Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Classic Car: Plymouth Belvedere Fury

Happy Halloween. For Halloween  I decided to write about the car that was used as the killer car in "Christine," the Plymouth Belvedere Fury.

From 1954 to 1970, Plymouth produced the Belvedere. From 1956 to 1958, Plymouth came out with a sub-series of the Belvedere, called the Plymouth Belvedere Fury. Starting in 1959, the Fury became the flagship car for the Plymouth brand. The Belvedere Fury is best known as the car used as the titular car in "Christine."

The Belvedere Fury had some features. The Belvedere Fury only came with as a two-door coupe with an off-white hardtop, gold-anodized aluminum, a special interior, and bumper wing-guards. I have seen the Belvedere at the 2012 Houston Classy Chassis, 2012 Houston Construction Industry Auto Show and at a few Houston Cars and Coffee events. The guy who displayed the car played music from "Christine," and had the Stephen King novel and movie poster on display as well.

The Belvedere Fury was available with three V8 engines. The 1956 Belvedere Fury comes with a 303 cubic inch V8 engine, paired with either a three-speed manual or a two-speed automatic transmission, that produces 240 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 114.8 mph. The original price for the 1956 Belvedere Fury was $2,866. The 1957 and 1958 Belvedere Fury came with a 318 cubic inch V8 engine, paired with either a three-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission, that produces 290 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. These Furies can go from 0 to 60 mph in 8.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 120 mph. The original price for a Fury that came with the 318 cubic inch engine was $2,925. The 1958 Fury had an optional 350 cubic inch V8 engine, paired with either a three-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission, that produced 305 hp and 370 lb-ft of torque. This fury can go from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 122 mph. The original price for the Fury with the 350 cubic inch engine was $3,067. By 1950's standards, the Belvedere Fury had good performance.

The Plymouth Belvedere Fury was featured as the titular car in "Christine." It was also featured in The Lineup, Company Man, Grand Theft Auto, Futurama, True Blood, and Arne Dahl: Europa Blues. The Belvedere Fury is playable in Carmageddon, Ignition, and Fallout 2.

The Belvedere Fury is a classic movie car. The car had good performance by 1950s standards. I really like the style of the Belvedere Fury. Today, the Belvedere Fury goes between $19,00 and $44,000, depending on condition and options. The Belvedere Fury can serve as an everyday driver. It is also a good addition to a Mopar car collection, a Plymouth car collection, or a movie car collection. Try to get one around $25,000.


CarJunkie
Photo was taken by a digital camera.
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