Welcome to 1960s Cars – Plymouth
1960 Plymouth Fury
Fury received a much anticipated restyle from ’59
the most conspicuous change were the tall shark fins
but the engine and even the frame was new
following Chrysler’s engineering with unibody construction
Cost: $2,950.00 (convertible)New “shark fins” styling
1961 Plymouth Fury
Wow, from shark to minnow,the fins were gone!
critics called the new front “odd” and “strange”
the designers were going for new
but if sales were the judge no one liked this brand of new
sales slid almost 25% from the previous year
1962 Plymouth Valiant
Plymouth inherits the Valiant from Chrysler
but this was a good thing, America was hungry for sporty compacts
and Valiant outsells Dodge’s Lancer and helps boost overall sales
1963 Plymouth Belvedere”
Another drastic restyle but this one hits the mark
crisper, cleaner lines helped to increase sales
this puts Plymouth squarely in 4th place
behind Ford, Chevy and Pontiac
1964 Plymouth Barracuda
Aimed at the youth market the Valiant
was reborn with a fastback and renamed Barracuda
it was released within a week of Ford’s Mustang
and held it’s own in the ensuing sales war
A 1964 magazine ad for Plymouth Barracuda
1965 Plymouth Sport Fury
Chosen as the Indianapolis 500 pace car
Fury received a lot of good press
but the big news was Belvedere coming back as it’s own model
Plymouth again had a mid size line to compete with Chevy and Pontiac
1966 Plymouth Satellite
Satellite was the top of the line mid size offering
it was available with the 426 Hemi as a “Street Hemi” option
this was necessary because NASCAR had banned the hemi saying it wasn’t production
so Plymouth made a production model to get it re-qualified
1967 Plymouth Fury
Redesigned as less of a hot rod
Fury could relax and again be the full size price leader
it was designed to be, with available VIP options
“Plymouth is Out to win you over” was this years catch phrase
1968 Plymouth Road Runner
Heralded as a budget muscle car
the Road Runner had no nonsense styling and a 335hp big V-8
the tie in to Warner Brothers cartoon character
was a marketing hit, it had a “beep beep” horn and bird decals
it was definitely a performance bargain that attracted new buyers to Plymouth
1969 Plymouth Barracuda
Plymouth wasn’t doing well in the Pony Car wars
so a racier Barracuda debuted this year
with a big V-8, racing stripes and a “performance interior
the jazzed up model hoped to compete with Mustang
Cost: $3,150.00