From Wikipedia
I was cruising along in my Tacoma a few days ago, only half listening to the radio, when I realized there was a car song playing that I hadn’t heard before. “56 Fury, finest car on the road”. At first I wondered if this was historically correct … was there a Fury in 1956, or did it come along later?
But the song was sung with such passion and detail, I decided that I shouldn’t question it, though I did check when I got home, and indeed 1956 was the first year for the Fury. If you’re a MoPar fan and haven’t heard it, the song is a new release by Rodney Crowell. You can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUZofRmZwJw
classiccarcatalogue.com
As the next song began, I heard that it too was a car song: “It’s a Pontiac, it’s a ’63 StratoChief, with three on the tree …” What the heck is a Pontiac StratoChief? I knew there was a Chieftain, way back when, but StratoChief just didn’t sound right. But of course, it is right. The StratoChief was a Canada-only model, which I’m sure many of the CC cognoscenti know well, but other than Beaumont and Laurentian I have trouble keeping up with the Canadian GM brands and models, which rarely migrated as far south as California even back when they were still common on Canadian roads. And, it turned out the song, “Pontiac”, is by Canadian singer Fred Eaglesmith, so maybe it’s a car from his own past and not just a catchy subject for a song. Here’s a video of Eaglesmith performing the song: https://youtu.be/11upjOUQHW0
I don’t think it was random that the DJ picked two car songs to play in a row, but the fact that both were defunct, “P” brands is probably just a coincidence. But it was enough to stick in my mind, and I thought worth sharing here. Nice, eh?
I have not heard either song, will have to give a listen.
I don’t believe I have ever seen a 56 Fury up close and in person before, so you can be forgiven for not knowing they existed. And I learned about the Pontiac Strato-Chief here as well (primarily from commenter Canucklehead).
I always found it odd that the Canadian combination of outer space and American Indians was the cheap car while a similar combination (Star Chief) was the expensive one.
For several years a 1956 Fury regularly showed up at the big Das Awkscht Fescht car show in Macungie, Pennsylvania. I haven’t seen it for a few years. It wasn’t at this year’s show, which was held last weekend.
It’s a handsome car, although I’ve always preferred the styling of the 1955 and 1957 Plymouths.
I, too, prefer the more subdued 1955 Plymouth. But for a 1956 Plymouth, the Fury would be the one to have.
And check out the dash of one of those Plymouths, especially the Fury. There are some very odd placements of controls in those cars, with the HVAC and wiper controls way over in front of the passenger, and the tachometer down low next to the ignition switch.
Unique among Chrysler products, the 1955-56 Plymouth dashboard was nearly symmetrical. It could be because they were saving money for making a right hand drive version of one model for the UK, Ireland and Sweden, which was still driving on the left. And they did sell RHD Plymouths in those places.
The gauges on the left were balanced by heater knobs in the same size circles on the right. The speedometer showed up as a radio speaker grille.
The two smaller rounds to the right of the steering wheel were for wipers and ignition. On the right side of the dash, lighter only. On the Fury the ignition hole was covered by the tach and the ignition moved left a space. This kicked out the wiper switch, which went to the right side of the dash. So the Fury dash was a little less and a little more symmetrical.
Yeah I know how nerdy that was but I owned a 1956 Plymouth Belvedere convertible (aqua/white of course) in the 80’s so I was extra interested and did the research. I only wish I still had it and could check out the real thing.
1956 Plymouth Fury
See the radio grille with “Plymouth” on it? Some 1956’s have that and some have a spiderweb-like grille like a 1955. Apparently Chrysler wasn’t one to toss out a bunch of leftover stuff that fit.
A number of years ago Alan Jackson released a country song “Mercury Blues” where he sang about his Mercury…. “I’m gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road.”
A few years later Ford used the song in its advertising…. only the ad was about trucks and the singer said “I’m gonna buy me a Ford truck and cruise it up and down the road.”
This was about the time spokesperson “Jill” was pitching Mercuries to increase the brand’s reach to the female customer. I guess having a man singing a country song didn’t appeal to women.
That was a few years before the brand was dumped.
The Alan Jackson version is a fairly recent cover; “Mercury Blues” goes back to the 1940’s and was a moderate hit for David Lindley, and gets pretty regular airplay on our local radio station in both his 1981 version, and a more recent release with Jackson Browne singing. Steve Miller also recorded this song way back when.
I heard the David Lindley version years ago and didn’t realize it was a cover. He pronounces “Mercury” oddly, without the “y” sound in there.
Considering ‘Mercury Blues’ was likely written with images of the old school ‘lead sleds’ in mind, as Alan Jackson featured in his video, there’s little to nothing Mercury has built since the late ‘60’s that would evoke that same kind of infatuation. A front drive sable or topaz is a LOOONG way from a chopped ‘49 or a ‘67 Cougar Eliminator. Not exactly the stuff of rockabilly songs.
Bah. My infatuation with my Cobra swapped 94 Cougar disagrees with that statement
Also The eliminator was 1969-1970 only
It should be noted that the very first song about an automobile references a defunct brand, i. e. “In My Merry Oldsmobile”
And another one, though later than “Merry Oldsmobile” (1940’s) is Dinah Shore’s “Stanley’s Steamer”:
Ev’ryone will smile
When you’re out in your Stanley Steamer
Honk, honk!
I wonder how many years passed between “Beep Beep” (The Little Nash Rambler) and the last use of Rambler by AMC? Did the song even come out before Nash was in its grave as a brand?
Wikipedia says: “Beep Beep” is a novelty song by The Playmates, released in 1958. The song sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
Concurrently with this song, American Motors (AMC) was setting production and sales records for the Rambler models. The “Beep Beep” song was also popular with the workers building the Rambler cars on AMC’s assembly lines in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Beep beep Barina, a Holden badge on a Suzuki or Opel,
I only recently learned “Beep Beep” had to be altered for the British market, for two reasons: (1) the BBC wouldn’t play songs that featured a name brand in it, and (2) most British people wouldn’t know what a Nash Rambler was since it wasn’t sold there. So instead of a Rambler that somehow keeps up with a Cadillac, there’s a generic “limousine” that can’t shake off a “bubble car”. In 1958, bubble cars like the BMW Isetta were near the height of their popularity; I wonder how many younger Brits today know what a bubble car is. Does the Smart count?
The UK version is on Youtube along with the US version.
Well! For nearly 60 years I’ve not know the version I knew as a child was different from the original.
For over 60 years, I don’t think I’ve heard this song – either version. Certainly by the time I was auto-aware, you could still buy a new Rambler, but not a Nash (though my mom continued to call them Nash Ramblers for years), so perhaps the song didn’t mean much to younger listeners and airplay faded. I don’t really recall “oldies” stations until the seventies.
See the U-S-A, in your Chev-ro-let…
Thanks Dman, both songs are now on my YouTube playlist.
Try this one by Junior Brown:
https://youtu.be/x_wLVCLPx0M
Sorry Fred Eaglesmith, I’m very distracted by your drummer ……
I considered “Highway Patrol” by Junior Brown to the the official song of my Crown Victoria. I still love the song, even though I no longer have the car.
Thanks for that pointer. I wanted to see Junior Brown last time he was in town but missed him, and looking at his tour schedule I see we’ll be out of town again when he’s here next month ☹️
Highway Patrol was actually first released by Red Simpson in 1966 FYI.
Junior’s cover has become more famous than the original.
My favorite of Junior’s songs that involve vehicles is “Broke Down South of Dallas”.
I was surprised when I discovered how relatively recently Junior Brown’s version was recorded. It definitely ‘sounds’ like a much older song. But, yeah, Junior’s version is better, not only for his voice, but his work on his personal ‘steel-git’ instrument.
Other cars from defunct auto brands that ought to have a song:
“That’s The Way It Is”, Celine Deon for the new Pontiac Aztek.
“Pick Up The Pieces”, Average White Band for the new AMC Pacer
“Shakedown”, Bob Seger for the new Yugo
“Banana Boat”, Harry Belefonte for the new Edsel
“Vaya Con Dios”, Les Paul and Mary Ford for the new 1953 Studebaker
“Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, Pat Benatar for the new Cadillac Cimarron
“Hurt So Bad”, Linda Ronstadt for the new Chevrolet Citation
In 1981, Emmylou Harris came out with an album called “Cimarron.” It had nothing to do with cars, of course, but it happened to coincide with the Cadillac Cimarron’s release. Warner Brothers Records actually teamed up with GM to jointly promote their respective Cimarrons — the car was promoted in record stores along side Emmylou’s album, and Cadillac dealers had posters of the album in their showrooms.
And about a decade earlier, Emmylou’s back-up band was the Nash Ramblers.
(Steve Earle, eat your heart out on this one)
https://youtu.be/q2Ao9tc994o
Sunbeams aren’t often mentioned in song …..
James McMurty, “Fuller Brush Man.”
Scroll to 0:45 to hear that “Mama had a Sunbeam and she drove it hard ……”
https://youtu.be/LkibcHyfsxg
Paula Clark’s (so-called) Sunbeam commercial:
https://youtu.be/Z9Om9oOGh9Y
There were American Pontiacs available in Canada in 1963?
The ad referencing both Canadian and U.S. models piqued my curiosity as well, as the Canadian auto pact was still two years away.
There is actually a Canadian connection on both these cars.
The Strato Chief was obviously a Canadian made Pontiac ( Cheviac) but the 303 V-8 in the 56 fury was also Canadian, made by Chrysler Canada.
> At first I wondered if this was historically correct … was there a Fury in 1956, or did it come along later?
There’s an anachronism of that sort in Joni Mitchell’s “Raised on Robbery”, which features a ’57 Biscayne. Mindful that there are often Canada-exclusive low-end trim levels (like the Bel Air which was discontinued after 1975 in the U.S. but lived into the ’80s in Canada), I thought maybe the Biscayne had an earlier Canadian introduction. But no, Biscaynes weren’t sold in Canada until 1958, just as in the States.
Also, shout-out to Warren Zevon’s “Studebaker”:
I’m pretty sure the Stude is a metaphor for his own life rather than the actual car. Anyway, I love how a song about a car that keeps breaking down breaks down itself at the end.
Nice Plymouth, however it looked a bit busy with all that side colouring. That photo must have been from a Mopar show, it’s surrounded by Plymouths and Dodges. I didn’t know the Fury name went back that far.
1956 was the first year of the Fury. I imagine Chrysler decided to make a 300 for the middle class buyer. A few years later Fury became the whole top line, so the equivalent car became the Sport Fury.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions for other songs.
It’s possible I saw a ’56 Fury or two as a young kid (I certainly saw lots of ’56 Plymouths), and I know that I very occasionally saw Pontiacs with names that made no sense to me, an Arizona kid. Little did I know then that there was a whole lot of Chevy DNA hiding under that Pontiac skin! But southern Arizona has long been popular with Canadians who want to escape Canadian winters.
Joni Mitchell’s song “Raised on Robbery” refers to a ’57 Biscayne (which he put in a ditch).
Surprised nobody mentioned Silver Thunderbird by Jo Messena.
How about “Saucilito Summernights” by Diesel talking about leaving for Frisco in the Rambler, or Alvin Lee’s “Detroit Diesel” . “A Bone” by the Trashmen is a great one too.
My aunt played piano. One song she played was “In a Hupmobile for Two.” She had the sheet music and it showed a very early Hupmobile on the cover. I don’t know if it was ever recorded. If it wasn’t, I don’t imagine that it ever will be.