In failing health, Bob Hinds sold his Sport Fury to Art Schlacter in December of 2013. Bob passed away in 2014. Here are some snippets from when he was the 1959 Plymouth Technical Advisor for the Plymouth Owners Club, and a member of our Forum.
I am active in the AACA Dixie Region in Birmingham, Alabama, the Plymouth Owners Club and WPC Club. I serve as the Technical Advisor for the 1959 Plymouth’s for both the Plymouth and WPC Clubs and would be glad to answer technical questions about 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury’s from members of this website. I don’t know everything about the ‘59’s but perhaps I can help.July 16, 1959, I bought my first Sport Fury in Cincinnati, Ohio. I had to take my second choice of colors and engines due to the few remaining unsold cars. I was a twenty year-old college student and barely scraped together the purchase price and cost of insurance. I babied that car and three years later when I got married, it still looked like new. In 1965 I traded in my ’59 on a new Barracuda. Having regretted losing a car that drove and looked like an almost new car, I hoped to be able to find another one in the future. Meanwhile, another 1959 Plymouth was enjoyed for many years; it was a Sport Suburban purchased as a second car in 1970. That station wagon was not rust free so I let it go to a needy neighbor in the ‘70’s.In 1990 my college age son was selling a car and placed an ad in the Auto Trader magazine. While looking at that issue I saw an ad for a 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury for sale in a nearby town. The following weekend my son and I took a look. It was a Palomino Beige hardtop with the Standard 318 Super Pak engine. Having been an Alabama car since new, it was free of rust.However, it would need paint and a new interior to look its best. Much to my delight, the owner said it drove just fine, and a test drive proved him correct. On September 20, 1990, I became the owner of a second 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury with 56,000 miles.This is the car shown in the photographs. Except for radial tires, the drive train is still original and unrestored, now with 76,000 miles (it smokes a little when cold, but runs & drives well). Since this car was sold by a rural dealer, the only options on this car are Torqueflite, power steering, power brakes, heater, outside mirrors, variable speed wipers/washer, whitewall tires and two toned paint. I changed to color to Iceberg White over Bronze to better show off the styling. After waiting for 3 1/2 years to obtain the correct interior fabric, the car was once again beautiful in late 1994. This car has been featured in Auto Restorer magazine, the Plymouth Club Bulletin and featured on National TV (Car and Driver and Legends of the Road).April 29 through May 1, 2004, the Dixie Region of the AACA hosted a National AACA Meet in Birmingham, Alabama. AACA Dixie Region member and Meet Chairman, Robert Hinds, entered his 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury and it received its 5th Preservation Award.
Sunday, September 12, 2004, Robert Hinds and his son Robert, Jr. took the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury to Talladega Super speedway, located in Talladega, Alabama, for a car display to help the speedway celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Bob says, "As an incentive to the antique car owners, and after signing a release, we got to drive around the high-banked super speedway in our antique cars. Upon arrival we were placed in small batches of about 10 vehicles per pace vehicle. In our batch, we were the first vehicle behind the pace truck. Travelling through a tunnel brought us into the infield and soon we were on pit road. The pace truck picked up speed and then we entered the track onto the high bank. (In order for a vehicle to stay on the bank one must go a minimum of 80 miles per hour.) The pace truck quickly got up to 80 and the Sport Fury easily matched his speed. The bank is so steep that although the car had no trouble negotiating the bank, one’s body is pulled to the left by gravity. It was a strange sensation as your senses say you are going to slide down the bank! One of the NASCAR drivers displaying his car said that the car needs to go at least 110 miles per hour to overcome the effect of gravity in order to feel comfortable. Some of the old cars near the rear of their pack were able to get up more speed. A gentleman in his 1957 Plymouth Fury easily took some turns at over 110 miles per hour and has a photo of the speedometer to prove it. Since we were immediately behind the pace vehicle, we could only match its speed.
Remember that this is the super speedway where a Dodge Daytona set a record of over 215 miles per hour in 1969. Today they use restrictor plates to prevent such high speeds. It was an experience even at 80 as you can see from the photograph."
Through the efforts of Robert Hinds (1959 Plymouth Technical Advisor for the Plymouth Owners Club), the '59 Sport Fury achieved "Milestone Status". He writes: "I thought the browsers of this web site would like to know how the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury models became designated as Milestone Cars."
"The Classic Car Club of America certifies certain outstanding vehicles of the Classic Era as 'Classic Cars'. They stopped with the mid-1940 models, so no 1959 vehicle can be a 'Classic Car'. This is where the Milestone Car Society comes in. The Milestone Car Society was formed to certify those post World War II cars that are especially interesting and worthy of being certified as 'Milestone Cars'."
Robert Hinds noted that the 1956-58 Furys were already certified as Milestone Cars, so he nominated the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury models for Milestone Status. He continues, "To have a car considered, one fills out a nomination form. This form has five categories and for a car to be considered, it must excel in at least two of the categories. The categories are: Styling, Engineering, Performance, Innovation and Craftsmanship. I entered the '59 Sport Fury in all five categories and added additional comments."
"The Nominating Committee of the Milestone Society approved the '59 Sport Fury models for Milestone status in all the categories except Craftsmanship. Then they published their recommendation to the membership of the Milestone Car Society for approval of the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury. The membership voted to accept the '59 Sport Fury's as 'Milestone Cars'. This designation now makes the '59 Sport Fury models more valuable and more worthy of attention."
Robert suggests that when you show your Sport Fury, let people know it is a Certified Milestone Car. The full text of Robert's submission for certification is in the next post.
Styling
Virgil Exner, the renowned stylist and chief designer for Chrysler Corporation, used the space and rocket theme as his inspiration for the design of the 1959 Plymouth sport Fury. In an effort to compete with the 1956-58 Fury, Chevrolet, in 1958, introduced the Impala as a special upscale model in both a coupe and convertible. Plymouth reacted, in 1959, by introducing the Sport Fury in both a coupe and convertible and available in many color combinations. At the same time, Plymouth replaced the Belvedere name with the Fury name as the top full-range model line. (The Belvedere name was retained for the mid-line models.) However, in 1959, Chevrolet replaced the Bel Aire name with the Impala name as the top full-range model line and retained the Bel Aire name for the mid-line models. This left the Plymouth Sport Fury without any model for model competition from Chevrolet.
The 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury models are as significant to Plymouth in ’59 as was the Milestone Impala to Chevrolet in ’58. Chrysler Corporation lacked the money to bring out a totally new design for the last year of separate body/frame construction. As a result, the Sport Fury exterior styling was made to look more like the Imperial. The greatly upgraded interior included swivel seats and a new dashboard. The upholstery, consisting of metallic vinyl and cloth, and the wool carpet created a package that outclassed anything from the low-priced three (Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth), and many mid and upscale cars, as well as the previous Fury.
Engineering
Chrysler Corporation had always been known for engineering excellence ever since Walter Chrysler started the company in 1924. The 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury is no exception. The engines, transmissions, torsion bar suspension, tapered roller front and rear wheel bearings, power steering and brakes were the same in all Chrysler Corporation cars, thus assuring Plymouth’s acknowledged high mechanical quality. The top car magazines for 1959 rated Plymouth best in engineering.
Performance
The 361 CID engine and the 318 CID with Super Pak, used in the Sport Fury, proved to be among the most powerful engines in the low-priced three. All the 1959 car magazines and independent testing verified Plymouth’s performance. The “Torqueflite”, three-speed automatic transmission, was efficient and durable. The major 1959 car magazines declared the sport Fury handling among the best, superior even to some imported sports cars.
Innovation
Among the 1959 innovations on the low-priced three, only Plymouth offered innovative swivel seats to help when entering and exiting the front seats, a rear-view mirror that automatically compensated for the bright lights of the car behind, push-button heating and air conditioning controls, and instead of shims – cams for adjusting caster and camber. A steering wheel with a padded center was standard on the Sport Fury. Of the low-priced three, for years, only Plymouth had provided such innovations as safety-rim wheels, push-button transmission controls and torsion bar suspension.
Craftsmanship
In 1959, no American car was noted for craftsmanship. They all rusted badly. This may be why so few 1959 automobiles remain. Plymouth had its assembly problems in 1957-58. This probably was due to advancing their scheduled designs planned for 1960 to 1957. Again, industry magazines in 1959 said the Plymouth was well-assembled, much improved over ’57 and ’58. The Sport Fury with its upgrades was especially well assembled. The upholstery materials were beautiful in quality and in craftsmanship.
Additional Comments
With the introduction of the unit-body Plymouths for 1960, the Sport Fury was dropped. As a result, the 1959 Sport Fury models are unique. Though the ’59 was the first Sport Fury it was reintroduced in mid 1962. Having owned a 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury, purchased new, and having restored a second one, my experience verifies that they were great cars in 1959 and I believe they should now be considered for milestone status. I agree with the following farsighted quote from “Motor Life” magazine, January 1959.
“None of today’s low-priced cars are likely to become classics, by any stretch of the definition, but the 1957-59 Plymouths undoubtedly will be pointed to in the years to come as ‘great’ cars. It is interesting to note that they’ve won quite a following among car enthusiasts, including those who prefer the sportier types of imported vehicles—and such admiration must be earned, it cannot be obtained through persuasion. A Plymouth to be fully appreciated must be driven, not just looked at or sat in. What baffles most experts is how can they do any better with the car in 1960!”
