Hide Away: 1970 Plymouth Sport Fury
Hidden away in the wilds of west-central Illinois, is this great 1970 Plymouth parts car. In very desirable “Sport Fury” trim, and with a big block slumbering peacefully under the hood, it’s in just rough enough condition that it might not be saved. But there’s plenty left for us to look at and appreciate for what it was. I believe many refer to this pre-malaise-era Mopar as having “fuselage” styling. Of all the very late sixties-very early seventies Chryslers, this is the one I would want. The Chrysler 300 with it’s huge slab sides is attractive as is the Imperial, but this one has both of them beat, at least in my opinion. I think the hide-away headlights on this car, surrounded by the chrome bumper are very attractive.
Certain other Mopars of the era, namely the Charger, are of course, styled similarly. But the difference is, this one isn’t going to carry a five or six figure price tag any time soon.
This one has lived a hard life, but in the eye of this beholder, her beauty is only slightly diminished. It looks like yet another candidate for our great American pastime, called “get it running this weekend” (that immediately follows “trunk archaeology” of course). Pull the plugs, soak the cylinders with Kroil, you know the drill. Will she or won’t she?
It looks like she will, or at least could be persuaded to in fairly short order, but the seller says simply “Does not run.” It looks like it’s been awhile. I can’t identify the carburetor, it doesn’t look like the regular Carter four barrel, but I’m less familiar with these later models. The factory air is still intact, which is more often the case with these old Mopars. I’m going to speculate the reason for this is because the compressor is driven by the same belts as the other engine accessories, and not a separate belt as was commonly done by GM, so configuring it to work with no belts on the A/C compressor is much more difficult. Either way, it’s going to be a long, long time before this car blows cold air again, if ever.
A friendly reminder of what’s under the hood. The faux scoops are tastefully done and manage to look good even on this big car. What’s less appealing is the state of the interior. At least most of it appears to be intact. And black looks great and makes sense with the white exterior, as does the black vinyl top. The rockers, floors, don’t look too bad.
From the rear, the same awesome “big car” design is of course, also present. The big chrome bumper, wide tail lights, sleek styling and mammoth proportions all work well here. As the saying goes, if you have to ask how much it costs to fill the gas tank on a car like this, you can’t afford it.
It’s all well and good so far, but a look inside the trunk unfortunately reveals what for many of us, would be the deal-breaker. Not a little daylight, but an awful lot of it. Enough that this car looks perilously close to having a leaf spring poke up through the trunk floor. And that just takes all the fun out of it.
If you love this car as much as I do, and hopefully more than I do, it can be found here on craigslist in St. Louis. It’s located in the small town of Raymond, Illinois. The asking price is a paltry $500. A great deal for this many parts, and the complete drivetrain is probably worth the money by itself. So what do you think? Great parts car? Or is there still hope?
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Comments
I agree this one may be too far gone to justify fixing. These were nice cars and this one is a great parts car. I might be wrong but the front spindles and caliper setup might be good for converting older mopars with drum brakes. If I was closer I would try to get it.
This brings back happy memories. I had a ’70 Gran Coupe with the same color combo. The 383 2bbl would cruise, comfortably, all day over the speed limit and deliver 18 mpg highway. However, city mileage was much different, 10-13 mpg. This one is pretty rough. Maybe a really good body man can bring this back, but it looks more like a parts car. Get two or three and maybe make one.
Our Toronto neighbours had one identical but for the trim level…It was a Gran Coupe as I recall. They brought it up when they moved up from Long Island.Rustbucket on the Ontario salted roads.
my buddy found a good condition Gran Coupe years ago I think it was a 73 cause it had a 400. we promptly pulled the 400 and replaced it with a warmed over 413 and a hard shifting 727. it didnt look fast but it ran quite well. a GT would be nice but this one is pretty rusty.
in Sarasota Fla I know were there is a seventy-300 Hurst edition, the guy let it sit under live oaks for about twenty years. now there nothing left, a total rust bucket. rare car what a shame, the owner told me he will restore it some day but he has to mean re-body… :(
The wheel cover in the trunk looks suspiciously like it came from a ’56 Plymouth. Hmmmmmm. Judges?
More like a 58 or 59.
I can tell you that 1970 Fury with 383 4 bbl with duals was a beast. Even with the weight this was all a 17 year old needed even though it was 5 years old when I got it. The fury got about 18 miles to a gallon on Amoco Super Premium and it was hell on rear ties. It made it through senior year and a couple years of college.
I too had a 70 Gran Coupe that I absolutely loved. It was this cream color as well with fancy vinyl top. It would cruise smoothly on the freeway in triple digits. That was 25 years ago. Dang I miss that car. But I was just a stupid kid who thought I knew everything and the world revolved and me. Boy was I wrong. :-D
Hey guys, my 70 Gran Coupe’s head light doors would slam shut when they closed. It was pretty loud. Did anybody else have this happen?
This car would look really evil in black, with the sinister looking front grill. I mean evil in a good way!
We used to hit the A&W drive-in…back when that was a thing…on Saturday nights. My friend with his 68 Galaxie ragtop, me with my 67 Camaro, bunch of hot cars…
One guy would show up once in a while with one of these in triple black and it was the hugest, most menacing thing I could ever imagine. The kind of presence that would make everyone just stop and stare. Loved that car.
I think the A&W in Lindsay, Ontario still has a weekly car show in the Summer. I think it’s Thursday nights.
Had a ’71 Fury 3. Gosh that was a nice looking/riding/driving car, a real cruiser. When the 383 croaked, I pulled the entire front frame section out from underneath it and grafted it to a ’67 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup frame to create the foundation of my old ’41 Dodge truck rat rod ( 440, 727, torsion bar front suspension, power steering, power disc brakes, 3.90 posi). :-) Terry J
Any pics?, loved to see it.
:-) Terry J
:-) Terry J
Haven’t seen that rad rat rod rolling round town before. I like it.
I just saw these, fantastic! thanks for posting them.
I really like that front grill design, but I also don’t think it’s really worth it to return it to original condition. Here’s the saved ad with the description and all the images http://www.craigslistadsaver.com/view.php?name=1970PlymouthSportFury
Brings back memories. Had an uncle that was a salesman for years at a Chrysler Plymouth dealer. Would drive cars like this home. I think for the price not sure you could go wrong.