1966 Plymouth (Fury) VIP

[Fleet 500]

Owning 3 cars already, I don't really need (or want) another car. However, I have had an interest in the 1966 Plymouth Fury. One of my brothers owned a '66 Fury III from 1976-1998 (318-cu-in V-8, auto, 2-door hardtop).

I always did like his car and have known about the top-of-the-line Fury called the VIP. I received a catalog a few days ago and didn't realize the options which were available on the VIP which were not available on the other Fury series. Features such as imitation wood grain on interior & exterior, reading lights in the rear and thicker carpet and a standard V-8 engine.

The other Fury series came with the 225-cu-in 6-cylinder standard. The VIP came with the 318- 2 bbl V-8 standard. Other engines available were the 383-2 bbl, 383-4 bbl and 440-4 bbl. I would prefer the 383-4 bbl. The VIPs were a relatively heavy car, about 4,200 lbs, and the 318 engine had a lot of weight to push!
The wheelbase for these cars was 119", overall length was 209.8" and width 78.7".

So, I will be "casually" checking ebay and craigslist and other car-related ads and may check out a Fury if I am interested in one in my area. The VIP is a first choice, but I may consider a Sport Fury (these came with bucket seats and a console) or maybe a Fury III. From what I've read, the VIP was not a big seller and it's possible that even less were built than even my '76 limo (834 built for 1976).

Here are some photos:




Sport Fury:


-Fleet 500
'69 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
'76 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine
'95 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

[Spastik_Roach]

The 4 doors boot must be absolutley massive...look at the length of that tail!

[LeonOfTheDead]

how much does one of this cost?

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Spastik_Roach

The 4 doors boot must be absolutley massive...look at the length of that tail!

Well, he has a limousine.

This will be like a Fiat 500 in comparison.

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by LeonOfTheDead

how much does one of this cost?

A wide variation in price. About $2,500 for one in fair condition which runs okay up to at last $10,000 for one in very good to execellent condition.
An advantage is that they are not muscle cars, so in general they are not priced ridiculously high as many (most?) muscle cars are.

There is one on ebay which just ended. The bids went up to $5,100 but the reserve was not met. Item number is: 310139132345.

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by Spastik_Roach

The 4 doors boot must be absolutley massive...look at the length of that tail!

Yeah, the rear overhang it quite long, much more than the front overhang. Makes for a roomy luggage compartment, though!

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Well, he has a limousine.

This will be like a Fiat 500 in comparison.

Yeah, it will feel almost small. Even my downsized Lincoln is longer (it is 218.9" VS 209.8").

Like many American cars, the Fury grew longer into the late-'60s and early '70s. It was about 213" by '68 and over 215" by '69-'70. Most of that was probably due to the bumper.

[Fleet 500]

Here are more photos.
As was true with most '60s American cars, there was a wide choice in exterior color selection.

[Timothy (in VA)]

Very nice car. I'm a big fan of the vertically stacked headlights. Good luck with your search.

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by Timothy (in VA)

Very nice car. I'm a big fan of the vertically stacked headlights. Good luck with your search.

Yes, many cars did look good with vertically stacked headlights. Thanks for the good luck wish.

[trptman]

I used to have the 66 VIP 4 door hardtop back when I was in High School in teh late 1980s
I loved that car. when I got it, it had a blown engine (the 383 was what it came with) and we found a 400 cu. in. engine from a dodge van if I remember correctly and put it in there.

The car was comfortable and rode well, but if you punched the engine-that car was very fast. I remember you could go from about 40 to 70 in the blink of an eye and being a teenager, that was something I did more often than was probably good for me.

the interior was huge-you could put 6 people in there pretty comfortably and the trunk was big enough to put 4 more if you were sneaking into a drive in movie.

There are many times I think about that car and wish I still had it. hope you find one in good shape
thanks for posting the pictures from the brouchure/catalog. I had the black interior with white exterior. Those pictures brought back some memories for sure.

[henk4]

Welcome to UCP, by chance you do not have any shots from your car at that time? Any idea how and where it ended up?

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by trptman

I used to have the 66 VIP 4 door hardtop back when I was in High School in teh late 1980s
I loved that car. when I got it, it had a blown engine (the 383 was what it came with) and we found a 400 cu. in. engine from a dodge van if I remember correctly and put it in there.

The car was comfortable and rode well, but if you punched the engine-that car was very fast. I remember you could go from about 40 to 70 in the blink of an eye and being a teenager, that was something I did more often than was probably good for me.

the interior was huge-you could put 6 people in there pretty comfortably and the trunk was big enough to put 4 more if you were sneaking into a drive in movie.

There are many times I think about that car and wish I still had it. hope you find one in good shape
thanks for posting the pictures from the brouchure/catalog. I had the black interior with white exterior. Those pictures brought back some memories for sure.

Glad you like the photos. I also miss my brother's '66 Fury III, probably even more than he misses it. (As a rule, I like when family members keep their cars.) I didn't ask him why he sold it, but I am guessing that he wanted something different after owning it for 22 years and maybe due to its high mileage (over 240,000 when he sold it).

If/when I find one, it would be strange being in it because I am so familiar with the car... I was a passenger many, many times; especially before I got my driver's license.

As for the room, that is true. When my brother bought a 12-speed bike in the 1980s, the salesman put it in the trunk. He said it was the first car he could put a bike in there without having to remove at least one the bicycle's tire.

The interior width is especially impressive. Here are some specs from Motor Trend (Nov., 1965, "Special 1966 Buyer's Guide").

Front hip room:

63.7" Buick LaSabre/Wildcat/Electra; Pontiac Bonneville/Catalina; Chevrolet Impala/Caprice; Oldsmobile Dynamic 88.

63.6" Chrysler Newport/New Yorker/Oldsmobile Starfire

63.5" Cadillac Calais/DeVille

63.3" Plymouth Fury

Rear hip room:

63.8" Chrysler Newport/New Yorker

63.5" Plymouth Fury

63.4" Dodge Monaco/Polara

As henk asked, do you have any photos? I'd like to see those!

[trptman]

I'm trying to think if I would have any old pictures I could scan. I had the car from about 1986 to 92. I'll have to do some thinking and looking.
I don't know whatever became of it. I was off at college and didn't have anywhere to keep the car on campus so it got left at home. I didn't have time to do maintenance on it, being away, and my parents didn't want to fool with it-so they sold it while I was gone (it was in their name after all).

Here's a funny story now that I"m thinking about this;
Like I said-I loved that car and I would spend lots of time tinkering with it and polishing the tons of chrome and waxing it etc...

so anyhow since I was off at college and the car was home my brother who was 2 yrs younger than me was driving it to school and around town etc.

one day he was at a stop sign at the top of a hill and the car stalled on him for some reason.
(those cars had these big powerful "power assisted brakes" that worked great-until the engine went off-then good luck pushing the brake pedal hard enough to stop)
It started rolling backward before he could start the engine again and he rolled right into this little chevy chevette behind him on this hill.

the weight of the car rolling at about 1 MPH did somewhere around $800-1000 worth of damage to the front of that chevette (in 1990 dollars).

Of course my brother was worried that the next time I was home I'd find a scratch or mark that didn't used to be there and I'd kill him for messing up my car etc.

I never noticed anything and no one told me what happened until several years after the car was gone.

That car was such a tank it totally screwed up the front of a chevette barely coasting and left virtually no mark on the plymouth. What a great car.


Or the time I was out on a 4 lane highway late one night minding my own business and these jerks in some other hot rod thought they would play games with me speeding up and slowing down not letting me pass etc.
I decided to pass them whether they wanted me to or not. I got up to about 110 MPH and passed them when they couldn't keep up. what a great car. probably not the smartest thing I've ever done but I was about 19 and indestructable (in my mind anyhow).

Anyhow I"ll have to see if I can unearth any pics that have the car in them.

[Fleet 500]

Enjoyed reading your stories.
Yeah, those '66 Plymouths were tough! Thicker sheet metal and big & strong bumpers. I'm not surprised your '66 was unharmed after bumping into a Chevette.

The big block-powered Mopar did do well in passing. They surprised many people in "faster" cars.

I will also search for some photos I took of my brother's '66 Fury III. I know I took some pics of it.