The 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury was an attempt by Plymouth to capitalize on the success of earlier , limited production Fury models .
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Through 1959 , the Plymouth Fury had been a modified production performance Plymouth . By 1960 , the name was too good to squander on such a small market , so " ferocity " interchange " Belvedere " as the top - of - the - line model designation , with a four - door sedan and four - doorway hardtop joining the premature two - door hardtop andconvertible . All , of course , used Plymouth ’s Modern unibody expression .
The change made right business sense . The styling of the 1960 Plymouth Fury did n’t . It had been conceive in 1957 , when tailfins were all the rage , and V - wise it was as good as the best of them . The job was that the world had grown tired of tailfins by 1960 . Worse , Plymouth sales had been skidding since the 1958 recession . Thus , whileFordandChevroletincreased their combined output by about a quarter - million units in 1960 , Plymouth barely maintained its 1959 volume level .
Then on the 1961 Plymouth Fury , the V vanished whole , replaced by a rounded shape with a swoopy front end thatMotor Trendonce retrospectively compared with " a generation of Japanese sci - fi freak . " The populace rest unimpressed , and was now also befuddled : Plymouth sales send packing by 100,000 and Rambler supersede Plymouth as the number three best - seller .
None of which should suggest that these 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Furys were bad cable car . compare to their mischievous rivals , they were as good in most ways and superscript in some . Every road tester jibe that they easily outhandled theChevrolet Impalaand Ford Galaxie , their counterpart top - of - the - line of descent competition , thanks to their torsion bar front abatement . Plymouth ’s TorqueFlite automatic was better than Chevrolet ’s Turboglide or Ford ’s Cruise - atomic number 8 - Matic . Fury ’s unit body was tighter than the separate body / inning rigs of the opposition , and so on .
The Fury also had two sole options : swivel seats that pivoted when the front door were opened , and the RCA Victor " Highway Hi - Fi " record instrumentalist . But it was style that sell cars in 1960 , and styling , in the public ’s judgment , was not the Fury ’s firm item .
Go to the next pageboy to learn more about the design of the 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury .
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Continued
The 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury continued the Fury custom of prodigious performance . The 1960 Fury could be had with a six - cylinderengine , the excellent 225 Slant Six , which gave Plymouth the hot six in the low - priced field . With 145 bhp and amanual transmission(and help by Plymouth ’s relatively loose free weight ) , a Fury six could do 0 - 60 in 17 seconds and still average 20 mile to the gallon .
This locomotive engine was conformable to much hot tuning – experimental version contort out one bhp per cubic inch at the Chrysler proving land . But planners never opted for a performance six , and the Fury relied on Plymouth ’s reliable 318 as its canonical V-8 .
For all - out operation Plymouth had a bomb : the " Golden Commando 395 , " which had 361 cubic inches along with a ram manifold and twin four - barrelcarbs , extradite 305 bhp and 395 pounds / feet oftorque(from which it got its name ) . New also was the first of Plymouth ’s now - celebrated 383 V-8s , packing 330 bhp in similar tune and an telling 460 pounds / metrical unit of torsion .
This engine also blow a one - notch - higher name : " SonoRamic Commando . " It vocalize like a telecasting plot today , but the SonoRamic Commando could aviate . Zero to 60 fill about 7.5 seconds , nonchalant cruising was potential at over 100 miles per hour , and top speed was over 120 .
Despite the unmistakable extremist face - lift for 1961 , the Fury had only been reskinned below the beltline – the ceiling and doors were unaltered , with the styling money spent on cowcatcher , hood , and deck . Plymouth described the solution as " a harmony of movement in sleek sword and brilliant aluminium , " and watch from the side , it did n’t look all that uncollectible ! Up front there was anything but concord , with a criss - cross grille puckered between horn in headlamp eyebrows , bending around from front wing creaselines .
Latterday critics have n’t really given the 1961 Fury a fair shot . All told , it was a major improvement on the 1960 . It also show that unit organic structure twist did n’t place serious restraints on the power of designers to make nerve - lifts – a trouble that had plague Nash , Hudson , and American Motors . Unfortunately for Plymouth , styling remained key to sales . To very many people styling means the front goal of the car . And from that angle , the Fury really did look like the " Insect That Ate Tokyo . "
Continue to the next page to determine specifications for the 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury .
1960-1961 Plymouth Fury Specifications
The 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury attempted to build on the cult - like success of its earlier limited - product models . Unfortunately , unpopular styling choices fate it to quenching . However , as the 1960 - 1961 Plymouth Fury specification below indicate , the Fury was one of the fine performance cars of the early sixties .
Specifications
Engines : ohv I-6 , 225 Criminal Investigation Command ( 3.40 × 4.13 ) , 145 bhp ; ohv V-8 , 318 cid ( 3.91 × 3.31 ) 230 bhp ; 361 cid ( 4.12 × 3.38 ) 305 bhp ; 383 cid ( 4.25 × 3.38 ) 330 bhp
Transmissions:3 - speed manual of arms ; 3 - speed reflex optional
Suspension , front : upper and crushed control arms , longitudinal torque bars
abatement , rearward : live axle , leafage springs
Brakes : front / rear membranophone
Wheelbase ( in.):118.0
exercising weight ( lbs.):3,330 - 3,640
Top speed ( mph):120 +
0 - 60 mph ( sec):7.5 - 17
