I think this is the right forum for this … got a couple of questions:
Does anyone know how to find/track ownership of these old cars? We’re curious who the original owner of our fury is.
Does anyone know how to find a picture of the plant (Evansville, IN) where the car was built? We thought it’d be fun. Google is failing me, or I’m not as techno-savvy as I thought I was 
Thanks a million everyone 
Me too. That is always a curiosity, but sometimes impossible to solve.
While I have been interested in cars for 40 years (mostly Pontiacs), I am new here and still learning about 1959 Plymouths.
I would guess that if you have the VIN number and a copy of the Chrysler IBM card from the Chrysler. Chrysler Historical center is still providing this service of the copy of the IBM card or what most people call the Build Sheet. Someone on this site has a data base of VIN numbers and owners, it might be Matthew, but I am not sure how complete that data base is, but I know someone has these records.
I also would like to know who the full name and address of the original owner, and subsequent owners of my car. Some 1959 Sport Fury’s had an optional engraved name plate on the dash. My car has this plate. My car is also listed with photos on this site at the 59 Showcase link on the 59SportFury.net under a previous owner’s name who owned the car in 2006.
Good luck.
Double entry…don’t know how I did that ..
Chrysler Historical can provide the original dealer number and name in the state that the car was delivered in, but not the original buyers name. Slim chance that that delivering dealership still exists today, and if they do, they probably threw out most of those records decades ago.
Your only chance is if your state’s DMV keeps old records of Titles and Registrations but most have purged that info too years ago. My car came from Montana and I tried, I called them up in Montana at the main Montan DMV office and they said they purged the list years ago if they did not have a current registration on-going for that car.
Since you have a SF with a Front Glove Box Plaque with a name and with the IBM card that says what state and dealer the car was deliver to. You might have shot of finding old family members or the original owner.
Matthew’s list is mostly current owners of 59’s but does not have the original owner info you need. There are a few 59 Plymouth Forum members who still own their original cars but that is a rarity.
I will try to see if I can dig up a picture of the Evansville plant if I have one. I have one of Plymouth Main (Lynch Road Assembly) in Detroit.
John Q.
John,
Thanks for info and the advice.
How often does Mattthew update his list and how does he get the updates? Certainly many 1959 Plymouths have changed owners in any given year, including mine.
I assume that this list is not public and therefore is something that this site does just for Plymouth geneology for VIN numbers, build sheets and owners?
Hi John,
I tried to find the Chrysler Historical Society … it was a kind of a fail. Do you happen to have that info? Also, mine isn’t a Sport Fury … I doubt we have the optional glove box plate. Any other ideas?
Thanks for trying to dig up a picture of the Evansville, IN plant … appreciate it
Andy,
The Chrysler Historical Society will have the IBM card build sheets and information about your car.
Here is the link: http://www.chryslergroupllc.com/company/Heritage/Pages/Build-Records.aspx
Good luck.
Ok cool! Thanks a million
I update my list whenever I find a new one.
Mostly I am doing Sport Furys but under the pressure of John Q 
I started on the other models.
Finding new ones and getting in contact with the owners is hard but sometimes I get lucky.
I forgot how many I have in my list at the moment, also have another one to put in.
My list is VIN number (sorted by build plant), owners, colors, engine and some additional information if I have more about a car
Hello Matthew,
Thanks for the reply. I joined this site July 19 and I own a 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury.
I will find the time to write a paragraph about the car and introduced myself on the Introduce Yourself topic thread. As usual, I was too busy to take the time.
I can get you the info for your list … VIN number, build plant, owners that I know, colors, engine and other information.
Maybe you already have it for this car.
The car used to be owned by Frank Lamp from Fort Myers, FL.
If you go to https://59plymouth.net/showcase/SportFury/index2.html and look at the box on the right of Dick Koch, West Palm Beach, FL, there is a white 1959 owned by Frank Lamp.
Frank Lamp owned two cars - a white and a black Sport Fury. Click the box. The black 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury was sold to a collector in Michigan and I bought the black car this summer.
If you don’t already have the data information for my car, let me know how to get it you.
Thanks, Larry
Hiya Everyone!
I wasn’t sure if I should start a new topic or if I reply people will see … so I decided to try this way first.
Does this forum have a IBM decoder guru? I can order the IBM card from Chrysler, either just the card, or for a fee, they will decode it. Just trying to figure on which to order
They also have an aerial photo of the plant 1954, again for a fee. Did someone say they might already have one? If not, I’ll order it, scan it, and post it for our “plant photo collector” … then we’ll have one
Thanks!
Eroomas2/Matt The Fury’s came with a sticker in the glove box with original owners name and placename of dealership that sold it,the Sport Furys had the plaque,mine is still in it,original owners are Dudley and Violet Pollard of Las Vegas Nevada,the dealership was Desert Motors Inc. of Las Vegas.Matt do you have anything those names.I researched the dealers address and there now sits A Home Depot on that site. The sticker will always remain in the glove box lid as long as I am around!!! Mark M
Get the IBM card! I can do a better job on it than the Chrysler people 
I have seen those stickers and they are great.
Haven’t heard about that dealership before. I am pretty much doing Sport Fury’s in my database but I can decode all 59 Plymouths.
Thanks Matthew Really appreciate that! I’ll order the IBM card and then post or private message you the information for you to decode
Well, this is video from the Maywood, CA plant, not Evansville - but it’s fun. Check it out if you haven’t already seen it:
https://59plymouth.net/ephemera/video/Commercials%20and%20Promotionals/slides/Maywood.html
Dan
Wow… that is the first time I saw the video of the Maywood CA Plymouth Plant. That is wonderful historical film footage and I enjoyed seeing it.
As far as Matthew doing a better job on the IBM card than the Chrysler people on decoding the IBM card, Matthew is right.
He can do a better job on it than the Chrysler people. I sent him my Chrysler Build Sheet IBM card and he spent the morning decoding it an he emailed the option list to me.
I was able to print it out and put it in my documentation binder. Many thanks Matthew for such fast work!
Larry
Dan thanks for the video,that is where mine is from.sold in vegas born in L.A. I noticed the fellow unpacking rubber gaskets and the box was marked Continental Rubber Works ERIE PA.!!! I know the place and know people that worked there.It closed I think about 25yrs ago.It was in the west county.I love watching that stuff!!! Thanks Mark M
Here’s some info about the Evansville, Indiana plant.
I believe it still stands - using Google Maps (or any satellite mapping) you will see a very large building at the southeast corner of Maxwell Ave. and Stringtown Road which themselves are located north of route 62 and west of route 41 as you begin to zoom in. Looks like the right place to me based on other pictures / illustrations that I’ve seen. Evansville was originally the home of the Graham Brothers Truck manufacturing plant, which became part of Dodge back in the 1920’s. After Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928 this plant eventually became a Plymouth plant. During WWII it was known as the Evansville Arsenal, making ammunition and tank parts as I recall. There were a series of small books published after the war detailing Chrysler’s war efforts, and the one focused on Evansville is titled “Bullets By The Billions!” You might find it on eBay or other sources, might even be copied and available on the internet. While not making cars at that time, there’s certainly enough info and pictures to give you quite an eyeful.
There’s also old Graham Brothers ads showing Evansville in an artist’s illustration, making it look somewhat different than it looked at the time of our Plymouth’s being put together. You might already know that the 1959 model year was the last year of use of the plant for passenger car production, too. Dan’s mention above of the video of the LA plant should take you through the enjoyment of watching these cars come together on the assembly line. It’s quite a show.
Since my car was made at Evansville, I became curious about it long ago and stored up this info in my head, all except for the street names which I just looked up. But it’s all there for the viewing. Anyone ever been to Evansville? Maybe some old newspaper entries can be found on the web from around 1959 - 1960 when the plant was closed, should have been big news in a way.
Good luck searching.
BB
Dan - I click on the link for the Maywood plant and I get a message saying I need a Plug-in to watch the video, HELP.
Thanks,
Dick.
Dick,
When I uploaded that video, I had converted it as Microsoft media type - shame on me! It wants to be played by Windows Media Player. If you go to that page from an Internet Explorer browser, it will play. There is a plugin for Chrome, but 1) it won’t work on Windows 8, and 2) it will only work on Windows 7 if you have an older version of Chrome.
So for most folks, this means you can only play it if you use the Internet Explorer browser - until your webmaster gets around to converting everything to standard format. Sorry!
Dan
