'59 Plymouth Forum

Mavis writes, " 'Loretta' was a barn find in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I don't know a whole lot about her. We have a guy here in the Lower Mainland (Peter) that finds cars in other provinces and brings them to BC - He found Loretta in a barn four years ago he brought her back here. He spent the next four years with her sitting on his property. He put in a new gas tank and a 'little bit' of other work into her so she would pass BC registration. He finally did the things that he needed to do to get her registered in December 2020 which is when I bought her."

"Since we got her home we've realized that she's been quite neglected, and while she looks very very pretty on the outside, she has a few flaws on the inside. The tires that were on her were from the 1990s, and splitting from the inside out (yikes)! When my good friend David heard about this and my birthday was soon approaching, he stepped up to the plate and offered to by the Coker wide white wall tires for me. What a true friend!

We put a new electronic distributor and rebuilt the carburetor, and put a new fuel pump in. We are still doing everything to hopefully bring her back to her full Glory. Her beautiful 3 tone paint job was done in a barn with little flaws here and there, I imagine that the paint is quite old as it is brittle. It is obvious whoever owned her before us loved her very much as they had made chairs that were woven in the same pink, cream and black as the car. They made the tire cover in the trunk the same pink and black motif that said "Plymouth". They even had somebody make them a little pink Fury model of their car. I don't know how long Loretta sat in that barn before Peter had found her, but I do know one thing- Brian, Michael and Peter all agreed that that car was meant to come home to BC to live with me!"

"The first car I ever drove was a 1966 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors - I was 12 years old at that time, and I have always had an affinity for the older cars. After legally getting my driver's license in my twenties, I had an AMC matador - then I went on to drive an old Lincoln, later on owning 1948 Oldsmobile, and finally in 2013 setting my heart on a 1956 Nash (all original black and white Metropolitan) which I've had now for about 8 years."

"My best friend Brian and I quite often will go back and forth showing each other old classic cars that are for sale; that is when we came across Loretta, and that same night we came across a Ford Fairlane which we went and looked at. The next day we went to see the Plymouth Fury and that is when I felt my heart explode she was so big! She was so beautiful, and she was so loud and if you knew me you would agree that that 59 Plymouth Fury matches my personality to a T!"

"Since I've had her I've been driving her as my daily driver. There is not another car I would rather be in, of course some days I don't get to drive because Michael and Brian are doing work on her! I have been so lucky to have these men in my life doing the work that they're doing, putting a smile on my face everyday as I am sure Loretta is loving the attention. Every where we go she turns heads, from the little children to the adults - she puts a smile on everybody's face."

"When I brought the Fury home I had so much trouble calling her Fury or Plymouth everybody kind of laughed at me! I even made a video showing her off to my family and friends and mistakenly calling her by the wrong manufacture (Ford Fury!)"

"As days went on everybody kept asking me what I was going to call her, and we thought of names that had to do with her color, names that would have something to do with her size and nothing ever seemed to fit; nor could I remember it! One of my friends that knew my mother well asked why don't you call her Lori, and I said that car does not look like a Lori which is what my mom used to call herself. She shortened her name from Loretta and that was it - the minute I said Loretta it fit her perfectly! My mother was a country and western singer that brought happiness to everyone - she too was big, beautiful and loud. I have never forgotten her name since, or that she is a Plymouth Fury - it's solidified the whole thing for me."

This is my 59 Plymouth Fury "Loretta", she got her new white wall tires today! Loretta is a happy girl - she even turned the head of the drummer from "The Lounge Hounds", a local rockabilly band here in Chilliwack, so of course it was a perfect opportunity for a photo op...

Loretta got brighter!

Wow, Lookin' good, Mike! Congrats, Mavis!