Tom Gerrard

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Larry Flynn

Sport Fury

The Car Chrysler Should Have Built

Tom Fox says of his masterpiece: "This is a car that Chrysler should have built. This car could have come off the assembly line like I built it. Everything is period and built by Chrysler. It has a 413 engine which was in the 59 Chrysler, the long ram intake system was being readied for introduction in late 59 for the l960 models. The interior is correct except for vinyl color. The grille, side spears, and toilet seat hubcap have been anodized gold. The buckles on the seats and door panels are gold, as well as the squares in the hubcaps. This is a frame off restoration and was completed in 1994."

"The Gold Fury came to me as a drag race car. It had a 413ci (bored to 426) engine, solid lifters, adjustable push rods, race cam, 780 Holley on a TK7 manifold, headers and 4.56 Sure Grip rear end. The interior was modified, and no swivel seats. At the rear wheel wells, some of the body had been cut away to make clearance for racing slicks. I had been thinking for years about the Limited Edition Furies of 56-58, and that Chrysler should have continued the performance models. Now I had the makings in my hands."

"I started stripping the car, repairing, and removing the body from the frame, stripping the undercoating, sandblasting, and painting the underside. I restored the frame, adding new brake lines and fuel line. I changed the rear end to a stock 3.31 Shure-Grip I purchased a parts car that had power windows, which are now in the Fury, and several other items, like under hood wiring, brackets and other pieces to make the project 'stock'. The parts car body is now part of Roger Howard’s new Sport Fury convertible."

"I bought a 1960 Dodge 4-door hardtop, that had a complete long ram intake system on a 383ci engine. The block was split from a water freeze and the car was rough. I paid $500 for the car, removed all of the long ram related pieces and left the car where it sat in the woods."

"The engine work consisted of converting back to hydraulic lifters, a milder, purple cam, stock ignition and adding the Sonoramic intake. My Mopar buddies gave me a bad time for tearing up a good running race car, but I think they have gotten over it. They sure enjoyed helping getting it to run again at the start up party!"

"The interior came together with a set of swivel seats from a Chrysler, and upholstery fabric from SMS in Portland. An upholstery shop made door and side panels, and seats, using my white SF that I had at the time, as a pattern. I have parted out a total of three Sport Furies and one Fury over the years, so I had things like a steering wheel, interior trim, etc. This Gold Fury is the recipient of several donors."

And here's some details about the donors: "The three SFs in the salvage yard, I ended up owning in a trade. I sold a 58 Fury for cash and these three cars. The red one in the foreground is the red one in the other pictures. The white one and the red one with the white top were both parted out. Several things were used in the Gold Fury, and other parts were used to make the red car complete. I kept the red car for several years, but finally sold it unrestored. I have sold a lot of parts and still have a lot of parts. The white Sport Fury I owned from Oct 1986 until Jan 1998. It was a 361 Golden Commando with a red interior."
 
   

Here's an impressive shot! 4 -- count 'em -- four '59 Sport Furys in one picture! Tom says, "The first three were mine and the fourth was Wil Eichelberg. The red hardtop went to Australia, and the white Fury was sold at Barret Jackson in 1998. It would be neat if we found either one of them someday."

(Good news! The white Fury has been found, Larry Flynn is the owner!)

(More good news! The red Fury has been found, Arthur Lee is the owner!)

And now, a triple-header! Tom writes, "Here are some photos taken at our WPC Regional in Portland. The two convertibles are Wil's and mine. The Gold Fury, now sporting Sonoramic Commando Power badges, and for you to look at, my white DeSoto Adventurer."