The Great Milestone Mystery

[Faulkner]

I admit to being unsure about where to put this post; so I guess I will put it here.

Bob Hinds was the former owner of Art Schlachter’s gorgeous '59 Sport Fury, here in the Showcase. Here’s Bob in his own words about his efforts to get the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury recognized as a “Milestone Car”:

@Bob Hinds

From: Robert S Hinds
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 5:30 PM
To: Dan Morton
Subject: Re: Milestone Status for the '59 Sport Fury

I thought the viewers of this web-site would like to know how the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury models became designated as Milestone Cars. You might want to make this a separate category on the web page as it is of interest to all and not to a specific car.

The Classic Car Club of America certifies certain outstanding vehicles of the Classic Era as “Classic Cars”. They stopped with the mid-1940 models, so no 1959 vehicle can be a “Classic Car”. This is where the Milestone Car Society comes in. The Milestone Car Society was formed to certify those post World War II cars that are especially interesting and worthy of being certified as “Milestone Cars”. Robert Hinds noted that the 1956-58 Furys were already certified as Milestone Cars so he nominated the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury models for Milestone Status. To have a car considered, one fills out a nomination form. This form has five categories and for a car to be considered, it must excel in at least two of the categories. The categories are: Styling, Engineering, Performance, Innovation and Craftsmanship. Robert entered the '59 Sport Fury in all five categories and added additional comments.

See the attached for a copy of the Car Nomination Form for the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury as submitted to the Milestone Car Society.

The Nominating Committee of the Milestone Society approved the '59 Sport Fury models for Milestone status in all the categories except Craftsmanship. Then they published their recommendation to the membership of the Milestone Car Society for approval of the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury. The membership voted to accept the '59 Sport Fury’s as “Milestone Cars”.

This designation now makes the '59 Sport Fury models more valuable and more worthy of attention. Robert suggests that when you show your Sport Fury, let people know it is a Certified Milestone Car.

Robert Hinds

Document1.pdf (556 KB)

Certificate for Bob’s car as a Milestone Car (courtesy Art Schlachter)

Note that the certificate is dated March of 1997; and it’s specifically for Bob’s car.

Here’s the article from Cars & Parts Magazine, December 1998, about Myles Walker’s 1959 Sport Fury convertible, now owned by Tom Gerrard:

Cars&Parts.pdf (17.6 MB)

The article, written by Bob Stevens, claims that Myles nominated the car for certification - and that Stevens himself was on the Milestone Committee that voted on its approval! And he echoes Bob Hind’s statement that it was not approved in the craftmanship category.

What is going on here?!?

Clearly, the '59 Plymouth Sport Fury was certified as a Milestone Car well before the C&P article was written - Bob’s certificate is dated 3/97, and the article was written 12/98. But is Steven’s description of the certification years after the fact? After all, the certificate is for Bob’s car, not for the '59 Sport Fury in general. Or, could Walker have misrepresented his role in the process, and Stevens had some confusion about the original submitter? Or is there yet another explanation for the apparent disconnect here?

I wish I could ask - but, Bob Hinds is dead, and so is Bob Stevens. I once met Myles Walker 15 years ago (I made a Ross Roy purchase from him, after he had sold his Fury), and he was in poor health then. Whether he is alive today, I do not know.

So there you have it - the “Great Milestone Mystery”. Who can solve the puzzle? Who nominated the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury for Milestone Car status - Bob Hinds, or Myles Walker? Or, both?

[schlaaj]

I am the person who purchased Robert Hinds 59 Plymouth Sport Fury from him back in 2013. Robert had told me the he was the one who applied for
having his Sport Fury recognized as a Milestone car. I still have the car and the Milestone Certificate. In all the information he gave me when I
purchased the car, I thought I had a copy of the original paperwork he submitted in his quest for the recognition. Bob gave me a lot of information on
all facets of the car with papers that overfilled a large 3 ring binder. In a quick look-thru I could not locate that copy. Up until I purchased the car I had not even hear of The Milestone Car society. Bob was a great guy, and I remained in contact with him until he died. Wish I could add more.

Art Schlachter
Danville, Kentucky