mind. I had been thinking of writing to ask you to feature the ‘58 Golden Commando Fury, and you mention it in your article today 8-3-09. My dad, a farm boy and WWII vet who always loved fast and unusual cars but could never afford them, bought the only new car he ever owned, a ’57 Plymouth bottom of the line 4-dr. sedan, which was a reliability nightmare.
It kept blowing master cylinders, sometimes every few days. We drove it to Florida that year with relatives who had a ’56 Chevy, which had terrible carburetor problems the entire way; that trip entered family lore as the trip in which we couldn’t stop and they couldn’t go.
Then, much to my surprise because he always cursed Plymouths after that, in 1966, the year I graduated high school, Dad came home one day (this is when men still bought cars without checking with the wife first) with a shiny ’58 Golden Commando Fury with the big motor and the two 4 barrel carbs. The speedometer went to 150 mph.
At this time my mom worked at River Roads (remember River Roads Mall?) and we lived in Alton with only one car, so Dad would have to pick Mom up at closing time and I’d ride along. Many times dad buried, tried to bury, or almost buried that speedometer on the road between the bridges going from Alton to St. Louis, but never on the trip home, because we had Mom with us. Thanks for the memories. Lindell Blackford."
Thanks Lindell, for sharing your fascinating memories of the ‘58 Fury!
PRESENT DAY VALUES
If my story, and Lindell’s reminiscing about the 1958 Plymouth Fury, has inspired you to go in search of one for the next Steak ‘n’ Shake classic car display, you’d better have some ‘deep pockets’, for according to the Old Cars Price Guide, you can expect to pay between eighty to ninety grand for the privelge. That figure should garner a number one, show quality, trophy-winning example. If, in the unlikely event you come across such a Fury equipped with the rare, 315 horse, Golden Commando V-8 version with Bendix fuel injectors, you can add another 50% to those estimates. That’s right, approximately a hundred and thirty G’s! (You have to wonder how much influence the movie Christine had on these values.) Now don’t you wish your grandpa had put his ‘58 Fury up on blocks, saving it for his favorite grandchild?!?!?
As an option, what you COULD do, is chose a stripper Plaza 4-door sedan in like condition and you’d have enough money left over to buy yourself and 51,875 of your closest friends a Steakburger!!! (Okay, 44,325 if they insisted on Steakburgers w/cheese.) You do the math.
A Belvedere coupe, like Mike Heredia’s shown above, should be available for somewhere around 35-40 grand depending on which power plant resides under the hood. If a convertible is what you’re after, expect to pay double that figure.
SCALE MODEL AVAILABILITY:
There are a number of scale model 1958 Plymouth Furys on the market, including many sizes in both die cast and plastic. The best way to find them is to do a Google search under ‘images’, and you’ll pull up quite a few sites. If you can’t afford the real thing… you can still achieve a token degree of satisfaction from collecting scale model cars… and you don’t have to fill them up at $3.00 a gallon either!
Golden Commando V-8 Trivia Questions of the Week:
1. For what model year was the first Plymouth Fury introduced? (Think fast. Answer appears in the first paragraph below.)
2. What did Plymouth call their station wagons during this time? Clue: It was a name used by a competitor and applied to a much larger wagon which was part of their truck line.
3. ‘All I Have To Do is Dream’ was a top 1958 hit for what male singing group?
4. Steak ‘n’ Shake has been a St. Louis favorite for decades. How’s your Steak ‘n’ Shake trivia knowlege?
Who was the founder of Steak ‘n’ Shake and in what year did he open his first restaurant?
In what city was this restaurant located?
And finally... how many restaurants do they CURRENTLY operate in how many states?
A. 25 in two
B. 189 in four
C. 327 in twelve
D. 475 in twenty-two?
5. Which of the following movies was NOT a 1958 release: Vertigo, Gigi, Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?
6. Name the famous Brooklyn Dodgers catcher, who was severely injured in an early morning auto accident while on his way home (driving a rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan by the way) on Long Island, New York on the evening of January 28, 1958. His spinal column was nearly severed in the accident, resulting in permant paralysis of his legs.
7. Name the Tennessee Senator who, in 1958, held congressional hearings on the subject of rising juvenile crime rates and published an article titled "Let’s Get Rid of Tele-Violence" in the Reader’s Digest.
8. Born January 11, 1958– Vicki Peterson was an American rock guitarist with what group?
Golden Commando V-8 Trivia Answers:
1. For what model year was the first Plymouth Fury introduced? (Think fast. Answer appears in the first paragraph below.)
The first Plymouth Fury appeared in the 1956 model lineup.
2. What did Plymouth call their station wagons during this time? Clue: It was a name used by a competitor and applied to a much larger wagon which was part of their truck line.
Plymouth wagons of the period were called Suburbans, the same name used for Chevrolet’s giant wagons built on their truck chassis.
3. ‘All I Have To Do is Dream’ was a top 1958 hit for what male singing group?
The Everly Brothers.
4. Steak ‘n’ Shake has been a St. Louis favorite for decades. How’s your Steak ‘n’ Shake trivia knowlege?
Who was the founder of Steak ‘n’ Shake and in what year did he open his first restaurant?
Gus Belt opened the first Steak 'n' Shake in 1935.
In what city was this restaurant located?
The first Steak 'n' Shake was located in Normal, Illinois
And finally... how many restaurants do they CURRENTLY operate in how many states?
A. 25 in two
B. 189 in four
C. 327 in twelve
D. 475 in twenty-two?
5. Which of the following movies was NOT a 1958 release: Vertigo, Gigi, Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof?
All of the movies in the list were released in 1958 with the exception of Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines, which was a big hit in the year 1965.
6. Name the famous Brooklyn Dodgers catcher, who was severely injured in an early morning auto accident while on his way home (driving a rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan by the way) on Long Island, New York on the evening of January 28, 1958. His spinal column was nearly severed in the accident, resulting in permant paralysis of his legs.
The Brooklyn Dodgers catcher was Roy Campanella (1921-1993). Here are some details of the accident as gleaned from WikipediaTM... the free, online encyclopedia: Campanella lived in Glen Cove, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, while owning a liquor store in Harlem which he also operated during the baseball off-season and between games. On January 28, 1958, after closing the store for the night, he began his drive to his home in Glen Cove. En route, traveling at about 30 mph (48 km/h), his car (a rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan) hit a patch of ice, skidded into a telephone pole and overturned, breaking Campanella’s neck. He fractured the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae and compressed the spinal cord. The accident left Campanella paralyzed from the shoulders down. Through physical therapy, he eventually was able to gain substantial use of his arms and hands. He was able to feed himself, shake hands, and gesture while speaking, but he would require a wheelchair for mobility for the remainder of his life.
7. Name the Tennessee Senator who, in 1958, held congressional hearings on the subject of rising juvenile crime rates and published an article titled "Let’s Get Rid of Tele-Violence" in the Reader’s Digest.
The man was Senator Estes Kefauver.
8. Born January 11, 1958– Vicki Peterson was an American rock guitarist with what group?
Vicki Peterson was (and again IS) leader of The Bangles. In 2003, Vicki married John Cowsill of The Cowsills. Remember them?
FIN MAN Detailing Tip of the Week:
When cleaning your interior, be sure to go over the dash and console (if equipped) with a ‘fine tooth comb’ so to speak. (Or at least a fine bristled brush.) A variety of brushes and foam lollipops are available at your local auto parts store… each designed for getting into specific nooks and crannies. This is one of those extra steps that can make your car feel and look like new, and maybe even push a prospective buyer over the edge. After all, when you’re seated behind the wheel, the dash is the most obvious component of the car that is in constant view.