(first posted 8/8/2012) Yes, we just had a 1960 Plymouth wagon to drool over, but no interior shots. So please click this photo and savor the googie goodness you missed in 1960 (or maybe you didn’t). And you wonder why some of us who were of an impressionable age when we rode in these cars are a bit batty now? trabantusa posted this at the Cohort, and we’re not talking just the dash, but the whole car, in a comparable state of condition. I almost had a patina orgasm, so be prepared…
Yes, it’s been working on its tan for quite awhile, I’d say; starting to look a bit cancerous, in some areas, actually.
Makes quite the contrast to the car behind it.
Kiss my ass, you little shrimp!
Wow. I’m amazed to see it on the street looking like that. It looks like a refugee from that junkyard that was featured here a couple of years ago in which some cars were actually in the water.
I’m curious about that rear wheel – I didn’t think much of anything made lately would fit the old Plymouth bolt circle. It does hold the car up off the pavement though.
Was there ever a cooler steering wheel in a car? I think not! This one actually appears to be running. Wow.
In proper shape, it looks like this. The subject car has had all of the clear plastic come off of the wheel, with only the steel inner part left.
Great photo…one of the magazines of the era referred to it as a “crew cut” steering wheel.
Always got a chuckle out of that name; sort of sounded like Chrysler steering wheels first had to go to boot camp!
British Leyland called this quartic control on their version in the 70s
BL also got quite a lot of flak for it from the idiots in the motoring press. Somehow, I feel a non-round steering wheel *needs* power steering, to keep number of turns low.
GMH fitted oval steering wheels during the 70s, I dont know why but I drove plenty of them and replaced some with aftermarket items that improved how the car felt to steer.
The oval wheels were intended to give more legroom under the wheel. Seems to me that if the interior was designed properly, that wouldn’t be an issue. My old Cortina’s wheel was slightly oval, but legroom wasn’t a problem for me.
Gen.-II Prius also has a less- than-round steering wheel. One of the quirks that’s supposed to make them different. ……
My Fiat Abarth’s wheel is flat bottomed. Helps on the leg room quite a bit, don’t find it at all disconcerting while driving.
Definitely a cool steering wheel to look at, though I never really liked the sensation of driving with a square wheel the few times I did so.
Don’t think that is a Mazda behind it, but rather a Geo Prizm based on the Toyota Corolla. There is even another interesting car in the pickup featured further back in the photo.
Good point, it’s actually *in* the pickup. What do you suppose that thing is? Maybe a Jeep on the trailer behind it.
It is a 47 CJ on the trailer, and a Ford Prefect in the truck.
As a kid, my Aunt had a 60 Fury 4 door sedan in black. I remember being sort of mezmorized and staring at that car every time she came for a visit. All the gory details of the dash and steering wheel and the chrome “scallops” behind the front wheels plus fins too…Wow! At the time our family had a Canadian 65 Valiant Custom V200. Couldn’t help but see how far Chrysler had come in 5 years.
That steering wheel and dash has Sputnik written all over it. Or Robby the Robot.
Robbie says that dash is Futuramic!
Futuramic? Heresy, sir! It is SONORAMIC!
It’s all about the “id”!
I don;t think that car has moved under its own power in quite a long time. I love the rearview mirror sticking out of the dash.
For sheer outrageousness, I still like the 1961 Plymouth better.
But the 1960 is close…
Both are angry looking cars;-)
I told the story of my aunt’s 1960-61 Dodge – can’t recall which year – white w/blue interior 2 door hardtop. I never got over that square steering wheel.
If I could put one in my new Impala, I would in a heartbeat!
Never a cooler wheel – EVER!
Philco brought out their Predicta Princess TV in 1959. A perfect match to this wonderful dash.
The shape and size of the Fury’s steering wheel resemble a late-fifties TV screen…coincidence or design?
My parents had a 1960 Savoy Sedan when I was 6 or 7 years old. Dad did not keep it to long. I think he tired of the weird styling with the fins pretty quickly. I think he got it in 61 and traded it for a new 63 Savoy Coupe in 63. Pretty quick for dad. The dash shot reminded me of what at the time was the coolest dash I had ever seen. Ours being the Savoy I think had a plainer steering wheel though. I do not think it was oval one. I think it did have a mercury thermometer speedometer which my old 77 Lincoln also had.
By 1963 the ’60’s styling would look SO old-fashioned.
Prius’ steering wheel is squared off a little, about 2 in. / 5 cm wider than it is tall. Not so much that you really notice, nothing like the Fury. Just enough to provide a little more leg room and a little easier entry and exit.
Uh… I think the patina became something more sinister a few years ago.
If it had a yard I think it would be a yard guard. It probably hasn’t moved in enough years to be qualified for that or maybe a fence-line classic.
I saw a White Fine example today of the rustbucket you photographed. This was in a parking lot in Visalia, CA and the car strangely had Oregon plates. I did not have a chance to take pictures as the Fury was departing.
Since it’s out on the street, and not out in a field, it would appear that someone plans to fix it up or restore it. DO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE GETTING INTO? That Plymouth needs a new EVERYTHING. I’d love to see it when they’re finished with it. In the meantime, hopefully, the Prizm parked behind the Plymouth belongs to the same guy. He’ll need a daily driver for a while.
Was this Plymouth still being driven, or just parked? Considering that it lacked taillights…
The seats were out of the car and the rear bumper and trim was inside
Worth remembering that the Predicta drove Philco into bankruptcy (after which Ford swallowed it) in just two years. Even Googie had limits.
Yes, everyone loved Predicta’s style and swivel tube, but sadly they were poorly built and kept breaking down. Not unlike certain Googie cars of its era.
I had a Pedestal model from a hotel sale before going off to college. It barely worked and the picture tube was shot. Of course it got thrown out after I was gone. These sets are worth real money today,
1959 Philco Pedestal.
I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat, even if to replace the non-functional Picture tube with an LCD in the same body. Industrial design hasn’t been this good (or distinctive) till Apple iMacs came along.
Suddenly, 1960 was over 50 years ago.
How the heck did that happen?
How can you not love this? It’s so gloriously outrageous I wouldn’t mind it in my driveway. Like Arnie Cunningham, I have always tried to have good hands, and bad taste in cars.
In 1979, my Mother was furious when I brough home my white 59 Fury and parked it in the driveway. And it was a nice looking car!
“Hell hath no Fury”. They called and they want that car.
Suddenly, it’s 1960 !
The big oval steering wheel was something pushed throughout the 1960s. Here we have the 1960 Plymouth with it; later the Canadian Studebakers, and Kaiser-Jeep products (less the Universal/CJs) that used the same steering column…had it also.
In the Stude and Jeep manifestations, the horn button was conventional; but the wheel large and oval. The oval wheel was, I was told, to aid in getting behind it, given that the wheel was so big. The big wheel was to aid steering without power.
But in fact, the SJ vehicles after 1966 or so, were almost all power. I don’t know if the ex-lark Canadian Studes were; but in any event it seems to reach to the past to solve a problem. AND…how many times does one park a car with the wheel straight ahead? In the garage, maybe. Other dimes, you’re as likely to have the long side-section and spoke digging into your thigh as you digress.
Compare it to today’s all-electric power steering, capped with a toy-size wheel with a bang-pillow on the hub. Which is better? Gimme a 1970s econocar with rack-and-pinion steering and a small non-power wheel…
How many times does one park a car with the wheel straight ahead? Well, just about every time for me. Driveways and parking lots of course, which is 90% of the time. Even after parallel parking I usually straighten out a bit. Not that I’d want a wheel as oval as this Fury’s.
Besides the Studes and Jeeps JPT mentioned, has anyone else deviated from the round steering wheel since the mid 1960s?
And given Chrysler’s “Full Time Power Steering”, you never needed your hands on the rim of the wheel anyway. Just an index finger under one of the spokes and you could spin that wheel to your heart’s content. Driving position was with one hand resting on the base, or the left elbow out the window with two fingers on the side of the wheel rim. Can you tell that I spent time in these? My 59 was not this radically oval, but was still somewhat oval.
Even in 62-63 Chryslers, they kept trying the concept – the wheel was round at the top and flattened off at the bottom.
This doesn’t really count stylistically…but the “deluxe” three-spoke wheels on second gen Firebirds are oval while the A & B body versions are round. The wheels actually had “oval” or “round” stamped into the backs of them. the horn pad bars are the same but the upper half of the rim is “shorter” than the lower half on the Firebird units.
The optional “Formula” wheel (standard in TransAm) is a smaller diameter so those are all round.
From the fabulous 1960 Plymouth “Prestige” brochure at Old Car Brochures.
“Take this wheel now. With optional power steering this could be Plymouth’s new Aero Wheel. It is almost rectangular, like a pilot’s wheel, with thumb-points for the horn and a newer, better-handling ‘feel’ all around. It sits low, under your line of vision, and comfortably high, away from the waistline.”
Yes, I’ve gone totally Googie.
You love patina? This man loves patina. He makes and sells patina to order, just for you. Classic Wrecks: The Rusted Car as Art. His short video is a must-see, full-screen HD if you can.
Nice!
Today I had my 56 F100 on a flat bed tow truck taking it from my storage yard/rental house, to get in compliance with a new city ordinace, to my buddies back 40 to stash it. It was my younger brothers who as a almost 16 year old decided to “fix it up” that included sanding off a lot of the paint. As I was sitting at a light I heard out the driver’s window, “Where did you find that” I told him in my back yard. He then said “if he bought it he would leave it as is, it’s got patina you know”
Its beautifull just needs a clearcoat to preserve the patina
Of course, the rectangular (ovoid?) wheel was an option, much like the ’57 and ’58’s had a different steering wheel for non-power steering Plymouths with a space-ship middle horn button with a skinny forward look motif. I do remember some of these early sixties Mopars with this type of wheel.
More bizzare are the ’61-’63 Imperials with this type of steering wheel and the “elf ears” for the Torqueflite and HVAC controls sticking out from either side of the ribbon speedo . . .
Googie the Hofmeister kink on that beauty!
someone please get this car of the street and under cover now otherwise it will find itself in the crusher
I owned a 1960 Plymouth 4dr hardtop. No toilet seat or funky steering wheel. Took me through college. 318 with a TorqFlite. Could cruise all day long at 80 mph and not breath hard.
At that time I was quite influenced by what was going on in NASCAR so I wrapped the steering wheel with foam purchased from the local Ben Franklin and covering it with black electrician’s tape. I shitcanned the original horn ring (which stated “Power Steering”) and substituted an aluminum and foam padded hub in its place. That really pissed of my uncle, my automotive mentor, but I liked the results.
Put 135 k on that bitch.
What a magnificent beast, even in this state. Especially in this state? Looks particularly sinister in front with the two darkened lamps and the rusted hood edge. Hopefully in the 3.5 years since this was posted, someone has done some work on it!
Anyone ever figure out what that little car in the truck bed in the background is?
Except for the fact that it’s original color may have been green instead of blue, it looks almost exactly like my father’s Plymouth used to look before he sold it. Even the rust spots are close to the same. I write a drive-in movie blog and often end it with the likes of “So long from the backseat of the Plymouth Fury” and it was his Plymouth I have in mind when I write that. I might borrow one of these pictures for a post on my blog if it’s OK with you.
The stuff of nightmares inside and out. Just in time for Halloween.
I was wondering what a “patina orgasm” was, But now I know
The striking thing about that dashboard, even when new, was its amateurish execution. Those pushbuttons are crude and irregularly placed, with no bushings or bezels around them. Every competent home mechanic can do better.
Was there not anyone at Chrysler Corporation in charge that screamed
NO BODY IS GOING TO BUY THESE! they must have had GM in disbelief
oh wait 61 was worse
by the way Dad had a 60 2dr savoy
I was always amazed he would buy such an ugly car.
It’s an ugly car. And no, not so ugly that it’s cute or retro cool either. No, just ugly.
As seen in “In the Heat of the Night.”
Don’t your thumbs just twitch looking at those horn buttons? An alien race of the future could infer opposable thumbs just from looking at that wheel.
Possibly THE car that defined the Atomic Age.It looks like nuclear radiation deformed it, and those fins were probably probably designed by someone who had a very close encounter with a man eating shark. A bad sci-fi movie on wheels.
Suddenly, it’s the 1960 Plymouth
A thriller in one Act
A Detroit clinic, December 1957
Mr Exner, time for your medication.
Mr Exner?… Virgil?…
No, get away from that drawing board. Leave the airbrush alone! Virgil, listen to me!
No, no! Not… not the clay models, NOT THE CLAY MODELS! Nooooooo!!
AAAAARRRrggghhh!!!!…..
End scene
Somehow, in its weathered condition, both inside and out, it looks even more outer-spacier than a pretty restored one would be. I think because it looks more alien — like something that has been kept at Area 51 ever since it landed in 1960 and the little green men inside were captured.