Dual Quad Trivia Question of the Week: 1. In what model year was the Fury introduced? 2.
One of the top hit songs from 1960 which you may have had stacked on your dad s Highway Hi-Fi record player was Walkin to New Orleans. Who sang this 1960 hit song? 3.
This jazz musician, born August 26, 1960, once headed up the Tonight Show Band. Name this artist. 4.
What famous senator made the comment, I don t think my religion is anyone s business? 5. If you wanted to drive a 1960 Plymouth Fury off the showroom floor in 1960, you would have had to write a check for: A.
$1,985.00; B. $2,106.
00; C. $2,932.00; or D.
$3,254.00? 6.
What Hollywood personality was honored with the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 9, 1960? 7. On January 25, 1960, the National Association of Broadcasters reacted to accusations that radio stations were accepting money for playing particular records by threatening to fine the disc jockeys involved in such shenanigans.
The term used to describe this illegal practice was _____? 8. What was the term used in advertising campaigns to define the style of Chrysler Corporation automobiles from 1955 through 1961 and what was the name of the designer responsible for this style?
Some people collect post cards...
Sharon and Floyd Walker of Wichita, Kansas collect Plymouths, but not just ANY Plymouths only 1960 models! I stumbled into Sharon recently as I was searching the internet for a photo of a 1960 Plymouth for this story. She and Walter currently own four and who knows how many they may own before they finally pull in the reins?
Their most recent acquisition was a stunning, black, 6-passenger, 4-door hardtop which is loaded and even has the 330 horse, 383 cross ram engine designated by the marketing team as the Sonoramic Commando. (Who said sport sedans are a modern day phenomenon?!
?) This engine, with its exotic intake set up, is always an attention getter at car shows. With the hood raised, it s as easy to spot as a tarantula in a bowl of cereal!
Two large four barrel carburetors are cantilevered far out to each side of the V-8 block and feed the opposite bank of cylinders via a lengthy pair of intake tubes. Mighty impressive to look at, even if not optimally efficient. How Sharon and Floyd came across this unusual find is an interesting story in itself, so I ll let Sharon do the talking.
Here, in her own words, is the story of how they came to be the proud owners of this awesome 60 Plymouth Fury hardtop sedan: Floyd has his white 1960 Plymouth Fury 2-door hard top, so when we saw a black 1960 Plymouth Fury 4-door hard top on Ebay we decided to try our luck at getting it. The auction lasted 6 days, so we held back on the bidding until the last two days hoping to keep the price down. When we finally made a bid, the reserve was met, now it was a waiting game.
With a day and a half to go Floyd made one last bid on the last day and surprisingly the bid held and we had another 1960 Plymouth Fury. There were a total of 20 bids made on the car. The car was in Long Island, New York.
We could not find a transportation company willing to go there because of the traffic and the island being so small. So after much thought and consideration Floyd and our son decided to take a trip to New York. They left our house at 1:30 a.
m. on Thursday and they were back at our house around 2:00 p.m.
on Sunday afternoon. It was a fast trip, 3 1/2 days, but that black Fury sure looked good on the trailer. The car has 23,831 original miles on it.
The man who owned it had purchased it May 6, 1960. When he passed away 2 years later, the car went to a daughter who put it in storage and kept it for a very long time before deciding to sell it. The couple who bought the car kept it for 2 years before putting it on Ebay.
The car still had 3 of the original tires on it. The interior was in good shape; we did a few minor repairs and used a lot of cleaner to bring it back to its true colors. The car is as straight as an arrow.
It took us a year to get the car ready for the car shows. Some of the factory options are; Sonoramic Commando engine, toilet seat as it is affectionately known, actually it s called the Sport Deck , Aero steering wheel and padded dash. It also has the RCA-45 phonograph player.
The player holds up to fourteen 45rpm records at one time. Ah..
. ya gotta love Ebay! Thanks Al, for inventing that internets thing for us!
(To see more photos of Floyd and Sharon s 60 Plymouth Furys, including the Sonoramic Commando engine, Sport Deck, Aero steering wheel and the Highway Hi-Fi RCA 45 rpm under dash changer...
go to my web site at http://www.thefinman.com but please read the rest of this first.
) 1960 marked a turning point in Detroit style. The tail fins, first introduced on the 1948 Cadillac and styled after the Lockheed P-38 Lightning bomber, had been in vogue throughout the fifties and you would have been hard pressed to find an American car without them. But after ten plus years of fins everywhere you looked.
.. the designers from Detroit decided it was time to put them to rest.
1960 would be the final year for fins from Plymouth and Chevy...
Ford held out through 1961. But Plymouth didn t give up easily. The 1960 model had the tallest fins of any Plymouth to date.
Unlike Cadillac and a few others who decided to progressively reduce fin size into the mid sixties...
Plymouth dumped them almost overnight. The 1961 model had no hint of a fin. Big, bold tailfins weren t the only dramatic styling feature of 1960 Plymouths, however.
Up front, a highly sculpted fender design with Sport Tone two tone paint, a $21.00 option, and Sport Shield (add another $14.00), a highly polished, stainless steel rock shield of sorts, which sloped downward from the top of the front fenders and then switch-backed just behind the front wheel at the bottom of the fender, made for dramatic three quarter front end styling.
This was, perhaps, the most striking styling cue and the single most readily identifiable feature of the 1960 Plymouth. Sharon mentioned a few of the interesting options on their beautiful, Jet Black 4-door Fury, including the Sonoramic Commando V-8 engine, a $389.00 option.
.. and that 45 rpm underdash record player made by RCA.
.. a $52.
00 option, which Chrysler called Highway Hi-Fi. (And you thought your 8-track was special!) Other Plymouth options for 1960 included power steering ($77.
00); power brakes ($43.00); Chrysler Air Temp air conditioning ($446.00); 6-way power seat ($96.
00); power windows ($102.00) and automatic swivel bucket seats (available only on Fury) $87.00.
Variable speed windshield wipers made slappin time to the music of Janis Joplin an easy task. You can see a photo of the Walker s white 2-door Fury on my web site at . Note the dramatic styling which includes the huge Sky-Hi rear window.
GM makes had similar rear windows on their 2-door coupes of the same period. I can still remember sitting in the back seat of my father s 59 Olds Super 88 coupe, looking straight up to see the evening stars through what Olds called the Holiday SceniCoupe rear window. The early sixties was a difficult period for Chrysler as the entire corporate lineup was plagued by poor workmanship and serious, premature body corrosion.
Despite all that Plymouth had to offer for 1960, including a new fleet division responsible for promoting sales of police cruisers and taxi cabs...
Rambler, with its more traditional styling and thriftier six cylinder engines, eased ahead of Plymouth moving into third place in sales for the year, just behind Chevrolet and Ford. This, plus comparatively low production figures, is why so few late fifties and early sixties Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos and Chryslers are found at local car events, and this is precisely what makes seeing one (much less four) so special. Follow the link from stltoday.
com to MY web site to see more pictures of the Walker s 60 Plymouths, including that great Sonoramic Commando V-8 and the Highway Hi-Fi 45 changer. Do you know the difference between antique, collectible and Classic Cars? Spend a week at the beautiful YMCA Trout Lodge on Sunnen Lake in Potosi, Missouri, June 3rd-8th or August 12th-17th, 2007, reminiscing about your first car while learning how to be an old car hobbyist from The FIN MAN himself.
The 6-day, 5-night program for adults 55 and older, runs $548 each double occupancy, $628 single and includes The FIN MAN s presentation, PLUS two additional programs, one discussing antiques and collectibles (what s hot and what s not) and the other covering Route 66, Main Street USA, plus lodging, meals, classes and entertainment. An evening of wine tasting is provided by a local winery. For more information or to register, go to the YMCA of the Ozarks web site at: .
Please tell them you heard about it here. Bruce Kunz is available for your group s special event and is currently booking dates for 2007 and 2008. During his appearances, he presents an overview of the collector car hobby plus a detailed look at American cars from the fifties and sixties.
His program includes a Power Point presentation with images of collectible automobiles and various associated nostalgia and Americana. Guests also have the opportunity to play FINS for FUN (which inspired his nickname), the video car trivia game Mr. Kunz first produced in 1987, in which players compete for auto related prizes.
For more information, click on this link: . Bruce Kunz is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, the St. Louis Chapter of the Buick Club of America and the Monte Carlo Owners Association of America.
He welcomes your comments and suggestions. To e-mail him, click here .
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