1959 Plymouth Sport Fury

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Detroit has long played with model names like the one used for the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury, often causing confusion among car buyers. Automakers have frequently reintroduced old names on new models to capitalize on past successes or created new titles to make older cars appear more modern.

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During the 1950s, the automotive industry developed a strategy that's still in common use today, known as the "trickle-down effect." A new name would be given to a high-end model or series and eventually trickle down to the lower-end models as older, less prestigious names were retired. Classic examples include Chevrolet's Bel Air and Impala and Ford's Fairlane and Galaxie.

Chrysler Corporation has long been a master at this game, and they added an intriguing spin with the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury. The Fury began as a fast, limited-edition hardtop in 1956 and continued that way for the next two years.

Although it was never a major seller, the Fury established a strong performance image for the Plymouth brand, with noticeable sales impacts, and marketers couldn't resist leveraging it.

As a result, the Fury name was applied to all of the 1959 Plymouths at the top of the line, except the Suburban wagons. They also removed the Plaza name from the lower models and moved the Belvedere and Savoy names down a rung. The challenge was deciding what to call the limited edition. Since the 1956-1958 Fury had been undeniably sporty, it made sense to name its 1959 successor Sport Fury. And so they did.

For the first time, the hottest car in the lineup was offered as a convertible, alongside the usual hardtop coupe. Interestingly, the new standard Fury line didn't include a ragtop, only two hardtops and a four-door sedan.

Despite all the name changes, the 1959 Furys, both standard and Sport, were far less "limited" than the high-powered versions from 1956-1958. While the earlier models had seen production numbers of just 4,500-7,500 units annually, the Sport Fury reached nearly 24,000 units on its own, and the standard Fury came close to 65,000.

Naturally, this was exactly what the sales team had hoped for, and it helped Plymouth maintain third place in recovery for 1959, despite an increase of just 15,000 units in total volume—while Chevrolet surged by over 300,000 units and Ford nearly reached half a million.

For details on the styling and striking options available for the 1959 Sport Fury, proceed to the next page.

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Continued

Plymouth had surged back into third place in sales thanks to its stylish 1957 models. Chrysler aimed to maintain that position, so after some detail changes in 1958, Plymouth received a more significant redesign for the final year of its three-year cycle, which included the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury.

As face-lifts go, the 1959 version wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t outstanding either—it was simply different. Interestingly, the Sport Fury lacked any identifying script, with only a large circular emblem above a wide band of anodized aluminum on the rear sides.

Chrysler's design chief, Virgil Exner, was fascinated by the idea of incorporating classic-era design elements into modern cars. His first attempt appeared this year in the form of a Plymouth option: a trunklid appliqué that was intended to evoke the look of an external spare tire but ended up resembling a trash-can lid.

Chrysler introduced many other quirky features for 1959, and even Plymouth buyers could opt for an electronic headlight dimmer, a self-dimming rearview mirror (which was unpopular at the time but would later see success in the 1980s), and, for convertibles and hardtop coupes, individual bucket seats that swiveled outward when the door was opened to make entry and exit easier.

Mechanically, Plymouth mostly stayed the course for 1959. The outdated "PowerFlow" L-head six engine made its final appearance, largely unchanged. The V-8 lineup started with the 318, first introduced in the 1957 Fury, now producing 230 horsepower in the base V-800 model or 260 horsepower with the optional "Superpak" four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts.

A bore increase took the top "Golden Commando" engine from 350 to 361 cubic inches, though horsepower remained steady at 305 with the same 10.0:1 compression ratio. Fuel injection, which had briefly appeared in 1958 but proved troublesome, was completely phased out.

Plymouth belatedly joined Detroit’s brief experiment with air suspension by offering an optional rear-only setup for 1959. This system used both air bags and lighter leaf springs, along with modified front torsion-bar geometry. The number of installations is unknown, but it likely wasn’t significant.

For about six years after 1959, Plymouth struggled. With the introduction of the all-new 1960 "Unibody" lineup, the brand entered a period of awkward styling, unsuccessful downsizing, poor workmanship, sporadic corrective efforts, and disappointing sales. It wasn’t until the 1970s that Plymouth would briefly regain third place, but it didn’t hold on to it for long.

The Sport Fury proved more resilient: temporarily discontinued, it was reintroduced in 1962 as the most youthful full-size Plymouth. It remained in this role until 1971, when Chrysler started playing with names again.

Find the specifications for the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury on the following page.

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1959 Plymouth Sport Fury Specifications

The 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury was designed to help Plymouth retain third place in the sales rankings, but those efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful in the 1960s.