1964 Plymouth Fury - A Maximum Effort

Plymouth set the automotive world on fire when they released the newly designed '64 model. Although the new car shared much of the '63's styling theme, the '64's obvious refinements provided a touch of added convention with pop style. The excitement continued under the hood where buyers could opt for engines flexing several variations of big power. The new front grille and V-shaped fender points complemented the unique hardtop roofline with its supporting bold and triangulated C-pillars exceptionally well. the new body style was more aerodynamic than the '63s were. At the '64 Daytona 500, the slipperier Plymouth with its tremendous performance captured the number 1, 2, and 3 race finishes with Richard Petty holding the lead. It was a first-time win at Daytona for Plymouth in many years. Most everyone from racers to the buying public loved the '64's styling, engineering, and performance.

Like many Mopar guys, Paul Dunham has always admired '64 Plymouths and, especially, the Sport Fury. It was 30 years ago that Paul, then a 16-year-old, bought his first '64 Sport Fury from his brother Bob. Back then, he enjoyed the following four years rowing the factory four-speed and wrenching on the 383 engine. By the early '80s, his responsibilities had grown and he sold his '64. he spent the next two decades developing his upholstery business (Classic Touch in Lancaster, California) and fulfilling family obligations, but always longing for another Sport Fury.

By 2004, Paul's business was running fairly well, and with the help of his wife, Monica, his life with his five kids was fairly stable. Just about then Paul realized he could finally afford the time for a little automotive diversity-a '64 Sport Fury. But he thought finding one so many years later would be a challenge. That was until one day he picked up a classifieds paper and thumbed to the antique car section. There he found an ad that read: '64 Plymouth Sport Fury project car, MUST SELL, $2,500 or ? within minutes, he had the seller on the phone and was headed out to take a look. Once there, he saw that the old Plymouth needed some sheetmetal work, another door, a few trim parts, and it didn't run, but he knew he could transform it into his dream car with some dedicated work. So with a little tire kicking, Paul bargained the selling price down to $1,100 and that afternoon had the project car home.

With his rare find in his garage, Paul spent the next several hours surveying the car and came up with a rigorous game plan to make this B-Body better than new. To achieve his goal, he decided to purchase many of the needed parts from swap meets or on eBay and secure a donor Plymouth to serve as an on-hand parts car for any needed sheetmetal. But most importantly, he'd make certain that all the work performed on the '64 Sport Fury would strictly adhere to concourse quality.

Within just a few months, Paul's eBay shopping spree began to pay off with rewards to complete his inventory of Sport Fury trim. Then one afternoon while running an errand in an old part of town, Paul got lost. When he turned around, he found the perfect candidate to serve as a donor Plymouth in a dirt lot. Although it was nothing more than just a rust-free and straight Belvedere, it had the needed panels to renovate his Sport Fury. for the paltry price of 100 bucks, the seller was glad to have someone move the non-running old car off his property.