Jerry,
Welcome, and congratualtions on acquiring your car. A Newark, Delaware built Convertible is somewhat rare, the majority were made at Evansville, Indiana. no other assembly plant is known to have built convertibles, they were shipped all over the country from these two plants. Of course, info may arise that they were built elsewhere, but as of now, those two are the only known locations.
Just to clarify something, you have the 1252th Sport Fury, whether hardtop or convertible doesn’t matter, that was built at Newark. Each model series was separately numbered by the each of the four plants building Plymouths that year. A total of 5990 Sport Fury convertibles were built, with nearly an equal number of Belvedere converts, too. Having been built in January, it may have originially been sold in the south, unless you already know the full history. Chrysler Historical may be able to give you a full summary of the car, from all original equipment and it’s original selling dealership, for around $50. Fairly easy to find the contact info although I don’t have it off the top of my head, Your message has got a lot of people smiling this morning, another one of our cars found!!!
I have a similar car, owned for almost 45 years but it hasn’t run for almost 32 years… but it will, someday.
The Golden Commando engine was an $86.50 option, in 1959 dollars, and when a Torquefilte transmission was ordered it was a beefed-up version with that engine, so I hope yours has it’s original transmission. The car will likely run better with the original single four barrel carb, although the inline dual quads do look cool, and were standard on several Chrysler performance engines of that period. Quite a few had Sure Grip differentials with the “big engine,” too. I remember a 58 Dodge convert in my area back in 1964, all original with the 361 dual quad engine, and it was a terror in the hands of it’s 18 year-old owner. What a sound when he drove it wide open, which was often!! I bet he wishes he still had it today. Many 59 Plymouths were converted to dual quads back in the day, both 361 and 318 engines, because that was the thinking back in the day. But none were assembly-line produced, just ordering the 1958 setup out of the parts books and dealer installed or owners doing it themselves.
Just yesterday I caught a 1959 movie on TV, and there were plenty of shots of Plymouth taxis and cop cars, very common back then. No doubt you’ve seen some and maybe even ridden in some… taxis, not cop cars, I hope. You can use old movies for good reference on restorations, riding stance, etc.
Once again, welcome and glad you found this group.
Bernie B.
