User:BearfootTruck/Plymouth Fury

The Plymouth Fury is an automobile that was manufactured by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation from 1956-1989. Over the years, it went through several changes & variations. A few of these variations have shown up in the Sonicverse, too.

1st generation
The Plymouth Fury was introduced in 1956 as a premium variant of the Belvedere, mainly intended to draw customers into showrooms. At first, it was only available as an off-white two-door hardtop with gold anodized aluminum trim. Additionally, it was equipped with a specially-appointed interior, twin four-barrel carburetors and bumper guards. In 1957, the Fury was redesigned with quad headlights and given a new 350 ci V8 engine known as the "Golden Commando". The '57 Fury also became infamous when a red-and-white one was featured in Stephen King's novel "Christine" (and its subsequent movie adaptation). Overall, the '57-'59 Fury was considered to be ahead of its time when first released.

2nd & 3rd generations
1960 saw a redesign for the Plymouth Fury. More importantly, it became a model in its own right, with a new Sport Fury being introduced. This year, the Fury came standard with a 225 ci "Slant Six" and was redesigned a unibody chassis as standard. After a slight redesign in 1961 that removed the tailfins, it was given a more drastic redesign in 1962, which downsized the car. However, this turned out to be an unpopular move because American car buyers were still in the "bigger is better" mode of thinking.

Despite the criticism, the 1962 Plymouth Fury & Plymouth Belvedere had some strong points. First of all, it got rid of the front subframe used on the 1960/61 Fury & Belvedere, thus saving weight and making them true unibody cars. To save more weight, the optional Torqueflite automatic transmission now had an aluminum case. Due to its lighter weight, the 1962-64 Fury & Belvedere were popular for drag racing. In 1963, both cars were slightly redesigned to look longer & wider. More importantly, thanks to the new 426 Hemi, Richard Petty won the 1964 Daytona 500 with a Plymouth Belvedere.

4th generation
For 1965, the Plymouth Fury & Plymouth Belvedere were separated for good. For the first time, the Fury became a full-size car once again, with a distinct front end that had quad stacked headlights. As for the Belvedere, it retained a mid-size platform, sharing it with the Satellite (plus the future Road Runner & GTX). This year, there were three different sub-models: Fury I, Fury II & Fury III. The Fury I was the base model, intended for fleet (e.g., police, taxi) use, while the Fury III was the luxury model, available with options such as power steering, stereo & air conditioning. For even more luxury, there was the "VIP" (Very Important Plymouth) package. Oh, and speaking of police, Plymouth was doing very well in the police market at this time, and the Fury was perhaps the most popular model for police work, no doubt helped by the new 440 ci "Super Commando" V8.

5th generation
In 1969, the Plymouth Fury was redesigned with the all-new "Fuselage" look, as were Chrysler's other full-size cars. Along with the 1969 Dodge Polara, the '69 Plymouth Fury was the fastest American police car ever made…that is, until the Dodge Charger LX was introduced many years later. The VIP package was dropped after this year and replaced by the high-performance Sport Fury GT. For 1970, the Fury was given a slight redesign with a wraparound front bumper, plus hidden headlights for certain models. Very few changes were made in 1971 except for the loss of the convertible models.

Another slight redesign came in 1972 with a distinct split grille. The Sport Fury & GT were replaced by the Gran Coupe & Gran Sedan, and there was no (known) Slant Six available this year. Under the sheet metal, there were more emissions controls installed, improved weatherstripping & better radio reception, among other changes. Furthermore, the 360, 400 & 440 V8s all had electronic ignition available as an option. There was another redesign in 1973, with a federally-mandated "5 MPH" bumper in front and a "Cadillac-style" rear end. For extra crash protection, steel beams were installed in the doors.

6th generation & split
The Plymouth Fury – along with the Dodge Monaco – was redesigned in 1974 with a 5 MPH bumper on the rear, too. Other new features included a tilting steering wheel, a fuse box that was easier to access, smoother handling and a quieter interior. However, the newly-redesigned Fury took a hit in sales due to the 1973 Oil Crisis. Another criticism came from the seatbelt ignition interlock, which prevented the car from being started if the driver hadn't buckled up. Nevertheless, the Plymouth Fury remained a popular choice for police departments in '74.

In 1975, the Plymouth Fury was hit with a most peculiar change: The "Fury" name was now being applied to the mid-size B-body cars, previously called the "Satellite" (the Belvedere name had been dropped after 1970). As for the full-size C-body Fury, it was now called the "Gran Fury", but was otherwise unchanged from its 1974 incarnation. The new mid-size Fury received a squared-off front end with one headlight per side, and unlike the 1975 Dodge Coronet, it had a one-piece grille. Furthermore, it got additional reinforcements to improve its unibody structure.

While the Fury entered 1976 with few changes, the Gran Fury got a new grille + headlight setup that was previously available only on the Gran Fury Brougham. Also, the Gran Fury was no longer available as a four-door hardtop. One of the more interesting changes for this year was the installation of the "Lean Burn" engine control system. Designed to replace carburetors & catalytic converters, the Lean Burn computer contained sensors that monitored factors such as throttle position, engine RPM & intake air temperature. While it did improve gas mileage slightly, the main purpose was emissions control. Aside from that, it was also touted as improving engine performance, giving better warm-ups and making the engine run smoother overall. Although Lean Burn was ahead of its time, it was notoriously prone to failure, and even though Chrysler kept on with the system, most owners converted their cars back to a conventional carbureted system.

In 1977, the Fury was redesigned with quad rectangular headlights and a slightly redesigned grille. The Gran Fury was mostly unchanged in this year. Both models got a new low-slip torque converter, improving gas mileage & torque. Other improvements included a new starter relay, better wire terminals & better rustproofing. Although the '77 Gran Fury outsold the '76 model, it was discontinued after this year because of increased competition from GM's newly-downsized full-size cars. Thus, the mid-size B-body Fury went on into 1978 as the only model bearing the "Fury" name, with few changes. By this time, the almighty 440 V8 was only available on the police version, and the 1978 Plymouth Fury was considered one of the finest police cars ever built, with several agencies in North America adopting it.

7th generation
Despite its success, the Plymouth Fury would be dropped after 1978 – along with the 400 & 440 – so there was no Fury in 1979. The closest equivalent was the Plymouth Caravelle, which was a Canadian version of the Dodge Diplomat. However, the Fury would be revived in 1980 on the full-size R-body platform. Now called the "Gran Fury", it was a copy of the Chrysler Newport, and it was only available as a four-door sedan. The largest engine available was the 360 ci V8. The new Gran Fury made plenty of fleet sales, but in spite of its success there, it was generally unpopular due to poor gas mileage and some electrical reliability issues, so it was scrapped after this year.

8th generation
The Plymouth Gran Fury continued on another platform for 1982: The full-sized M-body platform, which was shared with the Dodge Diplomat & Chrysler New Yorker. For this generation, there were two different trim levels available: A base Gran Fury & a more luxurious Gran Fury Salon, which included options such as full vinyl roofs, velour upholstery, turbine-spoke wheels, power windows, and power locks. At first, three engines were available, but then the Slant Six was dropped after 1983, and the only two engines left were the 318 ci V8 or (for police use only) the 360 ci V8. Over its lifetime, the M-body Gran Fury had very few changes, one of the more notable being a standard driver's side airbag in 1988. After 1989, despite strong fleet sales, the full-size M-body cars were discontinued, thus putting an end to another era of motoring.

Even though the Plymouth Fury got its tailpipe handed to it in the end, its legacy is immortal.

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BearfootTruck's Universe
Several versions of the Plymouth Fury have shown up in BearfootTruck's stories, ASMW & otherwise. In "The Fakest Things Alive", an NYPD officer attempts to chase down Sonic in a 1975 Fury police car, ignorant of the fact that no automobile in the world can possibly catch the Blue Blur.

In "And Down Will Come Sonic – Cradle and All", the Plymouth Fury makes multiple appearances. First of all, during Sonic's dream about being in New York City again, a 1977 Fury police car shows up just as he exits the bakery. The officers in the car get out and attempt to gun down Sonic, but fail. After Sonic is shot in the leg by another officer, Shadow shows up in an unmarked '73 Fury. Finally, Sonic drives a red 1970 Fury during the Duel dream sequence, but abandons the car when it is unable to outrun the G.U.N. Truck, leaving it to get wrecked.

In "Sonic's Weird Birthday", Agents Krzezinski & Pesare of the United Copyright Police show up to Knothole Village driving a '72 Fury police car.

Elsewhere on Sonic's planet, a number of police departments – especially in the Federal Republic of Columbia – still use Plymouth Furies, including the Hancock City PD & San Santos PD, to name a few.

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