I have a love-hate relationship with Christine—Stephen King’s fictional possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury.
I love how King picked a 1958 Plymouth Fury for a villain because he put these cars back on the map in 1983 with his book ‘Christine’.
I don’t like how wrong King got it with the car in the book because he called it a ’58 Fury 4-door sedan with a column shift automatic—that’s unforgiveable to the cult known as Exner fin car guys.
Jerry Sutherland
That’s why I was so happy when I found an old ‘Hot Rod’ magazine from 1958 with a 2000-mile road test of a brand new 1958 Plymouth Fury. Better yet, it was written by the legendary Ray Brock.
Ray Brock had a degree in electrical engineering–he was the heartbeat of ‘Motor Trend’ and ‘Hot Rod’ magazines, so his assessment of a brand-new ’58 Plymouth Fury carried a lot of weight. Brock was a technical guy, so he did a nut-and-bolt breakdown of every piece on the Fury.
He explained how the one-year-only 350 cubic inch V-8 powered Fury was an engineering feat—something close to his engineer heart. Brock asked for specific options on the Fury, including a manual transmission, no “power-robbing” options like power steering or brakes, a 3:73 Sure-Grip limited-slip rear-end, radio and a heater.
Brock ordered these options because he knew he was going to beat the hell out of this brand-new Fury on the road and at the track. His engineer side already loved the technology behind the Mopars because the torsion bar suspension made sense–and this car came with heavy duty parts.
The torsion bars were bigger, and the car had six rear leaf springs as opposed to the typical five-spring setup for lower-end Plymouths. Brock explained how the Fury sat lower because the springs were compressed to give the car a traction and handling advantage.
He loved this car. Brock described it as “A big-engined stick shift sedan that runs like a street roadster and handles with race-car security”. That was a huge endorsement from a hardcore car guy with an engineering degree.
Brock was highly impressed with the road handling abilities of the ’58 Fury after a cross-country run on some sketchy 50s era roads in Oklahoma, Colorado and California. He described one road where every car he’d driven, “bottoms on each of the dips and rebounded violently–but not this car. The ride combination given by the torsion bars and the Oriflow shocks was almost unbelievable as the car leveled out the roller coaster terrain”.
The track is where Brock really put this Fury through the paces. He ran it with a factory tune and the Fury delivered a best time of 16.05 and 85 miles per hour. He tweaked the timing and got it down to 15.90 with a speed of 88 miles per hour. Brock’s inner hot rod guy kicked in when he said, “With a 4:10 gear in place of the 3:73, I’d bet a month’s salary that the car would break 90 mph and have an ET near 15 seconds flat”.
The whole article was more of a tech manual/road trip report on a ’58 Fury aimed at street- rodders with a more-power attitude. Brock’s only issue was with the clip-type throttle linkage because it broke regularly on the 1/4-mile runs.
Brock summed up the ’58 Fury this way:“…don’t think the 1958 Fury is here to stay—it’s here to GO!”
Too bad Stephen King didn’t read this issue of ‘Hot Rod’ magazine
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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