(First posted 5/11/2011. Edited and updated 4/30/17) The 1959s were the last models of the most famous and infamous cars of Chrysler’s history. In the mid-’50s Chrysler was on a roll after having fallen to third place among the Big Three from their traditional No. 2 spot (and never again would overtake Ford). But after replacing the ultra-conservative K. T. Keller with Tex Colbert and a getting new styling direction under Virgil Exner (who was largely responsible for the 1947 Studebaker), Chrysler hit the showrooms with their Forward Look” 1955 models. Chrysler’s 1955-56 models were their most competitive in years, but as they say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Chrysler had new cars in the pipeline, cars that were going to leapfrog everyone else’s in the industry. They’d have new engines (including the legendary 392 Hemi), new transmissions (the equally legendary Torqueflite), new suspensions (front torsion bars) and new bodies. These cars would be new from road to roof–and oh yes, Chrysler would accomplish all this in two years instead of the usual three.
To introduce their 1957 lineup, Plymouth declared that “Suddenly it’s 1960!” In the fall of 1956, these very cars had instigated sheer panic at General Motors, which responded with a crash program to scrap their planned 1958 cars–after only one year–in favor of wholly-new ’59s. The Mopars out-handled, out-braked, out-accelerated and generally outclassed everything else on the road…except in one very important way.
The ’57 were Chrysler’s first (but not last) unmitigated quality disasters. Parts didn’t fit well. Parts fell off. There were dust and water leaks, plus rust on-demand. After a stellar 1957, sales for 1958 dove off a cliff.
Enter the ’59 Plymouth you see here. By now, Chrysler had largely (but not completely) eliminated the worst quality issues: The ’59s were marginally tighter and the best-put together of the series. No one could know at the time that they would be the last really competitive Plymouths until the 1965 C-bodies.
The Plymouth Fury had been a minor sensation since its 1956 debut. In 1959, Plymouth’s new flagship was the Sport Fury, as the “regular” Fury (seen here) moved down a notch along with the Belvedere and the Savoy and the Plaza was eliminated. For traditionalists, this would mark the last year for the old flathead six. Other engine choices for 1959 included the wide-block 318 and the 361 (called the Golden Commando 395, for its torque output.)
Buyers could choose from a three-speed manual transmission, the two-speed Powerflite automatic and the three-speed Torqueflite automatic. But the reputation of the ’57s had stuck to them, and ’59 was again not a very good sales year.
The author’s 1959 Fury sedan in 1979
In the fall of 1979, when I was in college, one of my Sunday activities was cruising through car lots when the dealerships were closed. And there it was: A white, ’59 Fury four-door sedan, green interior, with those clear plastic seat covers so popular with old people in the ’50s, and 60,000 on the odo. I went back the next week and drove the car. When I read the glove box sticker and found that this car had been delivered to its original owner on the very day I was born, well, I just had to have it.
How bad did I want it? Bad enough to straight-trade a six-cylinder, three-speed ’68 Mustang. Yes, it was one of the dumbest car trades ever, financially speaking. My mother was furious when I brought it home. She always called it Moby Dick. But I loved that Fury at least as much as any car I’ve ever owned. But after six months the 20-year-old transmission was hinting at a rebuild, and I spotted a ’71 Scamp that became my next new love. I was fickle in those days.
The interior of the subject car does not do justice to how nice these were in decent condition. Although the one in this random internet shot is of the higher trim Sport Fury, mine (in this exact color) was in just as good of condition. I was amazed at some of the modern features like the way the pushbuttons that controlled the air flow for the heat/vent/defroster controlled the ducts by vacuum and the way it came with a remote control outside mirror – both being features found on then-modern cars. I was also amazed at the retrograde lack of a “Park” control for the Torqueflite. But those must have seemed redundant to the engineers who were satisfied with the independent drum brake on the driveshaft. So push “N” and yank on the parking brake.
I can attest that the ’59s still had some flaws. Mine was plagued by water leaks around the windshield, and brake lights that would stick and keep glowing. And oh yes, a leak at the gas tank filler pipe that I should have fixed but did not. And the very beginning of some body rust (something it had managed to hold off for a long time). Still, it drove like cars that were 10 years newer. It felt much more modern than my friend’s ’62 Chevy. It cornered flat, braked pretty well (for drums, once I fixed the leaking wheel cylinders), and the 318 certainly was adequate. The car was content to drive at 70 mph all day long. Although it was a higher-maintenance car than its ’71 Scamp replacement, I wish I had kept it longer.
It is strange to think that this CC, which was first posted nearly six years ago, was the very first piece here at CC under my name. Sort of an accidental piece, as it turns out, because it began as a very long comment which was turned into a post on a day when Paul was in need of some content. As is common with such hastily produced and amateurish efforts, I saw that this lacked any kind of conclusion, as well as my signature concluding shot of the tail end of the car. So let’s rectify those omissions.
Some of our most vivid car ownership experiences come when we are young, and this one is no exception for me. Perhaps if I were to live with my old car for six months today, I would be harshly awakened to the reality that the car was not as great as I remember. Then again, perhaps not. The things I recall about it were that it fit me so perfectly. I loved the thick steering wheel and where that wheel was located in relation to the seat. I loved the little anachronisms like the pushbutton shifting, the refrigerator-style pull-type door handles and that final stylized version of the Plymouth sailing ship that was nestled between the two front sections of the grille. I loved the modern way it drove and the way it made me feel when I was driving it. It might or might not be the perfect car for me in 2017. But it was absolutely the perfect car for me in the fall of 1979. I have had somewhere approaching thirty cars in my life, and I have good memories of most of them. For some mysterious reason, this one remains my favorite.
(photos by Paul Niedermeyer)
What can you actually see out of that dash-mounted mirror?
Not much. That was a major complaint with Chrysler Corporation cars during this era. It also supposedly vibrated at high speed.
The last one I drove that mirror vibrated at all speeds! Of course, that particular car was in pretty sad shape.
You could see very little through the mirror on the dash, and it was worse because the side mirror was mounted waaaaay out on the front fender and you looked at it through the windshield. The field of vision was about the size of a quarter.
My problem was solved when a carwash ripped it off of the fender. I didn’t have any luck finding a replacement (it was remote controlled!) and replaced it with a period universal model that mounted to the doorframe with setscrews. It didn’t look that great but was much more functional.
These were easy cars to see out of…you could see all four corners from the driver’s seat. Try that on yer Accord…. But yes, I didn’t care much for the dash-mounted mirrors on these fin cars. The only one that was bad enough to need replacement was the one on my 1957 New Yorker. I got a used day/night mirror from a mid-60’s Mopar car at a wrecking yard, a new stob from the dealer, and pasted it high on the windshield. It worked much better.
thats the best part .Its like looking back at a gun sight. you can see fine and the bulit side mirrors cover the blind spots.
You rear fins! My mom drove a `57 New Yorker with the same mirror. Shew and dad always said they felt like they were being followed all the time LOL!
Very nice job indeed, JPCavanaugh. 1959 being the year of my earthly appearance, the cars of that vintage have always been a source of fascination for me. There were many interesting vehicles built that year but the Chrysler products, while sadly marred by QC issues, were arguably the most interesting to come from the Big 3 because of the performance aspect.
Rambler and Studebaker had some very compelling offerings, but GM and Ford were not really competing for the performance market that year, instead building soft’n’cushy boulevard cruisers.
Oddly enough, twice now I’ve almost bought ’59 Furys. I really wanted them, but they both just needed way too much work for me. Maybe there’ll be a charmed third time. 🙂
A great article on a car that isn’t even common at car shows. I always liked the styling of the 1957-58 Mopars – particularly the DeSotos and Chryslers – but the corporation really turned what could have been a huge triumph into a long-term disaster by rushing these cars to market.
At car shows, two owners of Mopars from this era told me interesting stories about the development and construction of these cars.
The owner of a 1958 DeSoto Fireflight two-door hardtop said that an older gentleman told him that, during 1956, the rush was on to get these cars ready for a fall 1956 introduction date. Every major tool shop in Detroit was busy with major work for the other auto manufacturers that were adhering to a more “normal” new model cycle, while the all-new 1957 models from Chrysler required more work than normal. So Chrysler used quite a few “back alley” enterprises to get work done – with the expected results.
The owner of a 1958 Dodge Coronet sedan spoke with a Dodge dealer who toured the Dodge plant when these cars were being built. The dealer watched a worker who was supposed to be spraying undercoat on cars. The worker waved his spray wand back and forth under the car, without anything coming out of the machine. Baffled, he asked the worker what he was doing.
The worker replied that the UAW contract called for him to make 12 “sweeps” with his machine to apply undercoating. Unfortunately, management failed to ensure that his machine was always filled with undercoat material. So, he merely made 12 sweeps with the machine – as required by the contract – and if the car wasn’t properly undercoated because management failed to ensure that he had enough material, it wasn’t his problem! Management didn’t really care – there was no 36,000-mile or 100,000-mile warranties for mechanical problems, let alone rust, at this time.
Reading the old “Owners’ Reports” in Popular Mechanics on these cars is quite fascinating. My favorite is the response from the owner of the 1957 Dodge who said that he regularly found huge blocks of ice in his trunk during the winter months, because water would leak into the trunk, and then freeze.
It’s revealing that Chrysler’s market share hit almost 20 percent in 1957, but had sagged to about 14 percent in 1959. That’s a tremendous drop in only two years! Chrysler sales plunged by 50 percent in 1958 (which was much worse than the total market in what was a major recession year).
GM got hit in 1957, but came back strong over the next five years, as it benefited from Chrysler’s 1958-62 tailspin, as did AMC. Ford built its share of clunkers in 1957, too, but it only dropped as much as the market did in 1958, and Ford Division came back strongly in 1959 with the much better built, and more conservative 1959 models that featured the “Thunderbird” roofline on Galaxie models.
The problem in this case wasn’t engineering it was labor union BS.
No, it was the management structure and its relationship to the production workers. Later Japanese companies showed them (with help of American Deming who was not listened to much in his own country) how to do it.
Someone needs to buy that puppy and name it ‘Christine’!
Wow, I’m an author now! Thanks for some editing, Paul, as I dashed the piece off at 7 am before coming in to work.
After I wrote it, I had a couple of other thoughts. Other than the Imperial, this was the last body-on-frame passenger car made by Chrysler. Starting with the 1960 models, Chrysler went Unibody, so this 59 Plymouth was the end of an era. When I owned mine, it sounded kind of like an old ship when you drove it – you could feel it flex a bit and could hear it creak and groan a little. Howard my car mentor drove it and told me that it was lots tighter than the 57 that he had owned briefly when new.
Second, I did not mention that the car in the photos is the much rarer 4 door hardtop with frameless windows and without the full center pillar. My car had been the much more common 4 door sedan with the window frames and rear quarter windows behind the back doors. Two completely different looks. These hardtops also sported a unique windshield. Look at the side view in the first photo and note the compound curve where it curves up into the roof as well as around the sides. My sedan had a more conventional and slightly smaller windshield.
OKay, three thoughts. In addition to this being the last year for the old flathead 6 and body-on-frame, this was the last year (until the 90s) when the sailing ship appeared on a Plymouth. The emblem in the center of the grille combined the funky Plymouth spearhead with a sailing ship. I think this emblem was also on the wheel cover on the fake spare (often called the toilet seat) that was on the trunk of my car but not on this one. That was a fairly common option on these in 59. That trunk-mounted spare held water all the time. Fortunately, it was stainless steel, so it didn’t matter that evaporation was the only drain.
I always wondered how much of a world of difference there was between the Body & Frame ’59 Mopars versus the Uni-body 1960s. I also always wondered why such a leap in technology was wrapped in “1960 is here, told ya so” styling (although all full sized cars were in a weird 1950s zeitgeist style that yeah without much pointing to the rather quick shift to subtle designs 1961 would bring from GM and Ford).
Did Chrysler think another massive shift in style was too much? But they couldn’t wait to address the quality issues the new Uni-Body would solve? It just seems weird even now that they plastered the Forward Look on such new cars, just to shorn them of Forward look details by 1962, like peeling a Banana (notably in the 1961 Plymouth and 1962 Chrysler’s case). Although, the 1960 Chrysler/DeSotos are my favorite looking “Forward Looks” after the original 1957 Chrysler/DeSotos.
Some aspire to greatness other have it thrust upon them,
That compound-curved windshield was only on convertibles in 1957 and 1958 (I believe). In 1959 it could be found on two-door and four-door hardtops as well.
I should like to point out that evaporation was not the only drain for water from the trunk-mounted spare. If you opened the trunk lid in the rain the water poured across the front of the lid into the trunk. At least it did on my 1958 Imperial – I imagine that it worked the same way on the 59 Plymouth, which inherited the smoothly curved decklid along with the optional tire-shape in place of the more squared-off decklids of the 57-58 Plymouths.
The trunk lid of my 1995 Dodge Intrepid, and the Chrysler Concorde and Eagle Vision, does the same, without being graced by a fake spare tire! Sone common DNA, there?
1959 was the end of other eras for Plymouth:
-Final year before it got a “kid brother” with the Valiant (who was briefly a separate division)
-final year of the L-head 6 (soldered one more year in Dodge trucks)
-final year where Plymouth didn’t get internal competition. Things changed when Dodge stepped his toes in the door with the Dart. Even if Dodge was still upscale, it was a beginning of some changes. Design of the 1960 Plymouth looked too much like the 1957 and the akward front end didn’t helped while the Dart was attractive.
I spotted on the Forward look forum, a proposed idea of stacked headlights for some design studies for the 1959 DeSoto. Just imagine how the 1959 and/or 1960 Plymouth would had look. It could had outsmarted Pontiac by 3 or 4 years.
Wow thats a clean old car I remember seeing a lot of these not hardtops back in the 70s they must have been popular new out here A friend had one similar it was a Plymouth Savoy flathead 6 it went ok but on gravel roads all the dust stayed in the car his claim was in the rain it turned top mud and ran out thru the rust holes sounds like it could have been typical. I havent seen any of this model for ages even at shows except for the shipping costs that one would be well worth buying and it seems cheap compared to what old US iron brings here.
As Geeber mentions above, while Chrysler’s sales did take a hit from the quality problems in ’57 (as did Buick, for similar reasons), those issues alone didn’t account for the magnitude of the sales drop in 1958, which had a lot to do with the recession. The ‘Eisenhower recession’ started around mid-1957, just before the ’58 models went on sale, and continued through 1958. Nearly everybody except AMC took a hit. Plymouth’s sales drop in ’58 was stiff — over 40% — but it wasn’t any worse, in percentage terms, than Ford’s.
As tends to happen in recessions, sales of mid-priced cars tended to be hit worse than the low or high ends, although I do think that the quality problems tended to compound the problem for Buick and Chrysler. If middle-class buyers are already wary about buying a new car, and are thinking of either waiting another year or buying something cheaper, a bad reputation for build quality or reliability is certainly not a great enticement. But it’s hard to separate that from the overall economic malaise, at least in ’58.
Where you see a bigger difference is in ’59. Both Ford and Chevy posted huge gains for 1959, but Plymouth, Dodge, and Chrysler sales rose only incrementally, and DeSoto actually declined further, by about 4,000 units. (The confusing price overlap between the three had a lot to do with that.) How much of that was due to quality problems and mixed feelings about the styling, and how much was attributable to Chrysler having facelifted versions of two-year-old designs against all-new rivals, is harder to say. Probably all of the above.
I aways did love these even before I ever read Christine.
There’s probably a reason why it was the Plymouth that was chosen to model for “Christine.” That car always looked, to me as to Stephen King, as dark, heavy and brooding – even when it was contemporary. I’m a child of the late 1950s also; and one neighbor “church lady” with kids about our ages sometimes did carpool duties. With her 1957 Fury.
Everything about that car was somehow sinister. The frameless window-vent glass; the dash-mounted rearview mirror; the cloth interior (I’m going from memory here) seemed so like an old-folks’ living room. And the little details kids notice – like how other Furies had four headlights, but that one had two, with turn-signals where the high-beam bulbs later went.
The car somehow creeped me out. It obviously creeped King out also…don’t get me wrong; I don’t dislike that car. But it was somehow different, and more so even than most MoPar products tended to be.
I’ve said the same thing. Just watch the movie, there is something sinister about that car.
Although in the book you can tell the book was written before he chose the car as there are many, many discrepencies in the descriptions of the car and an actual ’58 Plymouth Fury.
Great book and movie anyway, both favorites of mine. I think I’ll watch the movie right now. It’s been a while.
There were other old Mopars with more sinister front ends than Christine. The leader would have to be the 1959 Dodge, followed by the 1961 Plymouth. In fact, kind of a cool sequel to Christine would if she would go up against a possessed 1959 Dodge.
Of course, the Dodge didn’t have the name, and while the ’61 Fury had the name, it didn’t have the fins. The 1958 Plymouth Fury, while not being the most sinister in appearance, was close enough in overall malevolence to qualify as the most evil of all Mopars (particularly with the absolutely abysmal quality of the real cars when they were new).
Thank you jp for this great write up of an overlooked model. I too was born in 59′ and have always considered that years styling for American cars to be about the most interesting.
My Dad had what I thought was a 58 Suburban station wagon in Fire engine red. Even as a small child I considered it to be of poor quality. We had ditched it for less than $100. before 1965. My Dad switched to a used 62 Rambler American and It was a world better.
But even as a small Child I considered the Plymouth to be vastly inferior to GM & Fords.
The Back Doors didn’t even open after the car was 3 years old for some reason. I remember feeling sympathy for the rather poor man who was thrilled to pick it up for $100, to transport his family of 6. My Dad gave him back most of his money when he realized the back doors wouldn’t open. I think I remember my Dad still feeling guilty for having unloaded it on someone so already down on his luck.
I remember it was the low level series with White & black patterned woven vinyl seats.
It had the ugliest little speedometer IIRC.
Thanks again for stepping up to the plate. I really enjoyed your writing & I look forward to reading more from you. Well done!
To my other comments above I should add that my father-in-law replaced his wrecked 1950 Ford station in 1962 or so with a 1959 Savoy 2-door sedan in white on green. This rig was a six-cylinder three-speed car that didn’t even have a factory heater but some kind of a Motorola or Auto-lite substitute. I remember buying a junkyard radio and installing it for him as kind of a birthday present. I think he decided it was a little too spartan, because his next car was a 1962 top-line Chevy station wagon.
Wow, it’s late 50’s week? Neat. Gladly, I’m younger than these cars, but they were plentiful on the roads when I was a young child. I remember them rather well, but the Mopars didn’t hold up well in the rustbelt for many of the reasons already outlined. I liked the original versions of this body shell, but the 59 amped it up in a good way. Nice to see one again.
I always thought these were cool cars. My favorites are the ’57 and 58 coupes with their cleaner lines. Love to have one, but wow, they have gotten waaaay too expensive for me. Like ’57 Bel air convertible expensive!
Infamous? Nah… the ’59 Plymouth is still a pleasing design. The ’61 models, however… those might fit the mold of infamy a bit better!
I always thought these needed several more inches of wheelbase. They stand on their tippy toes!
Despite their flaws, I always liked the late Fifties Mopar offerings. Back about 1980 or ’81, one of the teachers at my high school brought a similar vintage DeSoto (a two-tone blue and white four-door) into our auto shop. The body was in decent shape, but it looked like it had been sitting for a while. When we popped the hood, there were dead leaves on the flathead six. Obviously it had been sitting for quite a while. In the right hands, one of these old beasts could be rebuilt into something way better than it was when it left the factory.
Car culture, pop culture and film/tv are intrinsically related in my mind. As a child, my I interest in cars stemmed largely from tv and I’d be in denial if I claimed otherwise.
Just some of the shows/movies that immediately come to mind…
Magnum PI
Starsky and Hutch
Mad Max
Dukes of Hazard
Christine
Back to the Future
Blues brothers
Hardcastle and McCormick
Wayne’s world
Smokey and the Bandit
The Graduate
Goldfinger
Thelma and Louise
Supernatural
American Graffiti
Rain man
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Cannonball Run
The overall look of the ’59 has grown on me over the years, but I find the fins cause the back end to look too short in profile, almost like the car was rear ended. Regarding the “wide block 318” according to Allpar, the blocks were almost identical between the original design and the later one,though the redesigned ones were about 50 lbs lighter. It’s the cylinder heads that made the big size difference. The original poly-head design was much bulkier than the later wedge head.
And now, with CUV’s selling more, we are back to pre-“forward look” vehicles.
But a return to movie monster front ends.
On the topic of abysmal Chrysler quality of the Forward Look cars, I read a story about an assembly line guy tasked with spraying undercoating on the cars. The contract read, “Wave spray wand five times underneath the car”. Well, the guy ran out of undercoating, so he did exactly what the contract required on the cars as they passed, except nothing was coming out of the spray wand’s nozzle.
Here’s a freshening of your photographic memory, JP:
Very nice! Thank you.
What program did you use ….. to wash /wax the cars?
Jim, thanks for the update. I’m glad I was desperate enough that day to “turn” you; I can’t imagine CC without your contributions (above and beyond your inevitably great comments).
Knowing you better, it’s very easy to see you behind the wheel of your Fury, with your inevitable smile to go with it. 🙂
Why thank you. I have truly enjoyed this gig, which has to be the least costly way to participate in the old car hobby. 🙂
Agreed. And I remind myself of that quite often. 🙂
Something I recall from childhood, is that all the finned 50’s cars looked horribly dated by the mid-sixties. They looked more out of place than the early 50’s models. Sort of like when appliances came in harvest gold, avocado green and copper brown in the 1970’s. Everyone had them and then suddenly no one wanted them.
Those fins sure made the car easy to find in parking lots in 1979-80.
Thanks for this great article JP. These cars certainly were leaps ahead of the competition at the time in terms of styling, interior design , handling, braking and overall roadability. It’s a shame they were such horrendous quality disasters.
I am struck by the amazing difference between the base model interior and the fancier up-level models as pictured by the green interior shot.
Back then base models were really base.
Example: the family 1958 Chevy Yeoman wagon (same as Delray sedans)
No armrests. Doors had to be closed by pulling on the door opening handle. Surpising that none of them ever broke off.
Cardboard kick panels with a thin vinyl coating (like thick paint)
No passenger sun visor
Hard seats with no foam padding – probably something like jute under the vinyl
Unpadded dash and visor (padding was probably optional at all levels but more routinely included in upper ones)
Rubber floor covering, although by then it was nubby and not just black in order to look sort of like carpet
No oil filter on the six cylinder engine
The cheapest optional radio didn’t have any station buttons
And of course no power steering or brakes, which would be options on any model
Just stepping up to the next model would get all the basics covered.
I owned a good ’58 Fury two-door when I lived in Powell River, BC. A Caravelle, it gave me “spot-on” service and being built in Windsor, Ontario (where all Canadian Plymouths got proper work done on them!) it didn’t have the QC glitches the US cars had… We Canucks needed a car that was solid against the harsh winters! My ’58 didn’t even leak or dust-up or rust, and it was a JOY to drive on my weekends in Vancouver. I’m just sorry I traded it in for a ’70 Ford Galaxie “reporter’s” car for when I worked for the local paper, tho’.
Great repost of the first article by J.P. that I have not read before now. On the subject of fins the only cars I ever liked with them were the Ramblers and the Studebaker Hawks. They always looked more natural on these cars, not garish or contrived, at least to me. Especially never liked the ones on Mopars. But then again I have widely varying tastes in cars, being a Mopar fan having owned 18 of them over the years(but never a pre ’64). I have also owned various makes of GM cars, Fords, Toyota’s, Honda’s and Ramblers but no Studebakers although I have looked at a few to buy over the years.
But in the fins on both those cars were added to earlier finless bodies.
I’m curious what you might have paid for this car in 1979. Not long after you, around 1983, I found myself in a small dealership with an indoor warehouse that specialized in old cars. Among the cars were a couple of ’65 Rivieras that inspired me to eventually buy one elsewhere, and I sat in a couple of ’57-’59 era Chryslers. It seemed like they had a New Yorker and a Windsor. Both were four doors, no recollection if they were hardtops. I recall the interiors were quite original, and elegant.
It seemed like by that time intact “finned” cars, even four doors, were starting to go for some money, at least at a dealer specializing in old iron.
Those cars just seemed so huge and exotic – most of them had disappeared by the time that I was becoming car conscious in the early ’70s, that I had a hard time seeing myself in one.
Now, I’d love to be able to walk into that dealer and buy at 1983 prices!
I had paid $800 for the 68 Mustang hardtop I bought in the spring of 1979. It was a 6 and 3 speed with just over 100k. It was a good looking and driving car but smoked a bit due to old valve seals. I traded the Mustang for the Plymouth straight up. Yes, love can make a 20 year old kid do stupid things.
I like this car .
I owned a ’58 two door sedan in the 1970’s, it was powder blue, one owner little old lady from Pasadena’s car, no heater, ran great (tiny flathead i6) and handled well ~ no rattles, squeaks nor leaks .
One of the very few good ones I guess .
-Nate
Dad had a Canadian 57 Plodge 4 door sedan for a number of years and it was reasonably reliable and did not rust much – did Canadians built them better? For some reason we got quite a few of the Canadian Exner Dodges in Israel – may have to do with lower tax duty on Canadian merchandise but I cannot be certain. Like all my father’s North American cars (other than his Citation) it had a six (“no need to look ostentatious”), the venerable and unburstable flathead. Am looking at the possibility of getting one now although it won’t be a 4 door or six…
We also had a few of this model Fury as 7-seater cab, often used to ferry passenger between Israel’s bigger cities… Pic by Y. Klein.
I love the 1959 Forward Look cars…
This is my baby…purchased in March of 1983 at a time in my life when buying a collector car was a pretty dumb idea…3 young sons, wife a stay-at-home Mom, and money more than a bit on the tight side! BUT…since I had gone with my uncle to pick up his brand new 1959 Dodge when I was 10…and then driving it when he gave it to my Dad when I was 18…a ’59 Dodge was something I just had to have. I paid $600 for it and drove it home with the front seat rocking since the floors were pretty much rusted away. It was a basic car…flathead 6 cylinder with 3-speed on the column…only options were radio, heater, and some chrome trim. After some rather basic, unexperienced sheetmetal riveting in the floorboards and trunk, the car was driveable and even though it was pretty rough, it still turned heads since it is a pretty unusual car here in Wisconsin. Over the years, lots has been done…added a year correct 325 V-8 & pushbutton automatic transmission, dual exhaust, paint (inexpensive – someday will get done right), interior, wide white walls and correct wheelcovers, and lots and lots of basic upgrading. My sons don’t remember the ’59 not being part of our family and it will always remain one!
Nice Don .
-Nate
These 50s Mopars always seemed sinister to me as well. The 57-58 DeSoto especially, though I used to pretend my bike was one. I’d even pretend to shift “gears” on it with it’s virtual push button transmission.
Other sinister cars during my childhood: early 50s Buicks, mid fifties Chryslers.
Great work JP. The backstory of these cars makes them even more interesting.
I actually read for the part of “Arnie” in “Christine” during my years pursuing an acting career in Hollywood.
That would have been a dream job on more than one level.
My family’s 59 4-door hardtop was pretty sensitive to crosswinds. If it wasn’t cold, I usually drove it with all the windows down. I met my wife while driving that car. I had to pick my sister up from school and offered a ride to two other girls, one of whom I eventually married. We called that red car “Blue Cloud” because it burned a lot of oil.
Soon after I got my license, I took it to an isolated highway to see how fast it would go. Got it over 100 mph and the speedometer wouldn’t come down. Drove around for quite a while pounding on the dashboard before it eventually cooperated. If I had brought the car home with the speedometer stuck over 100 mph, I don’t want to think what my dad would have done.
At least one rusty green metallic ’59 Plymouth figures in local lore. Tibby drove cheap backlot clunkers her husband Smitty snagged along the way. She was on the road constantly, drove those beaters hard, went through quite a few. The county fair was going on, Smitty was active with the fire department that participated in the fair parade. He rode the firetruck with his buds so he could exercise his favorite activity: drinking. Tibby followed with the kids in the ’59 Plymouth. As the day progress, the demo derby started. Seated in the grandstands, sudden one of the kids shouted “Look Ma, Dad’s put the car in the demo derby!” Sure enough, there was the rusty green Plymouth, windows gone, number on the door, running its last, with drunken Smitty hooping and hollering at the wheel! In Tibby’s usual way, she took it in stride, not much ever fazed her, she was used to his shenanigans.
Not a mysterious reason at all–you shared a birthday. I’d not seen this one before, so it’s good to see and hear the full story of the ’59 you’ve mentioned more than once. Maybe it would have made more financial sense to keep the Mustang, but I’d say this ’59 was much more memorable!
Here’s another one . . . (eBay, Commerce City, CO)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Plymouth-Fury/203108910061?hash=item2f4a3c03ed:g:t6sAAOSw31JfY3wd
This is my 59 fury 313 poly engine
Canadian made Car
I loved the back end of these. I can recall in Grade One being mesmerized when I saw one of these. It belonged to the crossing guard, his name was Mike. When on the way home from school the next day I saw it again, I decided I had to have a ride in that car. I waited, waited, waited, and just when Mike was finishing up his shift, Mom came along to collect me and bring me home. Maybe another time she said.
Odd as it may sound I still like late 50s Chrysler efforts other than the absolute rust bucket my friend had these cars seemed to survive as well as anything else from the US we got our cars from Canada Plymouths Plodges and Deplotos they werent cheap in any badge and locally assembled by Todd motors, that outfit screwed Hillmans together really well and I suspect they did the same with Chrysler cars, there were still plenty of them about in the 70s
Thanks for the look back. I have fond memories of my ‘58 Plymouth if for no other reason than it was my 1st car with working factory A/C. It was already 18 years old when I bought it so it must have been one of the well built models. I never considered it attractive, but I echo your comments about it driving like a much newer car.