Mom’s Car: 1974 Plymouth Fury III 2-Door
The seller of this 1974 Plymouth Fury III two-door hardtop says that it’s “Mom’s car”. This is a big car, very big, I can’t imagine too many moms driving a car this big today. Wait, now most of them drive humongous SUVs that are even bigger than this car is, never mind. This big beauty can be found here on eBay in St. Paul, Minnesota. The seller has a buy it now price of $4,599 listed. I could check it out in person for any serious buyers but let’s check it out here right now.
This is a big car, all 18-feet of it. The new C-body Fury was basically a one-year-only model that literally couldn’t have come at a worse time. The gas crisis had just occurred and people were moving to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars but Chrysler knew that bigger cars meant bigger profits and they were hurting at the time. It’s sort of the same mindset that companies have today. SUVs and pickups have a higher profit margin than cars do, in general, so it behooves them to make as many as they can. Not that I’m a conspiracy theorist or anything and think that car companies and oil companies are in cahoots with each other to give us the biggest, least-fuel-efficient vehicles they can to make more money. No way…
It’s big but what a great looking big car it is. The photos aren’t the best as it’s crammed in a storage unit and hasn’t been started in 8 years so that’s probably why it wasn’t pulled out into the light to get some good photos. From what is shown, though, it looks great to me. It’s in “original condition” and they say it’s “SUPER straight! Clean.” I agree, it looks fantastic, and a two-door? Very cool, I rarely see the sixth-generation two-door Fury anymore. NADA lists a high retail value of $7,225 for this car and the seller has it priced well below that so there’s room to get it in shape again and not lose your shirt.
Here is another photo of almost the exact same interior on a different car that shows it off a little better. The Fury III was almost the top-of-the-line for Plymouth with only the Gran Fury above it. You can see what looks like mildew on the steering wheel and maybe on the dash. If I were buying this car, every square inch of it inside and out would be cleaned with so many Q-Tips that it would be wise to buy Unilever stock.
This car has the mid-sized engine, a 360 cubic-inch V8 with either 180 or 200 hp depending on if it has a 2-barrel or 4-barrel carb. This one hasn’t run in eight years so be prepared for some work. Hopefully it isn’t that bad and I don’t know if that storage space is heated or not. Being in Minnesota it would be nice if it was but mine aren’t and it doesn’t seem to do any harm to the cars inside. This would be a great car if a person doesn’t mind getting 12 mpg and spending a little more time parallel parking. Have any of you owned a ’74 Fury?
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Comments
Barge Find! Nice one, Scotty! I’m calling my broker about Unilever pronto. Two-door is rare. Not sure I’ve seen one in person. I’d have to hold out for the 440 though. In rural PA during the ’80s I worked with young blonde who owned one of these, a retired police sedan. She went about 110 lb soaking wet and drove the big Mopar like a coked-up getaway driver. Everyone I knew had been passed by her on a two-lane somewhere in the county. They were like “You know that girl!? Thanks for the memories!
I wish I could find a ’73 Fury in two door hardtop form! :-)
There is one sitting in a yard less than a mile north of the intersection of PA31 and US 119. It’s on the east side of the road and should be visible on Google maps.
Found it! It’s a brown car. There is a white car parked behind it and two white cars parked to the northwest of it.
You can view it with Google street view.
What a cool ride that could be with a little work. Nobody’s going to have one at a show, as I often say.
My dad had a 74 Suburban wagon that somehow snuck out of the factory with ( to quote one Mr. Elwood Blues) a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension and cop brakes.
It was a hoot to watch people when this big-ass station wagon would take off in traffic like it had an afterburner strapped to the roof racks!
When I was attending college in Columbus Ohio in the middle 70s there was a salvage yard in either Washington Court House or Chillicothe that specializes in cop cars. The white ones should be easy to spot on satellite maps.
I owned a 71 ex squad with a 440. Twice. One from Ohio, one from Virginia.
18 feet long?! This car should have it’s own zip code :D
A friend of my mother’s had this, same year and color, but in a four door hardtop configuration. As a kid I remember marveling a the shear size of the car. I liked that car then, I like this car now. Great find.
I never owned one , but one of my BILs
did. He didn’t keep it very long as the
build quality of Chrysler products back
then really sucked. It was mostly the
underhood problems that prompted him
to trade it off for a Camaro six months
after he’d bought his Fury new in the
fall of ’73. If the Lean Burn carb wasn’t
giving him fits, the electronic ignition
system would shut down if someone
pulled up behind him at a traffic light
and keyed the mike on their CB radio!!
Other than that, I recall it being a really
sharp car. If this one has the Lean Burn
carb, it’ll be a tough sell and a turn off to
anyone who wants to buy it. Nice ride
when the bugs are sorted and you can keep it running!
If you were running a linear on your CB back then you could kill fuelie VW bugs, too.
You know, you’re creating a myth. Lean Burn wasn’t introduced until 1976 and only on the 400 cubic inch Engine. Any 1974 or 1975 Plymouth Fury didn’t have Lean Burn as you say your friends car had. It wasn’t introduced to the 318 or 360 cubic inch Engine until the 1977 model year, the last year of the Fury C body. You’re friend didn’t have Lean Burn, it wasn’t a problem in his car.
They didn’t use Lean Burn until 1976, that couldn’t have been a problem in 1974
My Mom bought the exact same just before I got my driver’s license. I had my first date in this car! Man was that girl impressed! The car and the girl were both awesome, but at least she was not the biggest in her class!
None AC car I don’t think I would want it!!
I had one of these when I was in college – 2-door hardtop Fury III. If I had the cash in hand I’d buy it in an instant. Paid $275 for mine in 1982, drove the hell out of it between Phila & Cambria County, PA and it never failed. It’s not only long but WIDE. Wider than any GM.
This is a case of two doors too few!
Take that you 57 Chevy people!!!
Just a couple of Errors….FIRST!!!!!! Chrysler was not hurting at the time, 1972 and 1973 were record breaking years and they had tons of money and profits flowing. This wasn’t a one year model, the C body Fury of this series went into production in August of 1973 and continued thru Spring of 1977. The 2 door Hardtop was produced the entire time. Finally, this was the beginning of the cause of Chrysler’s financial issue, some history for you. The Arab Oil Embargo occured in Spring Summer Fall of 1973. That’s when people had to wait on gas lines. So during the 1974 model year, people started considering and moving to smaller cars. We also had a recession so sales were down overall…..1975 was the first really bad year for Big Cars particularly Chrysler. That was the beginning of the massive shift and the move to smaller cars. By 1978 people were again moving back to large cars. but the next fuel crisis of 1979 changed peoples tastes even more and then the 80’s came and people were moving to smaller cars….This literally has ZERO to do with Conspiracies and nut case ideas about Big Oil and Car Companies working together to produce large cars.
Is this car still available?
Hello
Do you have ’74 Fury 2dr still ?
Please advice.
SincerelyKenji
Hello
Do you still have this Fury for sale ?
Please advice.
Sincerely
Kenji
Beautiful car. IMHO, 1974 is the best year for the Plymouth Fury in terms of appearance is concerned.