I have to add an impassioned defense of tail fins! In the 1960 Plymouth dealer booklet, tail fins are referred to (with scientific diagrams) as "Directional Stabilizers". Just as on fighter jets, they move the polar moment of inertia way far behind the vehicle, adding high-speed stability, and resisting cross-winds. I know for a fact that this is true, and that they WORK: I was active in the San Diego Imperial Club, and was leading a caravan of about twenty old Imperials north up the freeway. At least, I was TRYING to lead therm. One brash idiot in our group kept trying to pass me, so I sped up. He sped up. I sped up. Pretty soon, there we were, twenty or so huge, elegant cars in the left lane with our high beams on, traveling at around 120 miles an hour. Everybody else got out of our way, because it looked like the pope's entourage! Then, I saw that the Imperials behind me looked like they were being driven by drunkards, weaving erratically. I couldn't see what the problem was so, I started slowing down a bit. Off to my left, I noticed a bunch of tall, skinny cypress trees bent almost horizontal... It was because of a ferociously strong cross-wind. Out of all of our cars, my 1961 Imperial was the only one with huge tail fins, and I had NO experience of side-winds whatsoever!
We replaced a broken torsion bar at our repair shop in the early 60s...2 inches had broken off in its rear cradle.We ground that end to an angle and used it's remaining 4 ft as quite a good pry bar for 35 yrs.😁
The 57 Ford Fairlane also rusted under the eyebrow of the headlights, I lived in Chicago during this period where salt was used on the roads. Very few 50's cars survived more than 10 years in this harsh environment.
A GM stylist was driving past the State Fairgrounds where the new '57 Plymouths were being stored. He drove back to the GM Tech Center in Warren and said "Boys, we're in trouble!" He filled his car with other stylists and drove them down to see the new Plymouths.
There's a fantastic promo film made by Chrysler called "You're on the Test Track", which puts these cars up against the competition at GM. The torsion bar suspension was a revelation, even by modern standards these don't handle nearly as poor as you'd expect from a land yacht, but back in 1957 they absolutely trounced the other Domestic offerings and could probably hang with some of the Euro ones too.
@@waynejohnson1304 I'm not familiar with Chrysler products from the '50s, but I am with their cars from the '60s. And what you said is true of my experiences as well. I don't know about the Imperial's, but Chrysler's cars always seemed to have NVH. I believe a lot of people took that NVH as being the sign of a good-sturdy car, which they were. And I think they picked up customers from the group of buyers that were coming out of old worn out and saggy, softly sprung GM cars. As by comparison the Chrysler products would feel good-and-sturdy on the initial test drive, and salesmen were always good for stating that the ride would soften-up as the car got some miles on it.
These are way before my time. But I think they look great. I actually love the tailfins. These make the 'every car is a deformed, jelly bean' look of today...REALLY dull. I bet a Fury 2 door with modern rims/rubber (and less chrome) would look awesome. Thank you for this video. ☮
My oldest brother's first car was a '58 or '59 Plymouth...very similar to the '57 model. He bought it in '68 or '69, and (like many 10 year old cars of the era) it wasn't in very good condition. The slogan may have been, "Suddenly, it's 1960!" but the truth is that by 1960, Mopar's new look for 1957 was just starting to get a little long in the tooth. Many of my old car loving friends who grew up in the '60's like I did conveniently forget how utterly out of favor the extravagant chrome and fins of 1950's era cars were by the mid-'60's. Everyone wanted the clean lines of a LeMans or Mustang. The only exceptions to that were the '57 Chevy and Thunderbird. They were loved by everyone in all eras. Nevertheless, I like the '57 Plymouth. Very cool.
My parents had a 1957 banana yellow Plymouth. I stole the keys and tried to drive it out of the driveway and down the hill when I was 5 yrs old because of the pushbutton transmission control. Thank God it didn't have power steering. I got caught just in time.
Dad had a 1957 Plymouth sedan, charcoal grey with a white roof and AIR CONDITIONING. He had been a Mopar man, but he became disappointed with all the problems that car had and never considered Plymouth again. It was traded on a new 1962 Pontiac Catalina sedan that had a huge V8, over 300 HP. He kept the Pontiac for over 15 years, my older brother and I learned how to drive with that car.
A great overview of these cars, Adam! I think that the advertising slogan "Suddenly it's 1960!" was one of the best of the era. Compared to the competition, it really was true.
Check out Coldwarmotors the guy on it redid 1960 Fury and it was rough but he used a parts car and did alot of fabrication and it turned out absolutely beautiful. You have to watch his videos to see how he restored it to a very nice driver unbelievable how nice it turned out. He is definitely very talented in his work. Enjoy your videos
I thoroughly agree he did a magnificent job and has 2 really gorgeous Fury's. I think he discovered a couple of assembly issues which he corrected in the rebuild, so adding to the weight of the argument that corners were cut to get these models to the dealers
I'm familiar with the Coldwarmotors Fury. That car was beyond "rough", more like a rotted hulk. And his completed project on that car was far from "a very nice driver", it was magnificent. He is indeed a talented man.
@@discerningmind Rotted hulk???? More like HALF of a rotted hulk. That Fury was so far gone even I would have had a hard time to even consider it to be a parts car. When there was a hole in the side behind the door large enough for his standard poodle (large dogs not little ankle biters) to go through, and the floorpan and understructure folded in half, it is beyond a rusted hulk.
One of my favorite car designs is the 57-58 DeSoto line, including the odd Firesweep series with its odd assortment of Dodge body panels and trim. Hope you do a video on them, because I would appreciate the thought and detail I know you'd have.
I owned a 59 Desoto Firesweep Australian assembled right hand drive with the 361 305 hp engine, it was a beautiful car and IMO the best looking of the big Mopars especially those bullet style tail lights. Ps the 59 Australian model was a 58 American model.
Yet another superb video... I learned some new stuff here, and I have been a tailfinned-Mopar man since 1980! Incidentally, as shown in the ad at the end of the video, the area underneath the front bumper originally had big, gaping vertical rectangular holes. These had to be redesigned mid-year because stones from the road would enter and go ricocheting around the radiator! Sort-of on the same topic: The graceful grill on the 1961 Imperials was styled after the classic Cord 810. However, part-way through the model year, Imperial dealers had to add vertical rubber pieces to the inside edges. Why? Because wind rushing through the grill at highway speeds caused a continuous, resonant sound like a harmonica!
My brother still has the broken torsion bar from Dad's '58 Plaza he bought new. He still uses it every winter to chop ice. It hasn't broken yet! (harhar) He wasn't disillusioned with ChryCo. however, as his next new car was a '62 Valiant.
Hey Adam, what I remember from childhood is that the 1957 Plymouth "coolie hat" wheel covers were so popular with hot rodders that wheel cover theft was a real nighmare for new Plymouth owners.
I remember that hood ornament theft was a real nightmare for Cadillac owners and dealers. People would steal the Cadillac hood ornaments and use them for necklaces.
Back in the 80s, my neighbors got the mechanicals of Grandma's old 1959 Savoy restored. It had been stored since it was damaged in the infamous Topeka Tornado Outbreak. I don't believe they did anything to the body . . . it still bore the large dent in the hood where a piece of tree had been thrown into it and a kind of matte dark white paint job that I assume had once been bright and shiny. The push-button gear selector for the automatic transmission didn't have a "Park," IIRC, so I think you left it in neutral and set the parking brake when shut down. It was woefully under-powered by its ancient flathead six turning a rather slushy 2 speed transmission, and was a curious first car for their teenage daughter in an otherwise very safety-oriented family. But she was into irony, liked the retro-cool styling, and proudly drove it to high school every day.
Funny thing about the way Chrysler made many of the automated accessories work. For many decades their luxury cars had bimetal contacts to start and stop the accessories. In 1970 my Fury would sometimes pull a "Christine" and the electric seat would move forward or the lights would come on after I shut down the car. Over a decade after the movie and I had to troubleshoot the same problem without the internet. Once I found these poorly engineered "timers" and removed them the car ran for many years with little problem.
Hi, I was just making a general comment about Chryslers unique contributions to engineering & innovation. On the face of it, a bi-metal switch is so buck-rogers in thought and deed, I want to laugh. Yeah, they got ahead of themselves and tripped over plenty of times, sure.
I bet you would have to gone off to fetch a clean set of drawers if the radio kicked on and started blaring 70's rock & roll as that seat started moving forward.
@@marcodarko6941 New drawers, pants and a mandatory reupholstering of the front seats. I thought it was inventive and clever, which it was, I never said it was safe and reliable.
My dear old Dad once told me that 1960 loomed as "The Future" for kids like him, born in and around 1930. So, around 1947, at age 17, he and his cronies made a solemn oath to meet at the highest floor of the Empire State Building on January 1, 1960. I asked Dad if anyone had shown up. "Oh, heck no; we were all busy making a living by then".
As a kid in the '70s, our "one day we'll do this" date was always "in the year 2000," that mythical date so far in the future, you could make any bet or dare.
My figures show that Plymouth dropped to the #5 spot in 1954. It was up to #4 for 1955 and 1956, and then in #3 again for 1957. "The Plymouth-DeSoto Story" by Don Butler. Part of the story on body integrity problems is that development on these cars was truly a rush job. Higher management saw the plans and wanted them moved ahead by a year or two in order to beat the competition. That didn't give them any time to work out the kinks in the assembly process. The 1955/56 lineup from Ma Mopar suffered similarly from assembly/integrity problems. By the time they had the build process figured out, it was time to start all over.
I remember reading somewhere that the 57 Plymouth was originally intended to be introduced in 59 or 60, so their ad slogan quite literally WAS truthful as those cars werent intended to be released in 57.
In the 90s outside my school, there was a black Savoy parked. Most likely somebody's daily driver in great shape. I remember, despite the striking design, to be most intrigued by the "Savoy" lettering on the fins. I thought that this was a beautiful name for a car.
My old man had a '57 Belvedere convertible he called Ginger since it was painted ginger red. License plate NFS 085 (I don't know why I remember that--and I do recall the huge bellows on the power brake master cylinder as well). Pop loved the car but on a trip, the torque converter sprung a leak and we had to hobble back home, filling the tranny every 50 miles or so with ATF.
A few months ago I was fortunate enough to work on and test drive a 58 Plymouth Fury . It had a mid 70's 440 and 727 I rebuilt the carb replaced the steering coupler .
Hiya, 1957 seemed such a pivotal year for Detroit in so many ways. Styling was altering across the board (some have claim that GM stylist, went to look at the newest Plymouth's in the Chrysler lot. Which left them shocked. Reportedly, they went back to the drawing boards overnight, literally) GM were saved by a hair's breadth from some embarrassment. The big 3 were no less competitors than today of course, so the effect on sales and US automotive history seemed to hinge on the year 1957, in my mind. The general rise in styling standards, floated all boats from there on in. God bless Chrysler for their technical and styling innovations, though. We can almost forgive the appalling rusting issues with their automobiles.
As a family we weren’t Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge people, my dad had everything else though! So, with no familiar history I can look at these cars with a completely open mind and really admire them! They are just absolutely beautiful machines! Thanks!
Great video, thanks. Interesting design, troublesome execution. Our '58 spent months minus the speedo cluster due to faulty assembly; traded for a '61 Windsor, the last Mopar in our driveway ever. '61 Windsor, the best IP ever.
I was so proud when Pops bought a '57 Custom Suburban Plymouth wagon; cream with lavender trim - custom paint from factory that he ordered as he was designer at Sears and couldn't have anyting "stock". Had the front bumper wingettes, man I thought we were hip, everyody else with their old bathtub GMs ! LOL GM and Ford cars in '57 rusted, not just Mopars but Mopar got the press because they were disruptors, by '59 it was non issue but damage was done.
As a 5 year old.....DD back from Korea.....we dumped the 53 Ford for a 57 Fury sport coupe...white with gold trim......quick.....and pretty....off to California for good......I will never forget the car....waking up crossing the Arizona desert....and the muffler blowing out...whe I was napping! 85mph will do it....
When Walter Briggs died, Chrysler bought the Briggs body company to keep a competitor from buying it. Ford, Packard and other manuafacturers then cancelled body contracts. Chysler began cost cutting at the former Briggs operations but struggled with quality, which had been excellent during the Briggs era. They eventaully decided upon a plan to assemble the bodies in the assembly plants, the so-called unibody which rolled out in 1960. The demise of Briggs is one of the reasons Dodge and Plymouths were infected with the tin worm, Chrysler and DeSoto not so much.
There are far more stodgy older Keller era Mopars sitting around in junkyards and fields than there are sexy Exner cars. They were simply built better.
They weren't poorly assembled, they had issues with the galvanizing process in the late 50's due to a steel shortage and a recession the year after the '57 model.
From age 2 to 10, the family car for me was a red & white '57 Plymouth station wagon. It was a V8 with Powerflite. Black and white interior with rubber floor mats. Dad always said it needed an engine overhaul at 40,000 miles and wouldn't stay in tune, blowing blowby up through the ignition points. After they bought a new '62 Beetle, we considered the VW the better more reliable car for vacation trips, even with us kids.
These were great looking cars exterior wise but always thought the dashes looked too plain and cheap. I was 6 in 1957 and saw plenty of them around my Long Island neighborhood. I also noticed that the guys with the cool cars liked the ‘57’s hubcaps of the Plymouth on their cars. They were often stolen and many a Plymouth drove around hubcap-less. ‘56 Olds taillights were also popular on the ‘54 Fords.
To me, all of the big-3 cars looked good in ‘57, with the Plymouths taking the prize. In 1958, the Chryslers were the only ones that still looked good, unless you liked the feminine wiles of the ‘58 Edsel…
@@jetsons101 - The ‘58 Edsel was undeniably a ‘she’ or a ‘her’ … And she proudly displayed her wares front and center. And BTW, in ‘58, a tranny was a box with selectable gears that normally bolted on behind the engine …
Never saw these ads before. The 1960, "1957" Plymouth ! Chrysler really pushed the SWEPT WING FIN DESIGN way more than GM, even though they had Cadillac. Ford was the only one of their line with a canted fin on the taillight. Mercury design went the whole other direction with it's "DREAM CAR DESIGN" which as a 12 year old boy, I LOVED ! Plymouth's Best years in style were '57, '58 and '59. After that, the fins were history and the fad was over.
1932 Plymouth Coupe photo at 0:22 . If the actual car came off the assembly line looking this cool, I'd be quite happy to live in the past ... even if it meant going back to the Great Depression.
HI ADAM,, GREAT VIDEO AND CAR!!! 1957 PLYMOUTH ,,.. MY SON AND I LOVE THE WINGS,, HAVING A 1958 DODGE CUSTOM ROYALE , SWEEP WINGS GETS THE LOOKS .. THESE CARS HAVE NICE CLEAN ENGINES..GREAT BODY COLORS,,.. GREAT AD'S... THANK YOU!!!!
Finally! My favourite car! I’ll have to get one one day. What I find strange is how the cheap poorly styled cars overtook these. I’ll never understand Then Plymouth got into their own again after the mid 60s in my opinion
One reason drag racers dont like old mopars is because of the oil pan design. Because the front engine cradle frame goes under the back of the motor the pan had to be designed with the sump in the front of the motor. So when you floor it all the oil gets pushed to the back and this can temporarily starve engine components of oil. Its not a problem for daily driving but can be a disaster for a drag racer.
Beautiful cars. Four door sedan versions , with the flathead six only were assembled here in New Zealand for local sale. Sadly, no other versions came this way, unless privately imported.
Lol, I've been eyeing a 2 door fury at my local junk dealer...lot of work to make new again...I really didn't need to see this...just makes me want it more!
Excellent video as usual. I've been noticing a lot of your videos very well prepared. Very well done. A lot of good historical information there about automobiles and automotive history. I really appreciate your channel. Your make it your video here on the 57 and 59 Plymouth 57 through 59. Plymouth is really great. I'm glad to see somebody showing that off. They're one of my faves. Of course that's not saying much. I'm a hardcore Mopar guy so but it is what it is. Thank you very much
Back in 1998 I got to sit in and start up one of the actual Christine movie Car's that was pieced together from 3 car's. I was star struck and in love ❤️ the owner had installed something very cool She had a record player 👍
My sister and her husband bought a new Savoy and it was a real lemon. After two years they had it and bought a new Buick Lasaber that served them well with no major problems.
Love to see one on the Desoto. My Dad had a 57 maroon & white 2 door hardtop & I just love the body style & those stacked round tail lamps. It also had the provision for dual headlamps but just had a block off plate. Canadian car so the U.S. may be different.
Very nice post, once again. Maybe a fun future idea might be the differentiation of the 1957 Chrysler division brands...? Similar but creatively distinct. Also, please don't forget one day to feature the 1978 to 1980 Olds & Buick Aeroback A-bodies, please. Keep up the great work, thanks.
In northwest Iowa these poor cars didn’t age well due to the rust above the headlights...we have gravel and salted winter roads. There were 3 that soldiered on (there was a lot of them in the scrap yard -even a convertible all still there in 1980)into the 70’s and early 80’s in our town ... one was a 60 Fury lovingly kept in beautiful condition by a small town mechanic. The 2nd was a retired working mans car... the tops of the fenders-headlights one could put their fist through the holes....it was a faded old 57-8 4 door with a 6. This dude wasn’t in a hurry and that engine obliged him. Of note was this old boy took down a good size old wood grain elevator board by board and he brought everything home roped to the side of his trusty Plymouth. The last one- painted barn red with a white painted Fury stripe was seen yearly at our fair in the “figure 8 race” it was tough and lasted years ....
My Dad had a 57 Fury. Black and gold with a push-button transmission. I think about that car often. I also think about my grandma's 56 Buick Special. Loved them.
I Love it, Adam -- But ddn't you forget one thing ? -- To one-up competitors' chrome & fins, Chrysler offered factory available Gold Leaf / plating on the Fury ! -- Like on your video thumb pic. Albeit only with a few possible colors. Otherwse, it might have been too gaudy ? (giggle..)
The Pre-'60 Exner cars are by far my favorite design wise. The '57-58 Mopar lineup makes the '57 Chevy look dated and the '58 Chevy (which I also love) look antique on its release. Unfortunately, nobody really saw any reason to save these cars, save for the 300 and Fury, so there's not many left.
If you want to see these cars in action, watch Highway Patrol on MeTV at 5am. You can see how much flatter those torsion bar Mopars corner. The Buicks look like lumbering hulks next to the Mopars. And you get to hear the actual starting sound on all the cars. No special effects. All done on the cheap. 10-4!
Thanks for reminded me about Highway Patrol. I played an episode at random, and lucked into an one (Breath of a Child) with a character driving a beautiful ‘58 Belvedere convertible. Well worth the watch! I ended up watching three more episodes, enjoying the 50’s cars …
Super-nice-looking car, and extra-enjoyable video. Big 'Thank You' for making it available here. I never followed Mopar very closely (those reverse-threaded wheel lugs always made me wonder what they were thinking 👀), but if the quality issues mentioned in the comments were really 'a thing', that was a dumb blunder for the factory to commit. These cars were gorgeous ('58s too) ... Alot better looking than a '58 Chevrolet, or a '59 Ford. Seems to me that without quality issues, Plymouth coulda shot for #1 in sales instead of worrying about #3, but I'm sure they had smarter people than me working on it 🙂. Anyway, thanks again(!!) ...
1:00 A late '57 model , identified by the split air inlets under the bumper. Early '57s lacked the divider bars in the inlets, as seen in the commercial at 10:17.
I can just barely remember my parents '57 Plymouth. Bright green with white 2 door sedan.😎 I also remember the push button transmission for some reason.
My dad bought a brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that he said was very nice when it was new but it deteriorated quickly due to rust and the engine started burning oil. He wanted to buy a 1957 Chevrolet but he said the salesman treated him strangely and wouldn't sell him a car, he said it was a baffling experience because he really wanted to buy a Chevrolet and needed to buy a car but the salesmen wouldn't answer his questions - standoffish, wouldn't give him a price. So he went to the Plymouth dealer and they treated him very nice and sold him a beautiful 1957 Belvedere sedan. I have some nice color pictures of it - light green - nice looking sharp car. He had it for almost 6 years said he was just going to replace it when he got promoted in his job and transferred to Point Henry, Australia, so no need to buy a new car - had to sell it anyway. Bought a Ford in Australia (right hand drive) not much to choose from (there) in the way of cars.
Love these cars! Exner excellence! I owned a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere 2-door hardtop in 1965, and a 1958 Plymouth Fury in 1968. Awesome cars, but admittedly cheaply made.
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I have to add an impassioned defense of tail fins! In the 1960 Plymouth dealer booklet, tail fins are referred to (with scientific diagrams) as "Directional Stabilizers". Just as on fighter jets, they move the polar moment of inertia way far behind the vehicle, adding high-speed stability, and resisting cross-winds.
I know for a fact that this is true, and that they WORK:
I was active in the San Diego Imperial Club, and was leading a caravan of about twenty old Imperials north up the freeway. At least, I was TRYING to lead therm. One brash idiot in our group kept trying to pass me, so I sped up. He sped up. I sped up. Pretty soon, there we were, twenty or so huge, elegant cars in the left lane with our high beams on, traveling at around 120 miles an hour. Everybody else got out of our way, because it looked like the pope's entourage!
Then, I saw that the Imperials behind me looked like they were being driven by drunkards, weaving erratically. I couldn't see what the problem was so, I started slowing down a bit. Off to my left, I noticed a bunch of tall, skinny cypress trees bent almost horizontal... It was because of a ferociously strong cross-wind. Out of all of our cars, my 1961 Imperial was the only one with huge tail fins, and I had NO experience of side-winds whatsoever!
I agree. I have a 58 Belvie w/super Pak option. I live in Europe where you can easily speed up, and above 140 kmh you really feel the car more steady.
The 1957 lineup for Chrysler Corp. was ahead of the field. Plymouth, the attractive DeSoto, and the luxurious Imperial! What beauties!
We replaced a broken torsion bar at our repair shop in the early 60s...2 inches had broken off in its rear cradle.We ground that end to an angle and used it's remaining 4 ft as quite a good pry bar for 35 yrs.😁
The 57 Ford Fairlane also rusted under the eyebrow of the headlights, I lived in Chicago during this period where salt was used on the roads. Very few 50's cars survived more than 10 years in this harsh environment.
So did chevys !!!!
I never understood why the 57 chevy was so popular amoung classic car collectors when there was the 57 Plymouth.
Parts availability
A GM stylist was driving past the State Fairgrounds where the new '57 Plymouths were being stored. He drove back to the GM Tech Center in Warren and said "Boys, we're in trouble!" He filled his car with other stylists and drove them down to see the new Plymouths.
Yes !!! That went down !!!
There's a fantastic promo film made by Chrysler called "You're on the Test Track", which puts these cars up against the competition at GM. The torsion bar suspension was a revelation, even by modern standards these don't handle nearly as poor as you'd expect from a land yacht, but back in 1957 they absolutely trounced the other Domestic offerings and could probably hang with some of the Euro ones too.
They rode too stiffly for my taste. Chrysler lost a lot of customers because of that.
@@waynejohnson1304 I'm not familiar with Chrysler products from the '50s, but I am with their cars from the '60s. And what you said is true of my experiences as well. I don't know about the Imperial's, but Chrysler's cars always seemed to have NVH. I believe a lot of people took that NVH as being the sign of a good-sturdy car, which they were. And I think they picked up customers from the group of buyers that were coming out of old worn out and saggy, softly sprung GM cars. As by comparison the Chrysler products would feel good-and-sturdy on the initial test drive, and salesmen were always good for stating that the ride would soften-up as the car got some miles on it.
These are way before my time.
But I think they look great.
I actually love the tailfins.
These make the 'every car is a deformed, jelly bean' look of today...REALLY dull.
I bet a Fury 2 door with modern rims/rubber (and less chrome) would look awesome.
Thank you for this video.
☮
My oldest brother's first car was a '58 or '59 Plymouth...very similar to the '57 model. He bought it in '68 or '69, and (like many 10 year old cars of the era) it wasn't in very good condition. The slogan may have been, "Suddenly, it's 1960!" but the truth is that by 1960, Mopar's new look for 1957 was just starting to get a little long in the tooth. Many of my old car loving friends who grew up in the '60's like I did conveniently forget how utterly out of favor the extravagant chrome and fins of 1950's era cars were by the mid-'60's. Everyone wanted the clean lines of a LeMans or Mustang. The only exceptions to that were the '57 Chevy and Thunderbird. They were loved by everyone in all eras. Nevertheless, I like the '57 Plymouth. Very cool.
My parents had a 1957 banana yellow Plymouth. I stole the keys and tried to drive it out of the driveway and down the hill when I was 5 yrs old because of the pushbutton transmission control. Thank God it didn't have power steering. I got caught just in time.
I have a '57 Plaza that we will be taking on this year's Power Tour!
Dad had a 1957 Plymouth sedan, charcoal grey with a white roof and AIR CONDITIONING. He had been a Mopar man, but he became disappointed with all the problems that car had and never considered Plymouth again. It was traded on a new 1962 Pontiac Catalina sedan that had a huge V8, over 300 HP. He kept the Pontiac for over 15 years, my older brother and I learned how to drive with that car.
These Plymouths were indeed stylish cars of the fabulous fifties!!! 👍👍🙂
A great overview of these cars, Adam! I think that the advertising slogan "Suddenly it's 1960!" was one of the best of the era. Compared to the competition, it really was true.
Check out Coldwarmotors the guy on it redid 1960 Fury and it was rough but he used a parts car and did alot of fabrication and it turned out absolutely beautiful. You have to watch his videos to see how he restored it to a very nice driver unbelievable how nice it turned out. He is definitely very talented in his work. Enjoy your videos
Scott’s ‘59 won’t take nearly the effort. A light dusting and freshen, is all. I love cars built the year I was born.
I thoroughly agree he did a magnificent job and has 2 really gorgeous Fury's. I think he discovered a couple of assembly issues which he corrected in the rebuild, so adding to the weight of the argument that corners were cut to get these models to the dealers
I'm familiar with the Coldwarmotors Fury. That car was beyond "rough", more like a rotted hulk. And his completed project on that car was far from "a very nice driver", it was magnificent. He is indeed a talented man.
I watch him drag it out of a horse pasture buried to the rockers in horse sh#t...he did a amazing job
@@discerningmind Rotted hulk???? More like HALF of a rotted hulk. That Fury was so far gone even I would have had a hard time to even consider it to be a parts car. When there was a hole in the side behind the door large enough for his standard poodle (large dogs not little ankle biters) to go through, and the floorpan and understructure folded in half, it is beyond a rusted hulk.
The Fury is peak mid-century modern automotive design!
One of my favorite car designs is the 57-58 DeSoto line, including the odd Firesweep series with its odd assortment of Dodge body panels and trim. Hope you do a video on them, because I would appreciate the thought and detail I know you'd have.
I owned a 59 Desoto Firesweep Australian assembled right hand drive with the 361 305 hp engine, it was a beautiful car and IMO the best looking of the big Mopars especially those bullet style tail lights.
Ps the 59 Australian model was a 58 American model.
Yet another superb video... I learned some new stuff here, and I have been a tailfinned-Mopar man since 1980!
Incidentally, as shown in the ad at the end of the video, the area underneath the front bumper originally had big, gaping vertical rectangular holes. These had to be redesigned mid-year because stones from the road would enter and go ricocheting around the radiator!
Sort-of on the same topic: The graceful grill on the 1961 Imperials was styled after the classic Cord 810. However, part-way through the model year, Imperial dealers had to add vertical rubber pieces to the inside edges. Why? Because wind rushing through the grill at highway speeds caused a continuous, resonant sound like a harmonica!
My brother still has the broken torsion bar from Dad's '58 Plaza he bought new. He still uses it every winter to chop ice. It hasn't broken yet! (harhar)
He wasn't disillusioned with ChryCo. however, as his next new car was a '62 Valiant.
Hey Adam, what I remember from childhood is that the 1957 Plymouth "coolie hat" wheel covers were so popular with hot rodders that wheel cover theft was a real nighmare for new Plymouth owners.
I remember that hood ornament theft was a real nightmare for Cadillac owners and dealers. People would steal the Cadillac hood ornaments and use them for necklaces.
Back in the 80s, my neighbors got the mechanicals of Grandma's old 1959 Savoy restored. It had been stored since it was damaged in the infamous Topeka Tornado Outbreak. I don't believe they did anything to the body . . . it still bore the large dent in the hood where a piece of tree had been thrown into it and a kind of matte dark white paint job that I assume had once been bright and shiny. The push-button gear selector for the automatic transmission didn't have a "Park," IIRC, so I think you left it in neutral and set the parking brake when shut down. It was woefully under-powered by its ancient flathead six turning a rather slushy 2 speed transmission, and was a curious first car for their teenage daughter in an otherwise very safety-oriented family. But she was into irony, liked the retro-cool styling, and proudly drove it to high school every day.
Funny thing about the way Chrysler made many of the automated accessories work. For many decades their luxury cars had bimetal contacts to start and stop the accessories. In 1970 my Fury would sometimes pull a "Christine" and the electric seat would move forward or the lights would come on after I shut down the car. Over a decade after the movie and I had to troubleshoot the same problem without the internet. Once I found these poorly engineered "timers" and removed them the car ran for many years with little problem.
Hi, I was just making a general comment about Chryslers unique contributions to engineering & innovation. On the face of it, a bi-metal switch is so buck-rogers in thought and deed, I want to laugh. Yeah, they got ahead of themselves and tripped over plenty of times, sure.
They did it for cost
I bet you would have to gone off to fetch a clean set of drawers if the radio kicked on and started blaring 70's rock & roll as that seat started moving forward.
@@marcodarko6941 New drawers, pants and a mandatory reupholstering of the front seats. I thought it was inventive and clever, which it was, I never said it was safe and reliable.
@@marcodarko6941 XLNT comment. I can just HEAR the radio playing The Belmonts ...
My dear old Dad once told me that 1960 loomed as "The Future" for kids like him, born in and around 1930. So, around 1947, at age 17, he and his cronies made a solemn oath to meet at the highest floor of the Empire State Building on January 1, 1960. I asked Dad if anyone had shown up. "Oh, heck no; we were all busy making a living by then".
Well, you got a laugh out of me.
As a kid in the '70s, our "one day we'll do this" date was always "in the year 2000," that mythical date so far in the future, you could make any bet or dare.
My figures show that Plymouth dropped to the #5 spot in 1954. It was up to #4 for 1955 and 1956, and then in #3 again for 1957. "The Plymouth-DeSoto Story" by Don Butler. Part of the story on body integrity problems is that development on these cars was truly a rush job. Higher management saw the plans and wanted them moved ahead by a year or two in order to beat the competition. That didn't give them any time to work out the kinks in the assembly process.
The 1955/56 lineup from Ma Mopar suffered similarly from assembly/integrity problems. By the time they had the build process figured out, it was time to start all over.
I remember reading somewhere that the 57 Plymouth was originally intended to be introduced in 59 or 60, so their ad slogan quite literally WAS truthful as those cars werent intended to be released in 57.
In the 90s outside my school, there was a black Savoy parked. Most likely somebody's daily driver in great shape. I remember, despite the striking design, to be most intrigued by the "Savoy" lettering on the fins. I thought that this was a beautiful name for a car.
My old man had a '57 Belvedere convertible he called Ginger since it was painted ginger red. License plate NFS 085 (I don't know why I remember that--and I do recall the huge bellows on the power brake master cylinder as well). Pop loved the car but on a trip, the torque converter sprung a leak and we had to hobble back home, filling the tranny every 50 miles or so with ATF.
4:45 I always wondered about the power brake booster (as shown here). I've never seen anything like in _any_ other vehicle but Chrysler products.
I LOVED these cars back in the day! One of the best looking cars of the 50’s, IMO …
A few months ago I was fortunate enough to work on and test drive a 58 Plymouth Fury . It had a mid 70's 440 and 727 I rebuilt the carb replaced the steering coupler .
Hiya, 1957 seemed such a pivotal year for Detroit in so many ways. Styling was altering across the board (some have claim that GM stylist, went to look at the newest Plymouth's in the Chrysler lot. Which left them shocked. Reportedly, they went back to the drawing boards overnight, literally) GM were saved by a hair's breadth from some embarrassment. The big 3 were no less competitors than today of course, so the effect on sales and US automotive history seemed to hinge on the year 1957, in my mind. The general rise in styling standards, floated all boats from there on in. God bless Chrysler for their technical and styling innovations, though. We can almost forgive the appalling rusting issues with their automobiles.
As a family we weren’t Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge people, my dad had everything else though! So, with no familiar history I can look at these cars with a completely open mind and really admire them! They are just absolutely beautiful machines! Thanks!
People in the day didnt like the style bcuz they were odd and way cheaper than a chevy or ford
Thank You Adam! Love to see more of these style videos.
My Dad bought a new 1959 Plymouth Fury when i was a kid . I thought it was one great looking car , inside and out !!!!
Great video, thanks. Interesting design, troublesome execution. Our '58 spent months minus the speedo cluster due to faulty assembly; traded for a '61 Windsor, the last Mopar in our driveway ever. '61 Windsor, the best IP ever.
I was so proud when Pops bought a '57 Custom Suburban Plymouth wagon; cream with lavender trim - custom paint from factory that he ordered as he was designer at Sears and couldn't have anyting "stock". Had the front bumper wingettes, man I thought we were hip, everyody else with their old bathtub GMs ! LOL GM and Ford cars in '57 rusted, not just Mopars but Mopar got the press because they were disruptors, by '59 it was non issue but damage was done.
As a 5 year old.....DD back from Korea.....we dumped the 53 Ford for a 57 Fury sport coupe...white with gold trim......quick.....and pretty....off to California for good......I will never forget the car....waking up crossing the Arizona desert....and the muffler blowing out...whe I was napping! 85mph will do it....
I had a black and white Plymouth Belvedere in in 1966 and my Aunt had a blue and white Plymouth Belvedere in 1957 when she bought it new
The tragedy is that these great Mopars were so poorly assembled and prone to immediate rusting.
Incorrect statement not backed up by statistics
That is their legacy unfortunately as they rusted quick plus fit and finish was hit and miss. Outrageous Road Dragons!
Cheers 🇨🇦
When Walter Briggs died, Chrysler bought the Briggs body company to keep a competitor from buying it. Ford, Packard and other manuafacturers then cancelled body contracts. Chysler began cost cutting at the former Briggs operations but struggled with quality, which had been excellent during the Briggs era. They eventaully decided upon a plan to assemble the bodies in the assembly plants, the so-called unibody which rolled out in 1960. The demise of Briggs is one of the reasons Dodge and Plymouths were infected with the tin worm, Chrysler and DeSoto not so much.
There are far more stodgy older Keller era Mopars sitting around in junkyards and fields than there are sexy Exner cars. They were simply built better.
They weren't poorly assembled, they had issues with the galvanizing process in the late 50's due to a steel shortage and a recession the year after the '57 model.
From age 2 to 10, the family car for me was a red & white '57 Plymouth station wagon. It was a V8 with Powerflite. Black and white interior with rubber floor mats. Dad always said it needed an engine overhaul at 40,000 miles and wouldn't stay in tune, blowing blowby up through the ignition points. After they bought a new '62 Beetle, we considered the VW the better more reliable car for vacation trips, even with us kids.
The value of one of the models went up after that movie.
These were great looking cars exterior wise but always thought the dashes looked too plain and cheap. I was 6 in 1957 and saw plenty of them around my Long Island neighborhood. I also noticed that the guys with the cool cars liked the ‘57’s hubcaps of the Plymouth on their cars. They were often stolen and many a Plymouth drove around hubcap-less. ‘56 Olds taillights were also popular on the ‘54 Fords.
Plymouth (Chrysler Corp) sure hit the nail on the head.... The 57 Ford Fairlane 500 also made the GM look so yesterday....
To me, all of the big-3 cars looked good in ‘57, with the Plymouths taking the prize. In 1958, the Chryslers were the only ones that still looked good, unless you liked the feminine wiles of the ‘58 Edsel…
@@sking2173 Hmmm What is the pronoun for the 58 Edsel ???
@@jetsons101 - The ‘58 Edsel was undeniably a ‘she’ or a ‘her’ … And she proudly displayed her wares front and center.
And BTW, in ‘58, a tranny was a box with selectable gears that normally bolted on behind the engine …
@@sking2173 The Eesel was a she or her, but she may have identified as a F-250....
@@jetsons101 - Not back in ‘58 … It was a much saner time. The PC crap of today wasn’t tolerated, or even acknowledged.
Never saw these ads before. The 1960, "1957" Plymouth ! Chrysler really pushed the SWEPT WING FIN DESIGN way more than GM, even though they had Cadillac. Ford was the only one of their line with a canted fin on the taillight. Mercury design went the whole other direction with it's "DREAM CAR DESIGN" which as a 12 year old boy, I LOVED ! Plymouth's Best years in style were '57, '58 and '59. After that, the fins were history and the fad was over.
Great video, I love these cars. I would be very interested in hearing more about the changes that GM made to theirs 59s after seeing these cars.
1932 Plymouth Coupe photo at 0:22 . If the actual car came off the assembly line looking this cool, I'd be quite happy to live in the past ... even if it meant going back to the Great Depression.
I really liked this piece. Thanks!
HI ADAM,, GREAT VIDEO AND CAR!!! 1957 PLYMOUTH ,,.. MY SON AND I LOVE THE WINGS,, HAVING A 1958 DODGE CUSTOM ROYALE , SWEEP WINGS GETS THE LOOKS .. THESE CARS HAVE NICE CLEAN ENGINES..GREAT BODY COLORS,,.. GREAT AD'S... THANK YOU!!!!
The skirts really mess up the lines on Forward Look cars.
Finally! My favourite car!
I’ll have to get one one day.
What I find strange is how the cheap poorly styled cars overtook these. I’ll never understand
Then Plymouth got into their own again after the mid 60s in my opinion
Always loved Christine! Graveyard Cars put in a Hellcrate engine into one. What a ride!
Really good production values here. And good info too.
mom had a 57 wagon, dad had a 57 2dr,both were the same green, nice cars,lots of good memories and 2 air cleaners,meant dual carbs
One reason drag racers dont like old mopars is because of the oil pan design. Because the front engine cradle frame goes under the back of the motor the pan had to be designed with the sump in the front of the motor. So when you floor it all the oil gets pushed to the back and this can temporarily starve engine components of oil. Its not a problem for daily driving but can be a disaster for a drag racer.
As a kid, the 1957 Mopars mesmerized me.
Love the Fury in particular. Especially the actual 1960 model.
Thanks
Beautiful cars. Four door sedan versions , with the flathead six only were assembled here in New Zealand for local sale. Sadly, no other versions came this way, unless privately imported.
Lol, I've been eyeing a 2 door fury at my local junk dealer...lot of work to make new again...I really didn't need to see this...just makes me want it more!
A good friend's girlfriend in the late 1970s had a 1960 Chrysler Saratoga. What a beautiful car!
Excellent video as usual. I've been noticing a lot of your videos very well prepared. Very well done. A lot of good historical information there about automobiles and automotive history. I really appreciate your channel. Your make it your video here on the 57 and 59 Plymouth 57 through 59. Plymouth is really great. I'm glad to see somebody showing that off. They're one of my faves. Of course that's not saying much. I'm a hardcore Mopar guy so but it is what it is. Thank you very much
You’re welcome
Back in 1998 I got to sit in and start up one of the actual Christine movie Car's that was pieced together from 3 car's. I was star struck and in love ❤️ the owner had installed something very cool She had a record player 👍
Love the car!.....Hate the fender skirts.
Agreed, not a fan of the skirts on these cars.
My sister and her husband bought a new Savoy and it was a real lemon. After two years they had it and bought a new Buick Lasaber that served them well with no major problems.
Love to see one on the Desoto. My Dad had a 57 maroon & white 2 door hardtop & I just love the body style & those stacked round tail lamps. It also had the provision for dual headlamps but just had a block off plate. Canadian car so the U.S. may be different.
The 59 Australian assembled Firesweep I owned was fitted with twin headlights.
I remember when the torsion bar suspension first came out. Dealerships would show a car in local parades driving on just 3 wheels.
Beautiful cars!
Very nice post, once again. Maybe a fun future idea might be the differentiation of the 1957 Chrysler division brands...? Similar but creatively distinct.
Also, please don't forget one day to feature the 1978 to 1980 Olds & Buick Aeroback A-bodies, please.
Keep up the great work, thanks.
Christine the Stephen King book/Carpenter movie was a 58' Fury , was in love with this car since I was a kid.
Suddenly.... it's 1960.
Made the '57 Chevy look dowdy, for starters... and all of GM's '57 bulgemobiles , for that matter.
I love those old Chrysler cars. But that 55 Buick is my dream car
In northwest Iowa these poor cars didn’t age well due to the rust above the headlights...we have gravel and salted winter roads.
There were 3 that soldiered on (there was a lot of them in the scrap yard -even a convertible all still there in 1980)into the 70’s and early 80’s in our town ... one was a 60 Fury lovingly kept in beautiful condition by a small town mechanic.
The 2nd was a retired working mans car... the tops of the fenders-headlights one could put their fist through the holes....it was a faded old 57-8 4 door with a 6. This dude wasn’t in a hurry and that engine obliged him. Of note was this old boy took down a good size old wood grain elevator board by board and he brought everything home roped to the side of his trusty Plymouth.
The last one- painted barn red with a white painted Fury stripe was seen yearly at our fair in the “figure 8 race” it was tough and lasted years ....
My Dad had a 57 Fury. Black and gold with a push-button transmission. I think about that car often. I also think about my grandma's 56 Buick Special. Loved them.
Thank you! Love my 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury
I Love it, Adam -- But ddn't you forget one thing ? -- To one-up competitors' chrome & fins, Chrysler offered factory available Gold Leaf / plating on the Fury ! -- Like on your video thumb pic. Albeit only with a few possible colors. Otherwse, it might have been too gaudy ? (giggle..)
6:09 I like how the gas door is _not_ square; its top shape follows the fender raise.
The Pre-'60 Exner cars are by far my favorite design wise. The '57-58 Mopar lineup makes the '57 Chevy look dated and the '58 Chevy (which I also love) look antique on its release. Unfortunately, nobody really saw any reason to save these cars, save for the 300 and Fury, so there's not many left.
I always viewed Chevy styling '58-'59 to be most unpleasant!
If you want to see these cars in action, watch Highway Patrol on MeTV at 5am. You can see how much flatter those torsion bar Mopars corner. The Buicks look like lumbering hulks next to the Mopars. And you get to hear the actual starting sound on all the cars. No special effects. All done on the cheap. 10-4!
Toronados from 1966 to 1970 also have front torsion bar suspension!
Thanks for reminded me about Highway Patrol. I played an episode at random, and lucked into an one (Breath of a Child) with a character driving a beautiful ‘58 Belvedere convertible. Well worth the watch!
I ended up watching three more episodes, enjoying the 50’s cars …
Christine lol even though she was a 58 Plymouth Fury .I still love these 50s cars they looked mean and stylish .
Super-nice-looking car, and extra-enjoyable video. Big 'Thank You' for making it available here. I never followed Mopar very closely (those reverse-threaded wheel lugs always made me wonder what they were thinking 👀), but if the quality issues mentioned in the comments were really 'a thing', that was a dumb blunder for the factory to commit. These cars were gorgeous ('58s too) ... Alot better looking than a '58 Chevrolet, or a '59 Ford. Seems to me that without quality issues, Plymouth coulda shot for #1 in sales instead of worrying about #3, but I'm sure they had smarter people than me working on it 🙂. Anyway, thanks again(!!) ...
I’m sure you’re going to mention the water leaks and premature rusting issues that were discovered one year after production
1:00 A late '57 model , identified by the split air inlets under the bumper.
Early '57s lacked the divider bars in the inlets, as seen in the commercial at 10:17.
chrysler. was the design star of 1957 my list Chrysler , desoto , dodge , Plymouth, imperial
I can just barely remember my parents '57 Plymouth. Bright green with white 2 door sedan.😎 I also remember the push button transmission for some reason.
So much was new on these, the power steering unit was new, new body, new frame, new front suspension, the 318 v8 was also new.
Adam, very good. I believe that 1957 was the first year for the 318 engine. What is a coat hook issue? (As mentioned during the lack of fender liners)
My dad bought a brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that he said was very nice when it was new but it deteriorated quickly due to rust and the engine started burning oil. He wanted to buy a 1957 Chevrolet but he said the salesman treated him strangely and wouldn't sell him a car, he said it was a baffling experience because he really wanted to buy a Chevrolet and needed to buy a car but the salesmen wouldn't answer his questions - standoffish, wouldn't give him a price. So he went to the Plymouth dealer and they treated him very nice and sold him a beautiful 1957 Belvedere sedan. I have some nice color pictures of it - light green - nice looking sharp car. He had it for almost 6 years said he was just going to replace it when he got promoted in his job and transferred to Point Henry, Australia, so no need to buy a new car - had to sell it anyway. Bought a Ford in Australia (right hand drive) not much to choose from (there) in the way of cars.
I didn't know you could get the big V8 on all models. Today I learned!
I love those cars
...I want a 1960 Phoenix
I will always think of the movie "Christine" when I see one of these cars
8:27 I notice the "hog ring" hose clamps. As a kid, I _hated_ those compared to the standard "Gates" screw clamps.
Love these cars! Exner excellence! I owned a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere 2-door hardtop in 1965, and a 1958 Plymouth Fury in 1968. Awesome cars, but admittedly cheaply made.
I’ve become a Mopar fan recently. So overlooked today. Good video on the Fury.
One of the greatest blunders in automotive history was Chrysler's decision to abandon this platform and downsize in 1962 to those Sputnikmobiles.
Well, they definitely had the fins for a 1960! Haha! Wonderful car!
I remember at,about age 4-5 being captivated by the conical hubcaps!
I can’t see one of these cars without seeing Christine.
Love the Fury! 👍🙂
ohh man gorgeous car so so beautiful!
Adam, Will you work your way up through every Plymouth model year until the bitter end? 🤔
One of the most attractive cars in American History as far as my opinion goes anyway.
Thanks for covering the '57 Plymmies!