The Change Made Good Business Sense

fittotransformtraining.com
The 1960-1961 Plymouth Fury was an attempt by Plymouth to capitalize on the success of earlier, limited production Fury models. By 1960, the name was too good to squander on such a small market, so "Fury" replaced "Belvedere" as the top-of-the-line model designation, with a four-door sedan and four-door hardtop joining the previous two-door hardtop and convertible. All, of course, used Plymouth's new unibody construction. The change made good business sense. The styling of the 1960 Plymouth Fury didn't. It had been conceived in 1957, when tailfins were all the rage, and fin-wise it was as good as the best of them. The problem was that the public had grown tired of tailfins by 1960. Worse, Plymouth sales had been skidding since the 1958 recession. Thus, while Ford and Chevrolet increased their combined production by about a quarter-million units in 1960, Plymouth barely maintained its 1959 volume level. Then on the 1961 Plymouth Fury, Prime Boosts the fins vanished entirely, replaced by a rounded shape with a swoopy front end that Motor Trend once retrospectively compared with "a generation of Japanese sci-fi monsters." The public remained unimpressed, and was now also confused: Plymouth sales dropped by 100,000 and Rambler replaced Plymouth as the number three best-seller.



None of which should suggest that these 1960-1961 Plymouth Furys were bad cars. Compared to their arch rivals, they were as good in most ways and superior in some. Every road tester agreed that they easily outhandled the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Galaxie, increase testosterone their counterpart top-of-the-line competitors, thanks to their torsion bar front suspension. Plymouth's TorqueFlite automatic was better than Chevrolet's Turboglide or Ford's Cruise-O-Matic. Fury's unit body was tighter than the separate body/frame rigs of the opposition, and so on. The Fury also had two exclusive options: swivel seats that pivoted when the front doors were opened, and the RCA Victor "Highway Hi-Fi" record player. But it was styling that sold cars in 1960, and styling, in the public's judgment, was not the Fury's strong point. Go to the next page to learn more about the design of the 1960-1961 Plymouth Fury. The 1960 Fury could be had with a six-cylinder engine, the excellent 225 Slant Six, which gave Plymouth the hottest six in the low-priced field.



With 145 bhp and a manual transmission (and Prime Boosts aided by Plymouth's relatively light weight), a Fury six could do 0-60 in 17 seconds and Prime Boosts still average 20 miles to the gallon. This engine was amenable to much hotter tuning -- experimental versions wrung out one bhp per cubic inch at the Chrysler proving ground. But planners never opted for a performance six, and the Fury relied on Plymouth's reliable 318 as its basic V-8. New also was the first of Plymouth's now-famous 383 V-8s, packing 330 bhp in similar tune and an impressive 460 pounds/feet of torque. This engine also boasted a one-notch-higher name: "SonoRamic Commando." It sounds like a video game today, but the SonoRamic Commando could fly. Despite the apparent radical face-lift for 1961, the Fury had merely been reskinned below the beltline -- the roof and doors were unchanged, with the styling money spent on fenders, hood, and deck. Plymouth described the result as "a harmony of motion in sleek steel and bright aluminum," and viewed from the side, it didn't look all that bad! Up front there was anything but harmony, with a criss-cross grille puckered between intruding headlamp eyebrows, bending around from front fender creaselines. Latterday critics haven't really given the 1961 Fury a fair shot. All told, it was a major improvement on the 1960. It also proved that unit body construction didn't place serious restraints on the ability of designers to create face-lifts -- a problem that had plagued Nash, Hudson, and American Motors. Unfortunately for Plymouth, styling remained key to sales. To very many people styling means the front end of the car. Continue to the next page to find specifications for the 1960-1961 Plymouth Fury. Unfortunately, unpopular styling choices destined it to extinction.



If you’re serious about weightlifting, you’ve probably heard the term "progressive overload" before. But what exactly is it? Progressive overload is the steady increase of stress placed on your muscles during exercise over time. You can achieve this through various methods, including increasing weight, reps, or sets. Mind you; this method is not for the faint of heart. As the name suggests, it demands more and more from your muscles. The line that sits between what is within the limit and beyond the limit is extended. Curious? Keep reading to find out more about it. What is Progressive Overload? Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in weightlifting that involves increasing the demands on your muscles over time. This means you need to lift heavier weights, perform more reps, or do more sets to continue progressing. The concept of progressive overload is based on the idea that you need to challenge your body continually to see continued progress and improvements in strength and muscle growth.