1959 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible

[redsportsfury]

Hello,
today i purchased a 59 sports fury convertible and now i am excited about the find. i am not a mopar guy been more of a mustang guy but i love the 50's fury cars and now i own one.

i have the data plate info from the firewall and need to decode that so where do i go for that?
i will need new carpet set so where can i purchase one?

beyond that it is repainted (red), new white top, original interior and awesome, engine and trans rebuilt and front suspension completed. i will need to install side glass, carpet and seats, install all lights and chrome and s/s trim maybe some wiring. engine has not been started for 5 years but was ran frequently before that and after rebuild.

needless to say i am pretty excited about the car.

i will accept any input on what i should look for to make sure everything is correct so let me know and i will start to checking it out.

thanks in advance for your inputs.
jerry

[redsportsfury]

I should have mentioned I am from Philly Pa area. Is any close to me?
Jerry

[Dick Koch]

Hi Jerry - Welcome to the site, Dan Morton our iconic leader and site master lives in Philly. Send some pictures of your car, the forum is an excellent place to get answers. Post the data from the data plate and Mathew in the Netherlands will enter you in the register and give you answers on the data plate.
Dick.

[redsportsfury]

here it is data plate info.

line 1 322
line 2 301 373 PNT
line 3 293 NNN
line 4 date serial bdy trm
line 5 0106 1295101252 295 347


thanks Jerry

[Ron Keij]

Welcome to this forum Jerry! When my son Matthew gets out of bed he will decode the data plate info for you, he will also want to know the VIN from your car for his 59 Plymouth registry I guess. I know two other59 owners in your area who can help with any tech issues, they both restored their cars with an amazing eye for perfection. These two are not active on the forum but I do have their contact info.

And of course we do want to see some pictures of your car, in fact if you can email some pictures and a short story about you and your car I can make a page in the showcase for you. Next to the forum we have the old website http://59sportfury.net/ (still there but not maintained anymore) and the new website http://www.59plymouth.net/59gallery/ If you visit the last one you will also find a lot of on line help in the shop manual, parts manual, and lots of other stuff I scanned.

If you want to send me pictures you can find my email address in my profile.

Ron

[Matthew Keij]

Hi Jerry,

Welcome!
I'd love to get some pics for my register.

You posted the correct info, let's see what we have.
293: torqueflite 3 speed automatic transmission
373: 361 golden commando!!! 305hp and 395 foot pounds of torque. Biggest engine in the low price field.
301: power steering
322: convertible top color, white

Paint: NNN / body should be originally Flame red.
Trim: interior / 347: red
Date: scheduled build date: January 6th 1959
Body: 295: Sport convertible, Fury, v8

Vin:
M: 1959
2: Plymouth, v8
9: sport fury
5: build plant, Newark
1: seq number
01252: 1252th Sport Fury build in Newark

Looks like you have the holy grail!
Original red and white convertible with a 361. That's pretty sweet!
Now let's see some pics

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Welcome Jerry! Good score on a 59 ragtop. And we appreciate you checking out the forum.

Matthew did a good job on the decoding on your car. Your car is the 1252 Plymouth built at the Newark plant. The plant built not just Sport Fury's but other trim level cars like Belvedere's and regular Fury's. Possibly some Savoy's and maybe some station wagons too.

There is a lot of people on the forum who can help you with parts and info on your new purchase.

Dan Morton, lives in Upper Darby and is close to you.


John Q.

[Faulkner]

Congratulations Jerry! When we conversed before you registered, I did not realize you were so close. Whereabouts in Philly do you live? I live in Upper Darby, and work at Penn.

How did you come to own the car? Did you purchase it locally, or was it shipped to you from somewhere else? We love to hear about these finds! Take Ron up on his offer - he'll fix you up with a nice webpage in the Showcase.

Welcome aboard!
Dan

[redsportsfury]

Good Morning everyone,
thanks for the decode and now I can a breathe knowing it is real deal. as for pictures will take a couple of weeks as the car was found in an enclosed trailer and know way to get any good pictures of the total car. so i will be making the 3 hour trip to get it and and a couple of pick up to get all the parts.

what i know is the guy was a cancer surgeon up near Danville Pa and sure enough dies from cancer. He had this car for year along with 17 other Chrysler, Dodges and Plymouth's. He has all the parts and then some for the Fury but again stored in a couple of places but had the Fury painted 10 years ago and rebuilt everything. When he got the word he had 6 months to live he got the parts together and gave the Fury to his daughter for her to have about 6 years ago and she has had it stored in an enclosed trailer since then. With about three months to go and instead of giving everything to his son and daughter he remarried and younger woman and she got it all. She did not care about any of the car and basically gave the car to a scrap dealer for junk. I did not see any pictures of the car but I can not believe they were all scrap. Anyway I wished I would have known about them so I could have gotten them all out and saved them for the future.

I have a classic car sales, consignment and storage facility in Lansdale PA 19446. The car was purchased form Sunbury PA. I found out about the car through an architect who knew the current owner. He is a good friend of my partner and asked if we knew anyone who would want the old car, well I about shot to the moon when I heard about it. It took three weeks to get to the car as the step father is always traveling and yesterday was his first week end home. My first car in high school was a 57 Dodge Coronet followed by a 57 Plymouth Bel. (loved that car). Even though I have owned over 15 cars in my life time my favorite was and is 58 Fury.

I am retired now 4 years from Lockheed Martin Aero Space business and when I retired I wanted to have a car business and the good Lord has blessed me with this current business and a great partner. My storage facility houses 20 cars and I have 20 cars all makes and models including one 65 dodge wagon. The owners has had in her family since day one.


Well that is the story and I am sticking too it.

Looking forward to getting everything home and inventorying it to make sure I have all I need. I will look over the the sections for vendors and parts.

Thanks again to everyone for your inputs. I will get the pictures up as soon as I can get the car.

Jerry

[redsportsfury]

I am probably going to fast here but is the Gold Commando just the engine or does it feature other adders? Also there was a twoxfour set up for this car I believe and if so can these be bought and added or does it take away from the car since it would not be original. What would the intake and carbs cost if available?

Jerry

[Matthew Keij]

Jerry, that's an interesting story!

The golden commando was the optional engine. The Sport Fury had a 318 with power pak if the GC option wasnt ordered.
The dealer could install a dual quad setup. If these are 58-59 carbs they are quite pricey. The intake is about $200-$250. Some are asking more. The air cleaner (if originals) are worth more. They make them new now and they are $650 if I remember it correctly.
The dual quad setup also needs a special passenger side exhaust manifold for the choke

[Bernie B.]

Jerry,

Welcome, and congratualtions on acquiring your car. A Newark, Delaware built Convertible is somewhat rare, the majority were made at Evansville, Indiana. no other assembly plant is known to have built convertibles, they were shipped all over the country from these two plants. Of course, info may arise that they were built elsewhere, but as of now, those two are the only known locations.

Just to clarify something, you have the 1252th Sport Fury, whether hardtop or convertible doesn't matter, that was built at Newark. Each model series was separately numbered by the each of the four plants building Plymouths that year. A total of 5990 Sport Fury convertibles were built, with nearly an equal number of Belvedere converts, too. Having been built in January, it may have originially been sold in the south, unless you already know the full history. Chrysler Historical may be able to give you a full summary of the car, from all original equipment and it's original selling dealership, for around $50. Fairly easy to find the contact info although I don't have it off the top of my head, Your message has got a lot of people smiling this morning, another one of our cars found!!!

I have a similar car, owned for almost 45 years but it hasn't run for almost 32 years... but it will, someday.

The Golden Commando engine was an $86.50 option, in 1959 dollars, and when a Torquefilte transmission was ordered it was a beefed-up version with that engine, so I hope yours has it's original transmission. The car will likely run better with the original single four barrel carb, although the inline dual quads do look cool, and were standard on several Chrysler performance engines of that period. Quite a few had Sure Grip differentials with the "big engine," too. I remember a 58 Dodge convert in my area back in 1964, all original with the 361 dual quad engine, and it was a terror in the hands of it's 18 year-old owner. What a sound when he drove it wide open, which was often!! I bet he wishes he still had it today. Many 59 Plymouths were converted to dual quads back in the day, both 361 and 318 engines, because that was the thinking back in the day. But none were assembly-line produced, just ordering the 1958 setup out of the parts books and dealer installed or owners doing it themselves.

Just yesterday I caught a 1959 movie on TV, and there were plenty of shots of Plymouth taxis and cop cars, very common back then. No doubt you've seen some and maybe even ridden in some... taxis, not cop cars, I hope. You can use old movies for good reference on restorations, riding stance, etc.

Once again, welcome and glad you found this group.

Bernie B.

[rogerh]

Welcome Jerry and congratulations on your barn...I mean trailer find! That is truly a wild story you've shared.
We all want to see pictures!

With collector cars, there has always been a conflict/disagreement about originality. As Matthew says, there is no proof that dual quads were available from the factory in '59. No build sheet will list them as factory- installed. There is mention of them in the early run of Mopar Parts Books, not in the later versions. The fact is a buyer with extra cash in hand could order just about any alteration to his car. A properly motivated dealer would accomodate most buyer wishes.
As to affecting the value of your car, I wouldn't expect there to be much, if any. I wouldn't worry about it.
But heed Matthew's warning that a different exhaust manifold is needed (I wasn't aware of that)...might be tricky to find all the needed parts.
And with larger carburation, does the standard camshaft have to be altered?
I can't comment on carpet sets and where to buy...Mark Evans (Connecticut SF cvt nearing completion) just ordered one from SMS in Canby, OR...when he receives it maybe he can comment on its' quality.

[redsportsfury]

WOW! you guys are great for information. I just told the seller that I am accelerating my pickup by the end of the month verse first or second week in April. I really want to get the pictures out for everyone and of course get started on the final assembly. It would be great to have it for Chrysler Carlisle. I have not been to Chrysler for 3 years when i used to take my 68 Superbee there. The Bee was a 383 4sped car blue on blue and very solid. That I also pulled from a barn in Allentown area. Between my partner and I we have 5-6 cars we keep and everything else supports our business that we love. CLASSIC CARS.

My current porject is 60 Bugeye I just receive last Thursday from Phoenix Az. It is about 60% stripped to bare metal already and starting the motor today before pulling and striping the engine compartment. Retirement afford you plenty of freedom to enjoy these wonderful classics.

I would put some photo's of the bugeye if anyone can tell me how. I know it is not a SF but it is a classic.

Jerry

[Ron Keij]

I would put some photo's of the bugeye if anyone can tell me how. I know it is not a SF but it is a classic.
Jerry

You already know how to reply so after that posting pictures is easy. Below the field you type your reply in there is a tab upload attachment, click it and you can browse to the folder where you have the pictures on your computer. Once you have selected the right picture you have to click on add the file right next to the browse button. It can take some time (few seconds) before it is uploaded if the picture is big. You can also write a comment about the picture before you click the add the file but also before you submit the reply.

Why did I decide to skip Carlisle this year

Ron