Plymouth joined the “bucket brigade” in 1962, but buyer interest in full-size cars with bucket seats turned out to be fleeting. By the early ’70s, buckets-and-console big cars had disappeared almost completely, but Chrysler stuck it out longer than most, offering bucket seats on its C-body cars through 1973. This Fury Gran Coupe was one of the very last full-size Chrysler models with this once popular option.
1962 was the Year of the Bucket Seat in Detroit. The unexpected popularity of the Chevrolet Corvair Monza had revealed a substantial market for domestic cars with individual front seats rather than the customary full-width bench. Bucket seats weren’t unknown in Detroit before that — buckets and a center console were key design elements of the popular four-seat Ford Thunderbird and later the Chrysler 300F and 300G, and you could have bucket seats on a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz by 1959 — but it wasn’t until the Monza that the theme really caught fire. Other automakers hastened to develop Monza-fighters among their compact cars, and by 1962 the craze was spreading to full-size models, usually combined with flashy leather or expanded vinyl trim and center consoles with storage bins and armrests.
Plymouth wouldn’t be left out. 1962 saw the debut of the Corvair Monza-fighting Valiant Signet 200 …
… which Plymouth advertised as “the lowest-price hardtop with bucket seats built in America.”
There was also the bigger new Plymouth Sport Fury, described as a limited-production convertible or two-door hardtop “for the man — and occasional woman — who can afford the automobile that runs circles — and then some — around other cars in its low-price class.”
The Sport Fury came with standard all-vinyl buckets “with the look and luxury of fine leather,” plus a center console.
Although the early Sport Fury never became a really big-volume model, selling 5,555 units in 1962, 15,319 in 1963, and 27,553 in 1964, its production costs were modest and its profit margins were no doubt attractive. The model continued with the introduction of the bigger C-body Fury line for 1965, giving Plymouth a rival for full-size sporty cars like the Chevrolet Impala Super Sport and Ford Galaxie 500/XL.
Buckets and a center console were still standard on the 1965 Sport Fury, which sold 44,620 cars.
Following the introduction of the Ford Mustang and muscular intermediates like the Pontiac GTO, buyer interest in sporty full-size cars with bucket seat began to slip. Even in two-door hardtop or convertible form, full-size models were seen principally as family cars, and family car buyers tended to prefer bench seats, perhaps with folding center armrests. Many buckets-and-console packages had retreated to the options list by about 1968, and most then disappeared from lack of interest.
The Plymouth Sport Fury continued to offer standard front bucket seats through 1969. Even when a bench seat became standard on this model for 1970, buckets were still available, and Plymouth also made them optional on the cheaper Fury III. However, buyer interest was not great. By 1971, the final year for the Sport Fury, total bucket seat installations in C-body Plymouths had fallen to 3,501 units.
The Fury Gran Coupe and Gran Sedan replaced the Sport Fury for 1972, signaling a further shift away from the sporty themes of the ’60s. Nonetheless, you could still order buckets and even a center console on a ’72 Fury Gran Coupe.
Plymouth facelifted its full-size cars for 1973, adding the newly required 5-mph bumpers and a new front-end treatment with exposed headlights, but, amazingly, bucket seats were still optional on the Gran Coupe.
To be honest, I’m not sure WHY Chrysler continued to offer bucket seats in its full-size cars in the early ’70s. By 1972, only about 6.7 percent of all domestic Chrysler production had buckets, and those numbers were buoyed by the Barracuda and Challenger, which were bucket-seat-only. Most domestic rivals’ full-size lines had long since given up on buckets. Still, Chrysler offered bucket seats not only on the 1973 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe, but also the Dodge Polara Custom and Chrysler Newport two-door hardtops, the Chrysler New Yorker four-door hardtop, the New Yorker Brougham two-door hardtop, and the Imperial LeBaron two-door hardtop.
Spotting a bucket-equipped full-size Chrysler had gotten harder, and not only because of their rarity. Most of these lines also offered split-back bench seats that looked like buckets at a casual glance, and the optional bucket seats often came with a fixed center cushion with a fold-down armrest like the one pictured above.
This peculiar “mother-in-law seat” was a feature that went back at least to the 1967 Dodge Charger, as a hedge against the loss of three-abreast seating capacity with buckets. The idea was that in a pinch, you could push the front seats together and flip the armrest up to form a crude front bench seat. Through 1972, Fury buyers could still order a center console in place of the center cushion, but that choice was no longer offered in 1973.
I don’t imagine that sitting on the center cushion was very comfortable, and carrying a middle passenger there prevented the driver from adjusting the seat forward or backward. For most people, a true split bench would have been a much better compromise, but for reasons known only to Plymouth product planning, split bench front seats were offered only on the Fury Gran Sedan and station wagon for 1973, not on the Gran Coupe. It was a strange lapse, and it emphasized that bucket seats were increasingly anachronistic in cars like this.
Plymouth claimed that the 1973 Fury Gran Coupe was “one of the biggest hardtops in the industry,” stretching 223.4 inches on a 120-inch wheelbase. This one has the optional 170 hp 360-cid V-8, giving this 4,200 lb car adequate but not sparkling performance — the emphasis now was on comfort and quietness, not sport.
The Fury line was Plymouth’s second-best seller this year, although it ranked a distant third among low-priced full-size cars. While Chevrolet and Ford sold a lot of Caprices and LTDs, the top-of-the-line Fury Gran Coupe/Gran Sedan languished, selling only 32,979 cars. As with the departed Plymouth VIP, I think its biggest rival was probably the Chrysler Newport offered in most of the same showrooms — a cheap Chrysler still had more prestige than a fancy Plymouth.
The Gran Coupe sold only 14,852 units in 1973; according to Automotive News data, 4,177 of those had bucket seats, representing about 1.5 percent of total full-size Plymouth production. That was actually the highest rate of bucket seat installations on ANY full-size domestic car in 1973, although the choices were now so slim that it wasn’t a tough contest. Chrysler sold 3,091 bucket-equipped cars in the Newport and New Yorker lines, while Dodge sold just 750 bucket-seat Polaras for 1973. (Ford no longer offered buckets in its big cars, although they were installed in 3,979 1973 Thunderbirds.)
For 1974, Chrysler finally dropped bucket seats from all full-size lines in favor of bench and split bench seats. Bucket seats for full-size cars would pop up again here and there, but the 1973 Fury Gran Coupe nonetheless marked the end of an era, the last lineal descendant of the original 1962 bucket brigade. This very original low-mileage example sold for $19,900 in 2023.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1973 Plymouth Fury Coupe – Rarer Than A Lamborghini (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1971 Plymouth Fury III – The Long Search For A Fuselage Fury Finally Pays Off (by Brendan Saur)
Vintage Road Test: 1970 Plymouth Sport Fury GT 440 Six Pack – A Rare Road Test For A Rare Car (by GN)
Love how they call this a “Gran Coupe”. It’s 18 and a half feet long!
Oh no! The same shade on a `73 Gran Fury coupe as my Dad’s `73 Gran Sedan! Mom hated that color; called it
‘baby poop’ and she was right. A putrid color I never could warm up to. I learned to drive in that car, just as Dad traded it for a gorgeous `75 ROAD RUNNER coupe!! Yes, I talked my dad into going sporty with a 2 door! It ended up being the best looking Chrysler product I can recall him buying. I got my first driver’s license in that beauty!
That entire era was known for baby poop colored cars!
Pop culture reference, I think Mike Brady had a ’69 Sport Fury convertible in Ice Blue. Los Angeles architect living large. As Greg would say, groovy.
I always liked how the “lead sled” ’73 Furys paraphrased the 1957-58 Plymouth with their tall triangular taillights. They even included the centered backup lamp of the ’58 on the higher-nick models.
Barracudas actually did have a bench option with a fold down center armrest, they’re uncommon but they existed, not sure if it extended into 72-74 as most examples I can find are 70-71
It doesn’t appear that option continued past 1971. Automotive News stats say the bench was installed on 5.6 of 1971 Challengers and 11 percent of 1971 Barracudas, but zero ’72s, and I didn’t see the bench in the equipment lists of the 1972 dealer data books. (Detroit being Detroit, I wouldn’t be surprised if there ended up being a couple anyway, but sales seem to have fallen even below Chrysler’s glutton-for-punishment product planning standards.)
I have always thought the ’73 Fury was one of the best looking full size cars ever built. My other favorite MoPar biggie is the ’76 New Yorker. Something about the back end design really does it for me on these two.
Per the brochure, my ‘64 Imperial Crown Coupe was equipped with the standard “Executive aircraft type seats with movable armrest”. This is luxury car lingo for bucket seats with centre cushion and armrest, essentially the arrangement in the featured ‘73 Plymouth Fury. Like the Fury, no console option was offered on the Imperial.
When I was little kid, my dad would talk about “bucket seats.” I had no idea what it meant. I actually thought that on a car so equipped, one actually sat on buckets. I was totally shocked that this was the case.
The first car I ever saw with bucket seats was my mom’s 1970 Toyota Corona. When we went to the dealership to collect it, I was horrified to find out that it had bucket seat! When we finally collected the car, my relief was palpable. I finally knew what “bucket seats” meant.
OOPS! When the 1969 models came out, the sedans for sure, when equipped with buckets seats were recalled for a field fix. They needed reinforcement to the frame because the floors were warping. As for Barracudas and Challengers with a front bench seat which included a center arm rest, such vehicles were equipped with column-mounted shift levers. Nice article. Nice tank, too.
That cockpit looks like an inviting place to be. Too bad the seats aren’t leather. Don’t like the fender skirts. The 360 power plant would be just fine. Not too much weight over the front wheels.
I wonder if keeping buckets for 2-door models while offering the split bench only in 4 doors was a cost cutting move, eliminating the need to design/build a split bench with folding seat backs for rear passenger access.
I liked the 72 Fury (at least in top trim with hidden headlights) but found the 73 a hash, where the design studios tried to turn the out-of-style shape into something that was more in fashion.
I’m willing to say that I find this Fury coupe very Gran! I like the color and I think they did a good job with the styling. The exposed headlights have a lighter touch than the previous covered lights, and their 5mph front bumper is not bad compared to many contemporaries. The interior is especially appealing with comfortable looking seats in a light color. The woodgrain and thin chrome highlights give visual variety, and the steering wheel is handsome, especially compared to the 69 shown above.
The stealth buckets are strange, offering very little advantage over a split bench. It was very sensible for them to drop them the next year. Thanks for profiling this cool Fury!
While a bench seat gives you three abreast seating just how important was that by the late 60s and into the 70s? The amount of times I have seen three adults in the front can be counted on one hand all through those years.
Well it was important for young drivers, it enabled your girlfriend to sit up close to you, still a thing in the late 70s 🙂
I was a young driver in a Cougar with bucket seats back then in 1970 onward. I can tell you, but won’t online, on how you can get around that. The girls could also tell you how.
That was definitely true, but people seemed very attached to the idea that they COULD carry six people if they had to (into the ’80s, U.S. automakers still felt that was an essential marketing pitch), and of course there was the date night angle.