Quoth the adman. Perhaps he was referring to the Grecian concept that true beauty comes from within. The ads further went on to say that this new ’62 Plymouth is “Quality engineered by Chrysler Corporation.” Some ’57 Plymouth owners whose door handles fell off and whose torsion bars snapped may have trouble accepting that statement. Those early Forward Look Mopars, beautiful as they were, unfortunately had some teething problems. But five years have now passed–it’s 1962, and another radical new Plymouth has arrived. It’s actually quite a bit smaller, with a totally unique styling concept that is still “Space Age” but expressed in a whole new way. With sixty-three years of hindsight, we can look back at this rare Plymouth with see it with fresh eyes–and there are plenty of interesting things to see and experience…
Plymouth ads encouraged us to “Look at Plymouth Now!” The Forward Look has been replaced with Forward Flair Design–“See how the accent has been moved up front.” Plus there are all these other wonderful new features. Ford and Chevy seem so staid and ordinary by comparison.
The new Plymouth is also ALIVE! Alive with new ideas. There is some truth to that. When you combine the smaller size (202″) with the peppy engine choices; and the relatively taut and level-riding torsion bar suspension, you get a car that is potentially more nimble, poised, and satisfying to drive than the big floppy barges offered by the “other two”. (Trying to slip in a convincer, a Plymouth salesman might call them that!)
But for the most part, the public didn’t see it that way. Ford and Chevy looked cleaner, more balanced, and “satisfyingly conventional”, while the Plymouth looked somewhat eccentric and “stubby”. While the Compact Craze was still on, many buyers had trouble with the idea of paying a full-sized car price for a car that’s smaller. “Bigger is better” still had a firm grip on the American psyche.
1962 Plymouth model year sales were below par and survivors are few. So when I saw this amazing 32,000 mile example in this condition presented by Charles Phoenix Auto Sales, I thought “Wow–this is really something to get excited about!”
The ’62 Plymouth has been so maligned, but I think it looks really neat in profile, almost Mustang-like in its proportions. Plus there’s a lot of unique visual detail which makes this car that much more interesting.
The new straight-across grille makes the car look lower (and less angry) than previously. Styling creates the optical illusion that outer headlights are larger than the inner ones, but I believe both lights are the same size.
The headlights have eyelashes!
There’s a real “jet plane” look from the rear: the trunk lip and creased fenders resemble “wings”, and the taillights and back-up lights look like jet engines suspended below them.
Close-up shot of those remarkable taillights. Circular “gear teeth” was a common motif used on the Jet-Age style Mopars.
Thrusting, sculptured lines with touches of silver sparkle add a spirited sense of modernity.
How ’bout that interior? Nice!
The remarkable dashboard is definitely mid-century Googie-inspired, but interpreted in a new way. The dash cluster is asymmetrical with a burnished silver finish, and the gauges are now big and round in the classical tradition. “Push-button driving”, of course.
The finely-crafted emblems of cars of this era (often overlooked) add to the visual interest.
A 318 cubic inch, 230 HP V-8 provides ample git-up-and-go. We have power steering, power brakes, and the innovative alternator–everything you need. Charles reports, “This car does everything well.”
We haven’t mentioned that intriguing color combination yet–I looked it up and it appears to be Ermine White over Luminous Brown Iridescent. This special brown color (which Charles compares to melted Neapolitan ice cream–chocolate with a little vanilla and strawberry mixed in) looks stunning when waxed up and shiny. But when these kinds of colors become dull over time, they usually don’t look that good.
Our featured car, advertised as a “World Class National Treasure” has just sold, and probably for more money than you may think. But in the old car hobby, it’s all about condition–and “Where else you gonna find one?” So if you love it and want it, you’ll pay a premium price. As the saying goes, “The sweetness of quality is remembered after the bitterness of a high price is forgotten.” Follow your bliss, and you can’t go wrong! 😉
Related reading:
Vintage Reviews: 1962 Plymouth–How Did It Measure Up? (by GN)
Vintage Car Life Road Test: 1962 Plymouth Savoy V8–Plymouth Made The Right Changes, The Right Compromises For 1962 (by Paul Niedermeyer)
Brilliant Blunder: 1962 Plymouth & Dodge–The Real Reason They Were Downsized (plus Postscripts #1 & 2) (by Paul Niedermeyer)
Curbside Classic: 1962 Plymouth Fury–If You Think This Is Bad… (by Laurence Jones)
1961 Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupe–Best Preserved Original In Existence? (by Stephen Pellegrino)
That Fury badge is exquisite!
Agree! Very unique design.
The 62 Plymouth WAS something to get excited about. I believe many other loyal Chrysler Corp buyers felt as I did and felt it was one of the UGLIEST cars ever built. My parents passed on buying a used 59 DeSoto ADVENTURER and 61 DeSoto, then traded our 55 Firedome for a 62 Belvedere! Yuck 🤮. Everything about it IMO was wrong. We all, know the stories about Exner trying to find a new direction and the GM rumors. I will credit the 62 Belvedere with giving us over 100,000 miles of trouble free service, BUT I never see one without longing for Exners fabulous finned fantasies.
Beautiful car that was purchased on Bring a Trailer in May, 2025 and flipped a few weeks later at s handsome profit. Win, win I suppose.
Grille and tail area look alright on their own, but what’s between them is overdone (though the basic shape isn’t bad). Interior too avant-garde for its buyers and the tall in-your-face cowl makes the front seat compartment seem cramped compared with rivals. Rear section looks Corvair-ish. Still a good car hiding behind the styling weirdness, a platform that would serve Mopar through the ’81 R bodies.
When did Chrysler finally get the 1957 quality issues fixed? I do not believe they ever got back to the high quality reputation the hap up through 1956.
I have done a complete 180 on these. In the early 70s (which was when I first started paying attention to these) I thought they were the goofiest, ugliest things ever built, with the exception of the 62 Dart. Even 10 years ago I was not on the train.
Now I find these striking, if not conventionally beautiful. I have reached the place where I would prefer one to either a 62 Chevy or Ford. This car would fit my non-conformist brand perfectly, and I would show it off completely without irony.
I’ve had a similar journey, helped along by some great writing by Paul here. It’s striking how lithe this car looks compared to the heavy, straight Ford and Chevy designs.
And this dashboard, along with the ’63-4 Chrysler’s are my favorites from the sixties.
Fifty plus years later it is apparent that the 1962 Plymouth showed the way ahead, for more than the 1962 Chevrolet and Ford.
I remember these when they showed up and I was nine. My father had a 1960 Dodge Dart. Which trim I don’t know. I thought it was an interesting car and it was the first time I paid attention to the cars my father drove. When these 62 Plymouths, and especially Dodge, came out I thought they were ugly. By the time 1966 came around, and we moved to California, I never saw one of them ever again. Pretty much gone in just a few years. This car is Ok, which means one’s opinion has mellowed over time, however the 62 Dodge is still ugly.
I like the ’62 Dodge a little better, but not by much. The diagonal head and tail lights fit the overall weirdness of the design better. Having said that, give me a bubble top ’62 Chevy with the then new 327.
Sleek, handsome and understated, if only compared to a ’62 Dodge. At least the head and tail lights were all on the same level unlike the downright weird in-over-out diagonals they sported.
Thanks for this homage to a car that I’ve long loved and appreciated for its remarkable advances in American large car engineering and design. It was so drastically better than the big Ford and Chevrolet of the time, in every way. I’m glad to see that so many others have come around on it, as 15-20 years ago when anyone brought these up online, the comments were inevitable a chorus of “hideous”, “pathetic” and other negative sentiments. These ’62s have been rehabilitated and it’s long overdue.
My post on why these ’62s were actually downsized was a revelation to myself, as I dug into the history and unraveled the various evidence that led me to the overwhelming obvious conclusion. There had been so much misinformation and erroneous assumptions about them. And in the eight years since I wrote that, it has only become more obvious.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/automotive-design-history-1962-plymouth-dodge-brilliant-blunder-or-suddenly-its-1977/
Truly the definitive read on the subject.
And we haven’t even gotten into how these B-Bodies handled compared to ‘the other two’.
Add me to the list of those who have come to belatedly recognize the goodness of the 1962 Fury. I still have my doubts about the looks of the ’62 Dodges, but I have always found the Plymouths to be easier on the eye and especially attractive from the front and front three-quarters angles, as well as the profile view.
I am also a recent convert to the 1961 full-size Chevrolet, admiring in particular the hardtop versions, both two-door and four-door. However, I do not extend the same magnamity to the 1962-64 versions of the car, each of which successively made a fundamentally attractive design uglier. Only the ’61s could compare to the ’62 Plymouth, and from what I read hear, the Plymouth was a better car in all other aspects.
As for the Fords, they were never-wuzzers in my book, big and blocky, and the Thunderbird roofline did not resonate with me. In contrast, the Mopars looked far more athletic and airy.
Like this one.Glass, likely needs a bit a tint. Bet that “318” gores smoother than did the “70’s”, era one I know. Color on this one is quite becoming.
Thank you Stephen for this! I love the colour on this one.
The size is spot on for export. Many American cars of this era looked weird (to foreign eyes) with such long trunks. Why take up so much parking space if you’re only going to need all that trunk room occasionally? Look again at the three in profile. Wouldn’t the Chevy and Ford look better with six inches lopped off the tail? The Plymouth has more ‘international’ proportions.
Not style, I said proportions!
There’s one aspect of the design that still doesn’t work for me, even after all these years: that’s the way the rear fender ‘blade’ seems to launch out of nowhere: “Where’d that come from?”. I’ve tried moving its starting point forward, and rearward, but nothing seems to work. Or maybe it’s the shape of the rear wheel cutout that interferes with this look working. I think I get what Exner was going for, but something back there’s not quite right.
That sort of thing bugs me.
The dashboard is fantastic. Stylish and functional!
These pictures of the ’62 Plymouth haven’t changed my view on its styling one bit-It’s a truly ugly car. The design is polarizing-and not in a good way.
About 10 years ago, a plain, low-to no-optioned ’62 Savoy sold for $4600. I never would have thought a base model four door with a six would sell for that amount!! https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/94401-alert-plain-jane-plymouth-values-going-up
Ok, so I’m an odd duck. I’ve always liked the ’62 Plymouth, even back in 1962 when Chevrolet Impalas were putting food on the Paczolt family table. Hated the Fords that year, liked the Chevrolets, but absolutely loved the Plymouths. And kinda liked the Dodges, but wasn’t as crazy about the front end. Of course this was not something said aloud around my parents.
And the older I get, the more I like them. Especially the two doors.
The more I think about these, the more I think if I were in the market for a car in this class to keep for 5 years or more I’d go for a Plymouth. The then-usual 3 year trading cycle or any less, I’d be seeing Syke’s dad for a Chevy because of the resale value.
I think these (and the Dodge) look best as convertibles, then 4 door hardtops or sedans, then wagons, with the 2 doors the least favourites, which is unusual for me.
No matter, I’m sure this would be a lovely car to drive and own.
I wonder if contrasting roof colors were available when these were new, can’t find much online, and the lack of a moulding separating the colors makes me think not, happy to be proved wrong.
Yes — two-tone paint was a $17 option. The brochure boasts of “13 new exterior colors and 26 two-tone combinations,” and the paint bulletin says two-tones were coded like this:
BW-2
FIRST LETTER—ROOF COLOR
SECOND LETTER—BODY COLOR
A fascinating tidbit is how the original, proposed full-size Mopar was essentially the 1961 car, with the ‘pie-plate’ grille of what would be used on the downsized 1962. Probably wouldn’t have sold all that much better, though.
The other thing that would have helped immensely for the downsized 1962 car would have been curved side glass, and a way to verify that is how much better the convertible versions looked. That tall, flat side glass simply doesn’t look right and doesn’t mesh with the sides. Unfortunately, with the crash restyling, there just wasn’t the time for curved side glass.
Maybe if Chrysler had stuck with the original design, they’d have had the time and funds to add curved side glass, and things might have turned out much differently.
The ’62 fury is one of my favorite cars and totally outclasses its contemporaries from the other two.
I’ll take mine with the max wedge so others can enjoy a quick look at the vanishing well detailed taillights.
Thanks for the post, Stephen
“Striking” it is but not in a good way .
The color is beautiful .
Looks like a space ship to me .
I love the ’62 Ford two door, I should kept mine .
-Nate
Love early 60s mopars I once owned a1960 Chrysler Windsor black with sea spray green interior,the styling of 60 Chrysler was not radical as the other 60 to 63 mopars
Loved all the ’62 Mopars when they appeared, but especially these Plymouths. I think that’s when my father decided I needed glasses.