1969 Plymouth Fury III
The Fury was the first $50.00 car I ever owned. The quintessential Minnesota winter beater. This was also the most comfortable car I ever owned. The big bench seat was high in front and low in the back and driving it was just like being cradled. Intoxicating. At first it ran on 6 of eight cylinders. This was why it was as cheap as it was. With a little cleaning, and a whole bunch of Sea Foam, both the dead cylinders came back and by the time I drove it to the junkyard, 4 years later, it had gone another 30,000 miles. In that time, I replaced the front brakes, rear leaf springs (never again, mano. Not even with a lift) various sections of exhaust pipe, and transmission.
I really miss the little details of this car that made it really fun to drive. The Cloudomatic suspension, the blinkers on the front fenders (I absolutely LOVE that feature), the wing vent windows in the door, the capacity to seat 6 in winter coats, the feeling of invincibility the one gets in a car this big and the trunk room. You could have slept 2 in the trunk. It was just amazing. I remember the steering being light as a feather even though this car must have weighed close to 2 tons.
It had a 318ci engine that was tough enough to come back from certain death. It was something of a dog in a vehicle this big, but man, did it cruise nicely. I really remember specific things about this car. The two little bumper guards in front and back. They may look small, but they and the bumper were made of cold, hard steel. I remember replacing all 4 headlights with halogens (back when these were a big deal) and really thinking I was hot stuff with my bright lights.
This car really responded well to maintenance. I remember being stunned by the new found accelleration power when I replaced the plugs, cap, rotor, and points. My dad helped me set the points and this is a skill that I use frequently now with my older motorcycles. When it starting blowing oil into the air cleaner, I learned what a PCV valve does and that cars really do have to breathe.
I loved driving this car at night and I still regret driving that one away.
Finding a convertible of one of these cars is one of my life's ambitions.
Blackwalls, steelies and dogdish hubcaps. What a classic look.
In the above picture, the Fury didn't have blackwalls, but it did very soon after it was taken. This car was over 17' long and it got about 12-14 miles to the gallon. I just about went broke trying to fill it's 25 gallon tank.
