I bought a new 2000 Plymouth Voyager van. Put 245,000 miles on it before I hit a deer at night and it was totaled. Then bought a used 2001 Chrysler Town and Country mini van and put 350,000 total miles on it before it finally gave out. Two damn fine autos, both of ‘em.
Had a 1991 Voyager LE AWD with the plush red upholstery, premium sound, and removable back seats, both rows. It was a great van, but not a chick magnet at all. It was such a great car I kept the hood ornament and still have it today. Memories.
We had 3, I thought the 96-2000 Dodge and Plymouth minivans were some of the best looking minivans ever made(minivans don't generally look very good)..they were all solid vehicles, except for very touchy and fragile transmissions that demanded regular maintenance and wouldn't take any abuse....
I had a 1992 with the 3.0 Mitsubishi V6 and the 3 speed automatic transmission. We drove it for 12 virtually trouble free years. When I sold it my wife cried and until the day she died lamented the van!
When I was a little kid in Los Angeles in 1961, I used to walk past a Plymouth dealer on the way to school. I saw row upon row of '61 Plymouths lined up along the sidewalk. I liked the green ones the best.
My favorite aunt drove a salmon colored 61 Plymouth, and I remember being afraid of it for obvious reasons. It looked angry! But now I think they're really cool, and Adam I'm glad you gave them the attention they deserve
'61 Plymouth looks angry. The front reminds me of a cartoon librarian in 60's glasses glaring in disapproval. They are still cool just for being different.
The fender arches hanging over the headlights in the front give it 'angry eyes' and the ridges in the bumper work with the sunken grille to make it look like it sucked on a sour lemon.
@@UberLummoxBeing behind the wheel of a 1960- 61 Plymouth reminds me of the type of vehicle that George Jetson would own when he worked for spacelys space sprockets on the Jetsons!!!!.😊
@@mikeweizer3149 I remember seeing a book on 1960s cars that described the 1960 Plymouth dashboard this way: "George Jetson would have loved this one."
My Dad had a 1958 Plaza and I learned to drive on it (manual). 3 years later he complained about his seat sitting down too far. I looked at it and found some of the floor had rusted out and it was spreading. In the end, he was driving to his job at Chryslers he stopped a traffic light and suddenly he fell through the floor. He drove through the lights and stopped the car. It was over, he called CAA and they told him the option was to scrap it. He replaced it with a Valiant V200 pushbutton auto. Great car, and 3 years later when I wanted a car, he bought another Valiant and I got the V200. Back in the day, if you worked in assembly at Chrysler, your friends got your order number and as the car came down the line, every conceiveable extra was added. Dad's car was brilliant, it had aircon (usually an expensive addon) stereo radio and loads of other staff from the Dodge Dart parts bin which always full of nice kit. Happy days
I had a 4 door 1960 Fury. It was interesting, it had rectangular steering wheel, push button transmission, rotating driver seat and a dashboard mounted rear view mirror. It was huge and we could get a ton of kids into it for weekend fun. Sold it when I got drafted. Fun car!
@ how cool! Must have been fun. I can’t believe it had a rectangular steering wheel!! When I was a kid we all begged my dad to get a car with “fins” and he did get some through the years. But back in 1960 he got a pink Rambler station wagon! 🙄😂
@ oh, we had one alright. Apparently all four of us went to dealership and begged my parents to buy it. In later years we were embarrassed to drive down the street in the “ birthday cake” our neighbors called it. 😂. I slept sometimes in the back on camping trips. It was a hard surface!!
My favorite Plymouth is the '71-72 Satellite Sebring/Road Runner/GTX. Fuselage styling to the extreme. '70-'71 Sport Fury is a close 2nd, For 1971, Plymouth would once again take the number 3 spot do to the very popular Duster. One correction: the early slant 6 was available with an aluminum block, cylinder head was still cast iron.
The Plymouth Belvederes, two-door models, from 1964 to '67 were styling favorites. Richard Petty's NASCAR successes during that time elevated Plymouth's brand.
As a kid, we had a 61 Fury 4dr. It had the optional odd-shaped steering wheel. If the steering wheel was turned in either direction, the horn would not blow. Not sure if that was a quirk on all, or just an electrical short of some kind on our vehicle. I loved the push button automatic transmission. It also had a very elongated brake pedal. My dad drove a stick shift truck most of the time. And one time while driving the Plymouth, he went to push in the clutch, thinking he was driving the truck, and the car came to a screeching stop in the middle of the road because he had hit the brake pedal by mistake. I hardly see a 61 anymore, as here in the Northeast, they rusted out in a matter of a few years.
Me Too! None of the 1960-62 MoPars are BORING! They are MODERN ART pieces, Rolling sculpture! Look at one and look at a '60-63 Ford Falcon. Falcons are good cars, but YAHN!!!
@@jamesslick4790early 60s mopar were definitly strange looking, suprised any were sold, c back then style was king, all gone now, no one cares anymore.
@@corgiowner436 The '60 Plymouth was clearly still stuck in the 1950's. The '61 was a lot more far-fetched even compared to the Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge and DeSoto from the same year.
My dad bought a 1965 Fury III four door hardtop brand new, well actually a dealer demonstrator. It had the 318, Torqueflite, factory air conditioning, and usual power steering. power brakes and whitewalls. It was an ivory color with gold interior. Owned it for 6 years. It was a really good car.
These cars are just so weird and space age all at the same time, which makes them fascinating to look at. I do have to wonder why management thought these would sell, though. They are very agressive looking.
@@jamesslick4790I said that to a Lexus executive years ago when they first featured the (to my eyes) '61 Plymouth grille. He asked "Was it successful?" I answered "It was a flop".
The Sky-Hi rear window was standard on the Fury 2-door hardtop, optional on the Belvedere. The square steering wheel was available only with Power Steering. If you did not get PS, you got the round wheel. Power Steering reduced the number of turns lock-to-lock from five to three and a half. You didn't mention the full width sun visors that actually met in the middle. The rear view mirror, located on the dashboard was a work-around for the sun visors. My father brought home a 1960 Savoy in November of 1959. Many happy memories in that car.
My sister had a 66 Valiant with the slant 6, she let me drive it to auto shop class in 1990. Made me feel like an instant Major Dude, it had so much room under the hood to work and even had channels on either side of the engine for spark plug wrenches, plugs, tools, whatever. I loved it. Only Plymouth I've ever driven except the minivans. Good memories.
C'mon Adam, from '65 to '75 Plymouth had a LOT of great designs! The B-bodies, Road Runner, Barracuda etc. Like when you talked about the best interiors and omitted the '64-'66 Thunderbirds. BTW, the '60 Fury is awesome.
The square steering wheel was an option on both the '60 and '61. The standard was round for all models for both years. My family car was a '61 Fury with the optional square wheel, which did not take too long to get used to. It actually had a practical feature. the squared off top gave better visibility out of the windshield, while the bottom gave you more leg space and made entry into the car easier. Of course, the real reason for the square one was the "wow factor", and it always succeeded in that. Square steering wheels and pushbutton transmissions are ironically back in vogue and as far as the bizarre front end goes, it always makes me laugh to see any recent Lexus model.
Mom had a 65 or 66 Fury station wagon with a 383. Loved the stacked headlights and tons of room. When dad floored it that thing would burn rubber big time. Would love to have one again but this time with AC.
The last Plymouth that I purchased was a 1995 Plymouth Neon. I liked that little car. I received a VHS tape with the car, that highlighted it's features.
I had 4 Neons! They all went way over 250,000 kms. The last one was a 97 that had 440,ooo kms when I drove it to the scrapyard, Body was simply rotted off from Ontario salty winters.
Valiant mighty ? Talk about a totally ugly design ! The '60-'62 Valiant and the '61-'62 Plymouth were terrible styling mistakes that indeed killed Plymouth
Valiant was a great reliable and affordable family car. Could have used better rust proofing. Volare was a great design but was not ready to be sold. Too many teething problems for early adopters like my dad. Water leaks, stalls, recalls, rusting fenders etc. When it ran right it was a roomy comfy wagon.
I’ve had a ‘73 Plymouth Duster, a ‘77 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham, an 06 Dodge Dakota and a ‘12 Dodge Durango. I have never needed to repair nor repair an air conditioner, a transmission or an engine on any Chrysler product that I’ve owned. I don’t know how I’ve had great luck with Mopars and everyone else has had horrible experiences. I don’t get it.
Sales volume for 1957 was 726,009. There were seven years with higher sales volume: 1965 - 728,228, 1968 - 790,239, 1969 - 751,1134, 1970 - 747,508, 1972 - 756,605, 1973 - 882,196, and 1974 - 779,894. 1966, 1967, and 1971 had sales between 638,000 and 702,000. The nail in Plymouth’s coffin was the poor quality of the Volare in 1976, followed by the elimination of the Fury in 1978, and the financial crisis of 1980. The K-car and minivan’s resuscitated Plymouth with the highest sales volume of 443,806 in 1987, but by the 1980’s, Dodge’s sales volume exceeded Plymouth’s, which first happened in 1979.
Was the quality of the Volare any worse than that of the Aspen? Or was it just that for every Plymouth, there was a Dodge that looked identical unless you were close enough to see the chrome lettering?
@ The Aspen’s initial quality was just as poor as the Volare. They were rushed to market. In hindsight, Chrysler should have spent the resources that were dedicated to the new C-body’s that came out in 1974 to revamp the B-bodies that were initially designed in the early 1960’s.
My wife had a new 76 Volare. It looked great but began falling apart within weeks. Both fenders rusted out within a year. Have never looked a Chrysler product since
Starting in the late ‘20s through the production pause to support WW2, I’ve always thought cars looked pretty much the same brand to brand with a few exceptions. The post-war period when fenders became part of the body is when brands really started to be noticeably unique and different. It’s interesting how trends go full circle because I think today’s vehicles, especially crossovers and SUVs, have begun to look very much alike.
For 1960, Dodge introduced the Dart model series, which was originally a full-size car for '60 and '61 based on the shorter Plymouth full-size car wheelbase. This also encroached on Plymouth's sales.
Not only that, for 1961, Dodge was given the Lancer. A Valiant clone. So between the Dart as you mentioned & the Lancer, Dodge Division was allowed to drop twice into Plymouth's low-priced bracket.
The 1960 Dodge was one of my favorite cars . The other was the Dodge 880 which was only in production ( 1962 - 1964 .) The 880 sales were low making these models " scarce " today . 10:51 10:54
1963 Plymouth 2-door Sport Fury. 318. 727 Torqueflite pushbutton tranny. Rode like a cloud on the highway. Curvy windshield, tons of chrome, great chrome outlined side stripe. Great first car for a high school kid!
After I got used to them, I really liked the 61 Plymouth 2 door hardtop and especially the convertible with the top down. My wife and I bought a long Plymouth Voyager van in 1994. We really liked it.
I know a man who daily drives a 1961 Plymouth Phoenix convertible. What is remarkable is that it driven on the North Shore in lake county Illinois. He has the body restored every few years. I thought I was imagining things when I first saw the car being driven in January.
My dad had a 61 Fury in green. He said it was the Toronto auto ahow car. It had a 1960 squareish steering wheel but the rest of the dash looked like your picture. It had all options but no record player and had a 6 with a push button auto. I distinctly remember just staring as the sunlight would shine through the green wheel. And i remember that dash-mounted rear view mirror and those rear taillights. He sold it because it felt like driving a "parade float" where everyone would gawk at it. He got a 65 Fury with another 6.
My Brother had a 60 Sonoramic commando Fury 2 door hardtop. White with red roof and front accent. Also had the continental tire on trunk. Great car and fast.
My favorite Mopar is the 67 Belvedere GTX. Straight lines, dual hood scoops, and quad headlights made it an understated aggressive car. I liked the dark blue body, black vinyl top, and red wall tires combination.
9:17 - all these models were named after great luxurious hotels, Plaza, Savoy, Belvedere. It might sound funny now, but I imagine at that time those were rather ambitious and uplifting names.
And helped in selling to the taxicab market, which fell to Dodge and Plymouth as DeSoto went away. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Chrysler_Building_by_David_Shankbone_Retouched.jpg/868px-Chrysler_Building_by_David_Shankbone_Retouched.jpg
Don't forget the NEON! It was a huge hit when it came out, looked like nothing else, was one of the cars that "brought back the round headlight", had midsized room in a compact package, and sold like hotcakes, came in both coupe and sedan... it did everything right. Even unique and upscale details like frameless door glass, everyone wanted a NEON if they were in the compact/subcompact market. And the marketing, featuring the cars distinctive, happy face, exclaiming "HI!". That was a great Plymouth, even if it had an identical twin across the showroom at Dodge...
I had a 1960 Fury convertible - gorgeous car. The reason for the square wheel was to give the driver more legroom, since this was before adjustable wheels. The swivel seats did NOT smack the knees of the rear passengers. Mine certainly didn't. They went out because they were very expensive to make (especially for power seat setups), and they were not automatic; so buyers had to move them manually. As a former designer, I can empathize with Exner's dilemma 1960-63. His '57-'59 cars were improvements on GM/Ford mid-fifties designs and improving existing concepts is always easy. By 1960 he was stuck trying to improve on his own designs, which is much harder and leads to exaggeration. The anti-tailfin backlash began in late 1958 as the '59 Cadillac, Chevy and Plymouth made people say "okay, this tailfin thing has gone far enough." That same year (1958), GM was already plotting their return to styling dominance with a new concept: B-L-A-H. The public responded to drab, non-descript cars enthusiastically and Exner's doom was sealed.
The Plymouth that I would most like to own is a 1962 Fury, it was forward thinking in being downsized from the late 1950’s excess, with a long hood-short deck theme that would show up on the Mustang. Like many people I use to think it was ugly (still think that about the 1962 Dodge), but its looks have grown on me over the years. Another Plymouth I like is the 68-70 Satellite/GTX.
We had a yellow ‘60 base wagon. It was a tank, but served us well on family vacations. My father put on plastic seat covers that gave us a shock when we slid across the seat & touched the metal dash. In the Winter it took a while driving to warm up the nylon tires to get rid of the flat spot they developed while sitting. The neighbor up the street had a pretty ‘57 sedan that was rusting.
1948 Plymouth Convertible. My Dad had one when I was born until I was maybe just into my pre-teen? He had redone the top, redone the upholstery, 13 coats (if I remember) of lacquer black, hand sanded between coats, Crager Super-Spokes and extra-wide tires. I LOVED that car. It was the coolest thing ever! Then he sold it...and I'm secure enough in my manhood to admit that I cried...a fair bit, that day. The flat head had normal quirks, but he said that the handling...because of what he had done, was just impossible - manual steering and brakes, of course. But, that will forever be my favorite Plymouth.
When I was a kid in the 1960s, my neighbor had two '61 Furys. Even as a 5-year old kid, I wondered why anyone would buy such a funny looking car, especially 2 of them!
The Plymouth Barracuda were beautiful! My favorite Plymouth was the one I have, a 1983, only made one year, Plymouth Scamp GT. I get lots of compliments on it. It's 4 cylinder, from wheel drive car/truck vehicle. I really like it.
Left out the fact that at this time sales channels were reorganized so Plymouths were sold at fewer dealers (no longer sold at Dodge dealers). Then Mopar gave Dodge the full sized Dart which was priced and sized the same as Plymouth. So loyal customers of former Dodge-Plymouth dealers who wanted a Plymouth priced/sized car would wind up buying a Dodge Dart.
It is a little difficult to criticize the quirky styling of the early 60's cars without taking the time period into account. I grew up in a 1960 suburban house and there is a lot of styling in that era of Plymouth that I remember from the family house. The interiors especially reflected the styles of the time. Any of the cars that you feature reflect the times (thinking of the wild Cadillac interiors of the mid 70's) where they existed and changed pretty quickly. What's quirky now may have been cutting edge at the time. Now, to answer your question, I like the mid 60's to early 70's Chrysler styling the best though admittedly, GM and Ford are in that same category. But that's just me.....
I'm not old enough to remember the 60's Fury's, but I do remember the 70's and 80's. While we were a Ford family with deep roots in the Glass House, the Diplomat's/Fury's that pulled into my driveway were my Dad's Detroit Police cruisers. I always think of him when I see that body style. Would be cool to see you do a police package video someday!
Thanks for the video. A few of my favorite Plymouths from the 60s are: any 66 - 69 GTX, the 67 Sport Fury, the 69 Barracuda or the 69 Dart. Lots of really cool Plymouths. That 61 Plymouth would be fun to own. George Jetson would be proud to own that car!
I like all of the early 60s designs. They were unique in their own way. They are perhaps my favorite era of cars. My father had a 65 Polara. Will never forget the sound of the starter.
One ongoing complaint I have about '57-'61 Plymouths. The push button automatic was not your only choice of transmissions. The customer could have a three-speed manual. The shifter on the manual transmission was attached to its rod located under the steering column. This design made it awkward to shift the gears. Other manufacturers positioned the shifter either on a rod located on top of the steering column, as did Ford, or within the steering column as did Chevy. These were much easier to use.
You forgot to mention that the 1960 Dodge Matador ate a lot of Plymouth's sales. For '61, they both looked odd. Most sales must have slipped to Chevrolet by then.
I have a number of favorite plymouths. Any of the A body plymouths, starting with the 60 through 62 valiants. Then the Dusters. And any year of the Road Runner. Including the ugly 74 and 75 models. The F-body Volare models are kind of special to me. And the big boat Fury’s are cool. I am going to toss in the voyager minivans. Loved those for house hold family haulers. And some of the best small cars Plymouth made, the P-car Sundance models. The turbocharged convertible models were quite special. Great little pocket rockets. One that was one that didn’t get very far, but was a pretty good car was the Caravelle. With the 2.5L turbo, they would really scoot. They should have been called the Fury due to name recognition. They were actually the Chrysler K car New Yorkers with a Plymouth badge. They only sold a few thousand of those.
"Plaza", "Savoy", and "Belvidere" are names of famous hotels. MoPar's Belvidere Assembly plant opened in the 60's so I'm assuming the hotel connection, not the plant. Naming cars for places is THE American tradition! Bel-Air, Malibu, Monte Carlo, Newport, New York(er), Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue (Buick AND Cadillac used that!) Sebring, Torino (Turin).... Hell THIS could be a video subject itself!
Adam, this is yet another fine job of pulling back the curtain on the cars we grew up loving. I have a suggestion for some future content: I’d like to see you choose a particular car model and follow that models progression from start to finish, commenting on the sales success, or failure, throughout its run. I’d like to have seen you show us the major changes for Plymouth on through at least the 1970s. I too, liked the mid-‘60s Plymouths and would like to see which model years were most successful, again, at least through the 1970s. Thanks again for your excellent productions.
My grandfather had a light brown 61 Plymouth just like the one in your photo. Its angry bee look was scary for a five year old, and he drove around cursing at other cars, so riding with grandpa was literally hell on wheels.
This is my theory on how Plymouth went from the revolutionary 1957 Forward Look cars (which sent GM scrambling to come out with the lower, wider, fin-laden 1959') to the hideous 1960, 1961, 1962 Plymouths? Virgil Exner suffered a heart attack in 1956. They were working on models several years out. He returned in 1957. There is a clear distinction between Exner's pre- and- post heart attack designs. He lost his "something special" and never recovered it.
My favorite Plymouth was a 1986 Dodge Aires company car, which is what I ordered. However, the passenger side was badged and trimmed as a Plymouth Reliant.
My grandparents had a 1970 Plymouth Satellite. It was sporty looking for the time. I loved that car. It came to my parents for a short time, who then gave it to my older brother. He put a better sound system in it but sold it soon after he graduated from college. I never got to drive it, sadly.
In the early ‘60s, one of my aunts had a ‘61 Fury. Another aunt had a ‘61 Polara. My mother said she wondered if they were competing for the crown of owning the ugliest cars in the family.
Dad had a red '61 Fury. He loved it. Brought me home from the hospital when I was born in 1968. It finally just wore out and he traded it in on a '66 Chevy...that he never liked as much. Thanks for the video. Hard to find info on the 61's because of the controvercial styling.
The '71 Satellite police car they used in the Adam-12 series was about the nicest looking 4-door ever made. Even the Satellite wagons the Brady Bunch used were nice looking. Really, the whole Plymouth lineup from about '71-'74 was real nice looking. The Valiant maybe not so much, but it wasn't bad and I'd say looked better than the Nova.
Adam, I’d enjoy seeing your take on Plymouth’s (apparent) solid showing in their 1967 restyle. While I love all the big Mopar C cars from 65 thru about 73, I think they did relatively well in 67, maybe fading slightly again in 68. As for the “maybe a little too much quirk” built into these oddball offerings, I definitely agree. The rest, as they say, is history! Love your Chanel and content, Adam! Right up my alley 👌🏻🙌🏻 BG, Republic, WA
I think the 57-58 was majestic as did many, but I don’t necessarily hate the 60 Plymouth… from The side it’s period in hindsight… the cars you’ve shown are beautiful. I have always thought it was tragic that let’s say 75-end Plymouth was a duplicate Dodge with a different (if it was lucky) grille texture. Plymouth was pushed hard by our local full line MoPar dealership and I feel like they were cheaper than Dodges because they seemed more prevalent 25 years ago than Dodge itself as far as vans and cars. I remember the Expresso Neon the “Buick” colored variations of the Breeze and Grand Voyager being so common you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting one. I wonder if they hadn’t had a Plymouth PT Cruiser variant it could have bought them more time, or perhaps the Mexican 300/Charger badge engineered car couldn’t have been marketed as a Plymouth. No Plymouth is my favorite car, but if I had to ask for one it would be a 58 Belvedere… surprise surprise.
When I was a little kid, we had a 61 Savoy. My dad (an engineer) was into Chrysler's "engineering prowess", and we had a 65 Valiant, 66, 68 and 70 Furies, and a 71 Duster over the decade. Thanks for showing this and helping me remember the interior. If you think the interiors are cheap looking now, those transmission buttons were really plastic looking.
You need to put “…if you will…” into the catchphrase coffin. Otherwise, while I don’t always agree with your styling analysis, your videos are a bright spot in my RUclips content! You’ve become an online version of Collectible Automobile Magazine and that’s an amazing thing. TY.
I don't think they should ever have gotten rid of Plymouth. They were famous for their mini vans, and I once owned one and got very attached to it. It had such great utility and could haul so much in such a small package, even though it was a bit under powered. You can't get any of that in a Toyota Corolla or Prius today.
Hi Adam, Thanks for highlighting another interesting car. A great place to see this era of Plymouth Fury’s is old episodes of “Leave it to Beaver”. Ward Cleaver drove a new one each year from the 1959 season until 1963, when the series ended. Chrysler product placement personnel must have been hard at work then, because many of their vehicles were predominantly featured on TV shows as well as major motion pictures.
The slat six did not offer an aluminum head engine. It was a die cast 225 aluminum block. It saved about 80 pounds of block weight verses the cast iron 225 block. Chrysler produced between 52,000 and 56,000 aluminum block engines.
My dad owned several different cars during the 50s. (mostly Fords) His 1959 Plymouth 361 "Golden Commando" station wagon was the best of the lot -- a great car! Lots of power and the torsion bar suspension provided excellent cornering.
I have a picture of a 1960 Buick Invicta...and if you study the front end, there seems to be a slight similarity with the beatiful curvature over the headlights. Personally I love the Invicta and the lines are much cleaner, but yhere seems (to me) to be a similarityothe metal sloping over the front headlamps with a certain " half curve". I absolutely love what you present to us... You give us such an incredible education.
Enjoyed your video on the Plymouths. I can relate to your comment about Plymouths being prone to rust. My father’s 1958 Savoy was seriously rusting out above the headlights by 1962. I like the 1961(?) Plymouth rectangular steering wheel, push buttons and rolling speedometer. I also liked the 1967? VIP.
my 2nd grade music teacher had a 61 Savoy. Liked the front styling. I thought the 70s looked really good, they had a great instrument panel. And I liked the 74 Fury and Dodge Monaco... I love the imitation General Motors styling.... the Fury looked like a better Oldsmobile than an Oldsmobile, the Monaco looked like a better Buick than a Buick. And finally a friend had a yellow 70 Satellite convertible. And Plymouth always had great engineering.
Just some clarifications- The '61 did offer the squared off steering wheel. ...and it was the Cadillac designers who were influenced by the '57 forward look Plymouths, which resulted in the low profile and enormously tail finned Cadillac of 1959.
I bought a new 2000 Plymouth Voyager van. Put 245,000 miles on it before I hit a deer at night and it was totaled. Then bought a used 2001 Chrysler Town and Country mini van and put 350,000 total miles on it before it finally gave out. Two damn fine autos, both of ‘em.
Had a 1991 Voyager LE AWD with the plush red upholstery, premium sound, and removable back seats, both rows. It was a great van, but not a chick magnet at all. It was such a great car I kept the hood ornament and still have it today. Memories.
We had 3, I thought the 96-2000 Dodge and Plymouth minivans were some of the best looking minivans ever made(minivans don't generally look very good)..they were all solid vehicles, except for very touchy and fragile transmissions that demanded regular maintenance and wouldn't take any abuse....
@@joeysplats3209 That’s pretty cool.
@@dyer2cycle They really were nice looking. I had to replace the transmission in the T&C but it was worth it.
I had a 1992 with the 3.0 Mitsubishi V6 and the 3 speed automatic transmission. We drove it for 12 virtually trouble free years. When I sold it my wife cried and until the day she died lamented the van!
When I was a little kid in Los Angeles in 1961, I used to walk past a Plymouth dealer on the way to school. I saw row upon row of '61 Plymouths lined up along the sidewalk. I liked the green ones the best.
My favorite aunt drove a salmon colored 61 Plymouth, and I remember being afraid of it for obvious reasons. It looked angry! But now I think they're really cool, and Adam I'm glad you gave them the attention they deserve
@@Mid-centuryGarage
It depends on how delusional you are.
Ha! They do look angry. Used to think they were ugly but I want one now
I agree, the 61 Plymouth looks angry.
My grandparents had a 59 imperial and I was afraid of it as a 5 year old I thought the front would me somehow 😅
'61 Plymouth looks angry. The front reminds me of a cartoon librarian in 60's glasses glaring in disapproval. They are still cool just for being different.
The fender arches hanging over the headlights in the front give it 'angry eyes' and the ridges in the bumper work with the sunken grille to make it look like it sucked on a sour lemon.
Great analogy with the librarian with cats-eye glasses!
@@UberLummoxBeing behind the wheel of a 1960- 61 Plymouth reminds me of the type of vehicle that George Jetson would own when he worked for spacelys space sprockets on the Jetsons!!!!.😊
A name like FURY sounds angry
@@mikeweizer3149 I remember seeing a book on 1960s cars that described the 1960 Plymouth dashboard this way: "George Jetson would have loved this one."
My Dad had a 1958 Plaza and I learned to drive on it (manual). 3 years later he complained about his seat sitting down too far. I looked at it and found some of the floor had rusted out and it was spreading. In the end, he was driving to his job at Chryslers he stopped a traffic light and suddenly he fell through the floor. He drove through the lights and stopped the car. It was over, he called CAA and they told him the option was to scrap it. He replaced it with a Valiant V200 pushbutton auto. Great car, and 3 years later when I wanted a car, he bought another Valiant and I got the V200. Back in the day, if you worked in assembly at Chrysler, your friends got your order number and as the car came down the line, every conceiveable extra was added. Dad's car was brilliant, it had aircon (usually an expensive addon) stereo radio and loads of other staff from the Dodge Dart parts bin which always full of nice kit. Happy days
I had a 4 door 1960 Fury. It was interesting, it had rectangular steering wheel, push button transmission, rotating driver seat and a dashboard mounted rear view mirror. It was huge and we could get a ton of kids into it for weekend fun. Sold it when I got drafted. Fun car!
What color was it?
@ it was bright red/silver.
@ how cool! Must have been fun. I can’t believe it had a rectangular steering wheel!! When I was a kid we all begged my dad to get a car with “fins” and he did get some through the years. But back in 1960 he got a pink Rambler station wagon! 🙄😂
@@mapleext I thought my aunt and uncle had the only pink rambler! It was a wagon and all the kids wanted to ride in the back.
@ oh, we had one alright. Apparently all four of us went to dealership and begged my parents to buy it. In later years we were embarrassed to drive down the street in the “ birthday cake” our neighbors called it. 😂. I slept sometimes in the back on camping trips. It was a hard surface!!
My favorite Plymouth is the '71-72 Satellite Sebring/Road Runner/GTX. Fuselage styling to the extreme. '70-'71 Sport Fury is a close 2nd, For 1971, Plymouth would once again take the number 3 spot do to the very popular Duster.
One correction: the early slant 6 was available with an aluminum block, cylinder head was still cast iron.
Loved that Sebring!
Roadrunner/GTX just stunning!
They are so far out, They're IN!
The Plymouths from 1964 through 68 were very understated and appealing, largely due to the design influence of Elwood Engle. And they sold well!
@markrossi4624
I completely agree. I'd love to have an Engel Plymouth now!
Engel had a huge mess to clean up after Exner's lunacy. By '64, Chrysler was turning out some pretty sharp styling scross their range.
The Plymouth Belvederes, two-door models, from 1964 to '67 were styling favorites.
Richard Petty's NASCAR successes during that time elevated Plymouth's brand.
As a kid, we had a 61 Fury 4dr. It had the optional odd-shaped steering wheel. If the steering wheel was turned in either direction, the horn would not blow. Not sure if that was a quirk on all, or just an electrical short of some kind on our vehicle. I loved the push button automatic transmission. It also had a very elongated brake pedal. My dad drove a stick shift truck most of the time. And one time while driving the Plymouth, he went to push in the clutch, thinking he was driving the truck, and the car came to a screeching stop in the middle of the road because he had hit the brake pedal by mistake. I hardly see a 61 anymore, as here in the Northeast, they rusted out in a matter of a few years.
Second generation barracuda, particularly the fast back, were beautiful cars that still look great.
I agree, especially with slicks and a 426 hemi, maybe chrome on the Dana 60, and the side outlet exhaust!😊
I love the 1960s Mopars. Especially the strange looking ones. I think they look great. The odd design is the best part
Strange or INTERESTING.
Me Too! None of the 1960-62 MoPars are BORING! They are MODERN ART pieces, Rolling sculpture! Look at one and look at a '60-63 Ford Falcon. Falcons are good cars, but YAHN!!!
@@jamesslick4790All look better than today's cookie cutter vehicles.
@@jamesslick4790early 60s mopar were definitly strange looking, suprised any were sold, c back then style was king, all gone now, no one cares anymore.
The 60 and 61 Plymouth cars are just avant guard. The older they get the better they look . Not for everyone but they have their own beauty
They look like insects.
@@corgiowner436 The '60 Plymouth was clearly still stuck in the 1950's. The '61 was a lot more far-fetched even compared to the Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge and DeSoto from the same year.
Avant garde
Yeah the 60 and 61 Fords and Chevys were boring but that 61 Plymouth was something else. There should have been a happy medium
64 years later and the styling is still talked about. I think they're beautiful, especially the black 60
This model looks nice.
Those 61's however....
Gotta vote with you on this one
I'll second that!👍
In my mind 1965 to 1971 were the best years of Plymouth, crowned by the 1968 Road Runner. That is when they were at their best.
My all time favorite is the 1968 GTX. They are very nice.
@@Colorado_NativeHate to say it but I'm fond of 1967-69Barracudas myself!!!!.
@@mikeweizer3149 Yes, those are very nice. Nice clean and smooth lines. Your eyes just glide over them. Thanks for the reply.
I agree.
65 Sport Fury
Those early 60s Mopars had some really funky looking dashboards, plus some models had non-round steering wheels. How cool is that!
My dad bought a 1965 Fury III four door hardtop brand new, well actually a dealer demonstrator. It had the 318, Torqueflite, factory air conditioning, and usual power steering. power brakes and whitewalls. It was an ivory color with gold interior. Owned it for 6 years. It was a really good car.
These cars are just so weird and space age all at the same time, which makes them fascinating to look at. I do have to wonder why management thought these would sell, though. They are very agressive looking.
Keep em coming
The 1961 Plymouth grille would NOT be out of place TODAY. See your Lexus dealer!
@@jamesslick4790going to say ,even toyota suv have mean face in 2025
I love the 1960 and 1961 Plymouths! They just exude Space-Age character! They were beautifully and artfully designed cars..
@@jamesslick4790I said that to a Lexus executive years ago when they first featured the (to my eyes) '61 Plymouth grille.
He asked "Was it successful?" I answered "It was a flop".
I love the '61 "Insect That Ate Tokyo"-styled Plymouths! So unique!
The Sky-Hi rear window was standard on the Fury 2-door hardtop, optional on the Belvedere. The square steering wheel was available only with Power Steering. If you did not get PS, you got the round wheel. Power Steering reduced the number of turns lock-to-lock from five to three and a half. You didn't mention the full width sun visors that actually met in the middle. The rear view mirror, located on the dashboard was a work-around for the sun visors. My father brought home a 1960 Savoy in November of 1959. Many happy memories in that car.
I remember seeing a 60 rotating on a platform in a dealership in Westpark cleveland I never forget how cool that was!!😊
My sister had a 66 Valiant with the slant 6, she let me drive it to auto shop class in 1990. Made me feel like an instant Major Dude, it had so much room under the hood to work and even had channels on either side of the engine for spark plug wrenches, plugs, tools, whatever. I loved it. Only Plymouth I've ever driven except the minivans. Good memories.
The "Slant Six" was a "do it your self" dream. Easiest engine to work on outside of a Briggs & Stratton!
I think it was the 383 that had the firing order 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. That was pretty easy.
C'mon Adam, from '65 to '75 Plymouth had a LOT of great designs! The B-bodies, Road Runner, Barracuda etc. Like when you talked about the best interiors and omitted the '64-'66 Thunderbirds. BTW, the '60 Fury is awesome.
I'll second that!👍😊
Third gen Barracuda was tops!
Road Runner, Satellite, GTX, Duster, Superbird, just to name a few comes to mind.
The 1961 Plymouth is my favorite. I LOVE the eccentric, quirky, flamboyant style.
I initially found the '61 Plymouth Belvedere kinda wierd but the styling eventually grows on you and I now like it very much.
The square steering wheel was an option on both the '60 and '61. The standard was round for all models for both years. My family car was a '61 Fury with the optional square wheel, which did not take too long to get used to. It actually had a practical feature. the squared off top gave better visibility out of the windshield, while the bottom gave you more leg space and made entry into the car easier. Of course, the real reason for the square one was the "wow factor", and it always succeeded in that. Square steering wheels and pushbutton transmissions are ironically back in vogue and as far as the bizarre front end goes, it always makes me laugh to see any recent Lexus model.
I love my 70 Fury with the fuselage body and the power bulge hood!
My dad had the 70 Fury. Even as a 4 door, it was still a good looking car.
Mom had a 65 or 66 Fury station wagon with a 383. Loved the stacked headlights and tons of room. When dad floored it that thing would burn rubber big time. Would love to have one again but this time with AC.
They were fast,smooth and quiet
The last Plymouth that I purchased was a 1995 Plymouth Neon. I liked that little car. I received a VHS tape with the car, that highlighted it's features.
'95 was a cool year for Plymouth. They were Seductive even to those uf us who didn't own one.
Neon best in class when new, dropped the ball 2nd gen.
I had 4 Neons! They all went way over 250,000 kms. The last one was a 97 that had 440,ooo kms when I drove it to the scrapyard, Body was simply rotted off from Ontario salty winters.
Adam, With respect, the beginning of the end for Plymouth was the day the mighty Valiant was replaced by the feeble Volare.
Valiant mighty ? Talk about a totally ugly design ! The '60-'62 Valiant and the '61-'62 Plymouth were terrible styling mistakes that indeed killed Plymouth
Valiant was a great reliable and affordable family car. Could have used better rust proofing. Volare was a great design but was not ready to be sold. Too many teething problems for early adopters like my dad. Water leaks, stalls, recalls, rusting fenders etc. When it ran right it was a roomy comfy wagon.
I’ve had a ‘73 Plymouth Duster, a ‘77 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham, an 06 Dodge Dakota and a ‘12 Dodge Durango. I have never needed to repair nor repair an air conditioner, a transmission or an engine on any Chrysler product that I’ve owned. I don’t know how I’ve had great luck with Mopars and everyone else has had horrible experiences. I don’t get it.
Should have kept the old name, more respect
@@LlyleHunteru been blessed by mopar god
Sales volume for 1957 was 726,009. There were seven years with higher sales volume: 1965 - 728,228, 1968 - 790,239, 1969 - 751,1134, 1970 - 747,508, 1972 - 756,605, 1973 - 882,196, and 1974 - 779,894. 1966, 1967, and 1971 had sales between 638,000 and 702,000. The nail in Plymouth’s coffin was the poor quality of the Volare in 1976, followed by the elimination of the Fury in 1978, and the financial crisis of 1980. The K-car and minivan’s resuscitated Plymouth with the highest sales volume of 443,806 in 1987, but by the 1980’s, Dodge’s sales volume exceeded Plymouth’s, which first happened in 1979.
Was the quality of the Volare any worse than that of the Aspen? Or was it just that for every Plymouth, there was a Dodge that looked identical unless you were close enough to see the chrome lettering?
@ The Aspen’s initial quality was just as poor as the Volare. They were rushed to market.
In hindsight, Chrysler should have spent the resources that were dedicated to the new C-body’s that came out in 1974 to revamp the B-bodies that were initially designed in the early 1960’s.
@@pcno2832they were made on the same line at the same time. It was common to see a volaré badge on one fender and an Aspen emblem on the other 😅
My wife had a new 76 Volare. It looked great but began falling apart within weeks. Both fenders rusted out within a year. Have never looked a Chrysler product since
They are phenomenally cool!!!
Starting in the late ‘20s through the production pause to support WW2, I’ve always thought cars looked pretty much the same brand to brand with a few exceptions. The post-war period when fenders became part of the body is when brands really started to be noticeably unique and different. It’s interesting how trends go full circle because I think today’s vehicles, especially crossovers and SUVs, have begun to look very much alike.
Agreed!!! Today’s cars remind me of the cars of the late 1940’s - all look very similar.
1970 Fury GT
It's smoking HOT
The gorgeous '65 Plymouth Satellite and '69 Roadrunner...
For 1960, Dodge introduced the Dart model series, which was originally a full-size car for '60 and '61 based on the shorter Plymouth full-size car wheelbase. This also encroached on Plymouth's sales.
Not only that, for 1961, Dodge was given the Lancer. A Valiant clone.
So between the Dart as you mentioned & the Lancer, Dodge Division was allowed to drop twice into Plymouth's low-priced bracket.
Our version of the "Plodge".
Spot on. You nailed it.
The 1960 Dodge was one of my favorite cars . The other was the Dodge 880 which was only in production ( 1962 - 1964 .) The 880 sales were low making these models " scarce " today . 10:51 10:54
@@MarkSwitzer-o6l The 880 should have been a DeSoto, as it was almost entirely based on the Chrysler Windsor.
1963 Plymouth 2-door Sport Fury. 318. 727 Torqueflite pushbutton tranny. Rode like a cloud on the highway. Curvy windshield, tons of chrome, great chrome outlined side stripe. Great first car for a high school kid!
had the same with a 413 max. Went like Hell! Wished I still had it!
@brucecochran8297 Nice! That Max Wedge was race-ready right off the showroom floor!
After I got used to them, I really liked the 61 Plymouth 2 door hardtop and especially the convertible with the top down. My wife and I bought a long Plymouth Voyager van in 1994. We really liked it.
Great analysis as usual Mr. Adam. When I was young, I felt sorry for people who drove 61 Plymouths. Now, I am stunned how beautiful they look.
Adam needs to do guided tours of car museums! His knowledge is impressive
"Fury" is still the best ever name for a car.
I know a man who daily drives a 1961 Plymouth Phoenix convertible. What is remarkable is that it driven on the North Shore in lake county Illinois. He has the body restored every few years. I thought I was imagining things when I first saw the car being driven in January.
That 1960 Fury is actually starting to grow on me, somehow.
People get weird w age
61 Plymouth is one of the coolest cars ever made !!!
My dad had a 61 Fury in green. He said it was the Toronto auto ahow car. It had a 1960 squareish steering wheel but the rest of the dash looked like your picture. It had all options but no record player and had a 6 with a push button auto.
I distinctly remember just staring as the sunlight would shine through the green wheel. And i remember that dash-mounted rear view mirror and those rear taillights.
He sold it because it felt like driving a "parade float" where everyone would gawk at it. He got a 65 Fury with another 6.
My Brother had a 60 Sonoramic commando Fury 2 door hardtop. White with red roof and front accent. Also had the continental tire on trunk. Great car and fast.
My favorite Mopar is the 67 Belvedere GTX. Straight lines, dual hood scoops, and quad headlights made it an understated aggressive car. I liked the dark blue body, black vinyl top, and red wall tires combination.
They truly were gorgous cars
9:17 - all these models were named after great luxurious hotels, Plaza, Savoy, Belvedere. It might sound funny now, but I imagine at that time those were rather ambitious and uplifting names.
And helped in selling to the taxicab market, which fell to Dodge and Plymouth as DeSoto went away. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Chrysler_Building_by_David_Shankbone_Retouched.jpg/868px-Chrysler_Building_by_David_Shankbone_Retouched.jpg
Ein sehr ausdrucksstarkes Fahrzeug.
Das Design ist atemberaubend schön.
Don't forget the NEON!
It was a huge hit when it came out, looked like nothing else, was one of the cars that "brought back the round headlight", had midsized room in a compact package, and sold like hotcakes, came in both coupe and sedan... it did everything right.
Even unique and upscale details like frameless door glass, everyone wanted a NEON if they were in the compact/subcompact market.
And the marketing, featuring the cars distinctive, happy face, exclaiming "HI!".
That was a great Plymouth, even if it had an identical twin across the showroom at Dodge...
I had a 1960 Fury convertible - gorgeous car. The reason for the square wheel was to give the driver more legroom, since this was before adjustable wheels. The swivel seats did NOT smack the knees of the rear passengers. Mine certainly didn't. They went out because they were very expensive to make (especially for power seat setups), and they were not automatic; so buyers had to move them manually. As a former designer, I can empathize with Exner's dilemma 1960-63. His '57-'59 cars were improvements on GM/Ford mid-fifties designs and improving existing concepts is always easy. By 1960 he was stuck trying to improve on his own designs, which is much harder and leads to exaggeration. The anti-tailfin backlash began in late 1958 as the '59 Cadillac, Chevy and Plymouth made people say "okay, this tailfin thing has gone far enough." That same year (1958), GM was already plotting their return to styling dominance with a new concept: B-L-A-H. The public responded to drab, non-descript cars enthusiastically and Exner's doom was sealed.
My only Mopar was a 1969 Belvedere 2 door sedan with a 318 that I called the poor man's Roadrunner. I thought it was a pretty good looking car!
He skipped the gorgeous '65 Plymouth Satellite and '69 Roadrunner...
The Plymouth that I would most like to own is a 1962 Fury, it was forward thinking in being downsized from the late 1950’s excess, with a long hood-short deck theme that would show up on the Mustang. Like many people I use to think it was ugly (still think that about the 1962 Dodge), but its looks have grown on me over the years. Another Plymouth I like is the 68-70 Satellite/GTX.
We had a yellow ‘60 base wagon. It was a tank, but served us well on family vacations. My father put on plastic seat covers that gave us a shock when we slid across the seat & touched the metal dash. In the Winter it took a while driving to warm up the nylon tires to get rid of the flat spot they developed while sitting.
The neighbor up the street had a pretty ‘57 sedan that was rusting.
1948 Plymouth Convertible. My Dad had one when I was born until I was maybe just into my pre-teen? He had redone the top, redone the upholstery, 13 coats (if I remember) of lacquer black, hand sanded between coats, Crager Super-Spokes and extra-wide tires. I LOVED that car. It was the coolest thing ever! Then he sold it...and I'm secure enough in my manhood to admit that I cried...a fair bit, that day. The flat head had normal quirks, but he said that the handling...because of what he had done, was just impossible - manual steering and brakes, of course. But, that will forever be my favorite Plymouth.
When I was a kid in the 1960s, my neighbor had two '61 Furys. Even as a 5-year old kid, I wondered why anyone would buy such a funny looking car, especially 2 of them!
The teacher who became my 3rd Grade teacher bought a 61 Plymouth when I was in 1st grade, and I thought the same thing.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Strangely, my 7th grade teacher had a new 61 Plymouth and I thought the same thing - a terribly ugly car.
The Plymouth Barracuda were beautiful! My favorite Plymouth was the one I have, a 1983, only made one year, Plymouth Scamp GT. I get lots of compliments on it. It's 4 cylinder, from wheel drive car/truck vehicle. I really like it.
Left out the fact that at this time sales channels were reorganized so Plymouths were sold at fewer dealers (no longer sold at Dodge dealers).
Then Mopar gave Dodge the full sized Dart which was priced and sized the same as Plymouth.
So loyal customers of former Dodge-Plymouth dealers who wanted a Plymouth priced/sized car would wind up buying a Dodge Dart.
Someone made the comparison of the 1961 Plymouth grille shape and, say, a 2020 Lexus ES 300h grille. Now you can't unsee it.
Great comment. My feeling’s exactly.
It is a little difficult to criticize the quirky styling of the early 60's cars without taking the time period into account. I grew up in a 1960 suburban house and there is a lot of styling in that era of Plymouth that I remember from the family house. The interiors especially reflected the styles of the time. Any of the cars that you feature reflect the times (thinking of the wild Cadillac interiors of the mid 70's) where they existed and changed pretty quickly. What's quirky now may have been cutting edge at the time. Now, to answer your question, I like the mid 60's to early 70's Chrysler styling the best though admittedly, GM and Ford are in that same category. But that's just me.....
I'm not old enough to remember the 60's Fury's, but I do remember the 70's and 80's. While we were a Ford family with deep roots in the Glass House, the Diplomat's/Fury's that pulled into my driveway were my Dad's Detroit Police cruisers. I always think of him when I see that body style. Would be cool to see you do a police package video someday!
Thanks for the video. A few of my favorite Plymouths from the 60s are: any 66 - 69 GTX, the 67 Sport Fury, the 69 Barracuda or the 69 Dart. Lots of really cool Plymouths. That 61 Plymouth would be fun to own. George Jetson would be proud to own that car!
I like all of the early 60s designs. They were unique in their own way. They are perhaps my favorite era of cars. My father had a 65 Polara. Will never forget the sound of the starter.
One ongoing complaint I have about '57-'61 Plymouths. The push button automatic was not your only choice of transmissions. The customer could have a three-speed manual. The shifter on the manual transmission was attached to its rod located under the steering column. This design made it awkward to shift the gears. Other manufacturers positioned the shifter either on a rod located on top of the steering column, as did Ford, or within the steering column as did Chevy. These were much easier to use.
You forgot to mention that the 1960 Dodge Matador ate a lot of Plymouth's sales. For '61, they both looked odd. Most sales must have slipped to Chevrolet by then.
I have a number of favorite plymouths. Any of the A body plymouths, starting with the 60 through 62 valiants. Then the Dusters. And any year of the Road Runner. Including the ugly 74 and 75 models. The F-body Volare models are kind of special to me. And the big boat Fury’s are cool. I am going to toss in the voyager minivans. Loved those for house hold family haulers. And some of the best small cars Plymouth made, the P-car Sundance models. The turbocharged convertible models were quite special. Great little pocket rockets. One that was one that didn’t get very far, but was a pretty good car was the Caravelle. With the 2.5L turbo, they would really scoot. They should have been called the Fury due to name recognition. They were actually the Chrysler K car New Yorkers with a Plymouth badge. They only sold a few thousand of those.
"Plaza", "Savoy", and "Belvidere" are names of famous hotels. MoPar's Belvidere Assembly plant opened in the 60's so I'm assuming the hotel connection, not the plant. Naming cars for places is THE American tradition! Bel-Air, Malibu, Monte Carlo, Newport, New York(er), Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue (Buick AND Cadillac used that!) Sebring, Torino (Turin).... Hell THIS could be a video subject itself!
I came to say your very words... and you're right, "destination"-named cars would make a GREAT subject for a video! 👍
Adam, this is yet another fine job of pulling back the curtain on the cars we grew up loving. I have a suggestion for some future content: I’d like to see you choose a particular car model and follow that models progression from start to finish, commenting on the sales success, or failure, throughout its run. I’d like to have seen you show us the major changes for Plymouth on through at least the 1970s. I too, liked the mid-‘60s Plymouths and would like to see which model years were most successful, again, at least through the 1970s. Thanks again for your excellent productions.
The Sonny & Cher era of Plymouths were quite cool actually!...The Beat Goes On!
Ha!
The Plymouth win-you-over beat goes on, with the heart with the little barbed tail. Very memorable ad campaign.
With Petula Clark singing!
My grandfather had a light brown 61 Plymouth just like the one in your photo. Its angry bee look was scary for a five year old, and he drove around cursing at other cars, so riding with grandpa was literally hell on wheels.
I suspect most people in ANY price class don’t want cars that are offensively styled.
i will defend the 60 no matter what because it was just plain gorgeous
This is my theory on how Plymouth went from the revolutionary 1957 Forward Look cars (which sent GM scrambling to come out with the lower, wider, fin-laden 1959') to the hideous 1960, 1961, 1962 Plymouths? Virgil Exner suffered a heart attack in 1956. They were working on models several years out. He returned in 1957. There is a clear distinction between Exner's pre- and- post heart attack designs. He lost his "something special" and never recovered it.
Sounds like he lost his heart for car design
Love the weirdness. To me the only really bad or "incorrect" area is the shape of the front wheel opening towards the front.
My favorite Plymouth was a 1986 Dodge Aires company car, which is what I ordered. However, the passenger side was badged and trimmed as a Plymouth Reliant.
My grandparents had a 1970 Plymouth Satellite. It was sporty looking for the time. I loved that car. It came to my parents for a short time, who then gave it to my older brother. He put a better sound system in it but sold it soon after he graduated from college. I never got to drive it, sadly.
In the early ‘60s, one of my aunts had a ‘61 Fury. Another aunt had a ‘61 Polara. My mother said she wondered if they were competing for the crown of owning the ugliest cars in the family.
😂
Dad had a red '61 Fury. He loved it. Brought me home from the hospital when I was born in 1968. It finally just wore out and he traded it in on a '66 Chevy...that he never liked as much.
Thanks for the video. Hard to find info on the 61's because of the controvercial styling.
The '71 Satellite police car they used in the Adam-12 series was about the nicest looking 4-door ever made. Even the Satellite wagons the Brady Bunch used were nice looking.
Really, the whole Plymouth lineup from about '71-'74 was real nice looking. The Valiant maybe not so much, but it wasn't bad and I'd say looked better than the Nova.
Adam, I’d enjoy seeing your take on Plymouth’s (apparent) solid showing in their 1967 restyle. While I love all the big Mopar C cars from 65 thru about 73, I think they did relatively well in 67, maybe fading slightly again in 68.
As for the “maybe a little too much quirk” built into these oddball offerings, I definitely agree. The rest, as they say, is history!
Love your Chanel and content, Adam! Right up my alley 👌🏻🙌🏻
BG, Republic, WA
I think the 57-58 was majestic as did many, but I don’t necessarily hate the 60 Plymouth… from
The side it’s period in hindsight… the cars you’ve shown are beautiful. I have always thought it was tragic that let’s say 75-end Plymouth was a duplicate Dodge with a different (if it was lucky) grille texture. Plymouth was pushed hard by our local full line MoPar dealership and I feel like they were cheaper than Dodges because they seemed more prevalent 25 years ago than Dodge itself as far as vans and cars. I remember the Expresso Neon the “Buick” colored variations of the Breeze and Grand Voyager being so common you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting one. I wonder if they hadn’t had a Plymouth PT Cruiser variant it could have bought them more time, or perhaps the Mexican 300/Charger badge engineered car couldn’t have been marketed as a Plymouth. No Plymouth is my favorite car, but if I had to ask for one it would be a 58 Belvedere… surprise surprise.
When I was a little kid, we had a 61 Savoy. My dad (an engineer) was into Chrysler's "engineering prowess", and we had a 65 Valiant, 66, 68 and 70 Furies, and a 71 Duster over the decade. Thanks for showing this and helping me remember the interior. If you think the interiors are cheap looking now, those transmission buttons were really plastic looking.
C buttons really were plastic
A car that only RUclipsr Charles Phoenix could love! 😅
You need to put “…if you will…” into the catchphrase coffin. Otherwise, while I don’t always agree with your styling analysis, your videos are a bright spot in my RUclips content!
You’ve become an online version of Collectible Automobile Magazine and that’s an amazing thing. TY.
I don't think they should ever have gotten rid of Plymouth. They were famous for their mini vans, and I once owned one and got very attached to it. It had such great utility and could haul so much in such a small package, even though it was a bit under powered. You can't get any of that in a Toyota Corolla or Prius today.
Why are you comparing a minivan to a Corolla? 😂😂
Hi Adam,
Thanks for highlighting another interesting car. A great place to see this era of Plymouth Fury’s is old episodes of “Leave it to Beaver”. Ward Cleaver drove a new one each year from the 1959 season until 1963, when the series ended. Chrysler product placement personnel must have been hard at work then, because many of their vehicles were predominantly featured on TV shows as well as major motion pictures.
13:34 Don't get too close; it might bite.
12:06 How much is the optional rear-mounted washing machine?
We had a ‘75 Plymouth Valiant. I wrecked it in an accident. My father thanked me!
The slat six did not offer an aluminum head engine. It was a die cast 225 aluminum block. It saved about 80 pounds of block weight verses the cast iron 225 block. Chrysler produced between 52,000 and 56,000 aluminum block engines.
Yes. I put that in the video description. I misspoke
My dad owned several different cars during the 50s. (mostly Fords) His 1959 Plymouth 361 "Golden Commando" station wagon was the best of the lot -- a great car! Lots of power and the torsion bar suspension provided excellent cornering.
My favorite year of Plymouth is the 1965 Fury, whether it's a fury I, II or III I like the style and look of them.
Ward Cleaver loved those plymouths!!!
I have a picture of a 1960 Buick Invicta...and if you study the front end, there seems to be a slight similarity with the beatiful curvature over the headlights. Personally I love the Invicta and the lines are much cleaner, but yhere seems (to me) to be a similarityothe metal sloping over the front headlamps with a certain " half curve". I absolutely love what you present to us... You give us such an incredible education.
I thought the 60-61's were weird looking, but I kinda like the interiors. My favorites are the fuselage-era cars.
The longer I watched this, the more I started liking that '61', especially the station wagon!
Enjoyed your video on the Plymouths.
I can relate to your comment about Plymouths being prone to rust.
My father’s 1958 Savoy was seriously rusting out above the headlights by 1962.
I like the 1961(?) Plymouth rectangular steering wheel, push buttons and rolling speedometer.
I also liked the 1967? VIP.
my 2nd grade music teacher had a 61 Savoy. Liked the front styling. I thought the 70s looked really good, they had a great instrument panel. And I liked the 74 Fury and Dodge Monaco... I love the imitation General Motors styling.... the Fury looked like a better Oldsmobile than an Oldsmobile, the Monaco looked like a better Buick than a Buick. And finally a friend had a yellow 70 Satellite convertible. And Plymouth always had great engineering.
Would LOVE to have a 61 wagon❤
Just some clarifications-
The '61 did offer the squared off steering wheel.
...and it was the Cadillac designers who were influenced by the '57 forward look Plymouths, which resulted in the low profile and enormously tail finned Cadillac of 1959.