1958 Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupe

The Plymouth Fury was born as a sub-series of the 1956 Belvedere line, which then became a separate series one level above the Belvedere in 1959. Its name may have been inspired by the winged female deities of justice and vengeance called Furies in Greek mythology.

The longer, lower, wider, radically restyled 1957 Plymouths sported large tailfins and a torsion bar front suspension replacing the previous coil springs. As in 1956, the 1957 Fury was sold only as a Sandstone White 2-door hardtop coupe with gold anodized aluminum side trim. Interestingly, those flamboyantly finned 1957s influenced GM's big-finned 1959s even before they were out on the market. A young GM designer named Charles M. 'Chuck' Jordan spotted a lot full of early-built 1957 Plymouths behind the plant in August 1956 and brought soon-to-be General Motors Styling Vice President Bill Mitchell over to see them. That very afternoon, Mitchell ordered all of the GM car studios to kick off new designs intended to one-up Chrysler.

The futuristic 1957 Plymouth, a Virgil Exner creation, instantly overhauled Plymouth's workaday image and catapulted the brand into third place in industry sales. Not surprisingly, a few changes were made to the successful Plymouth in 1958. It continued as the Chrysler Corporation's best-selling car and was promoted as 'The Star of the Forward Look.'

For 1958, the Fury was available only in Buckskin Beige with gold anodized aluminum trim, a special interior, and new bumper wing guards. It was powered by a standard 290 horsepower 318 cubic-inch (5.2-liter) V8 engine with twin four-barrel carburetors, or an optional 350 cubic-inch (5.7-liter) 305 horsepower Golden Commando V8. Available Bendix electronic fuel injection bumped that optional engine's output to 315 horsepower, but it proved troublesome and was later recalled and replaced by a conventional dual four-barrel setup.

With a base price of $3,032 before options, the Fury was the most expensive Plymouth in the 1958 line. Even so, Plymouth advertisements boasted of a 'Broadway Look at a Main Street Price.' Production reached 5,303 units, down from 7,438 built in 1957.