Pavilions Pick: 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury

This week’s find at the Pavilions Rock ‘n Roll Car Show is a 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury. This car has several stories to tell, with the biggest one being from 1970. But, first, let’s begin with the platform on which the Mopar is based.

Plymouth introduced the Sport Fury in the middle of the model year as the brand’s full-size buckets-and-console sporty car. However, due to goofy styling and being a degree smaller than Chevrolet and Ford’s full-size offerings, sales were down drastically. For 1965, Plymouth would finally have a “proper” full-size car. The platform was called “C-body” and encompassed the Fury I, Fury II, Fury III, and Sport Fury. The latter model came with the following equipment standard.

The standard 318 was nothing special, and neither was the 383 two-barrel. Things got interesting with the 330-horsepower 383 four-barrel.

However, the top engine option was the Commando 426, a 365-horse job that had been introduced the year before. A high-performance camshaft, valve springs and pistons distinguished this “RB” big-block from lesser engines in the lineup, and it filled a nice role as a street engine — indeed, this 426 was often called the “Street Wedge” to distinguish it from the Max Wedge racing engine that appeared from 1962-64.

This 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury owned by Dennis and Laura Kerry is one of the rare ones equipped with the Commando 426. Take a closer look at the paint and you’ll notice this car has a story to tell: Dennis’ father bought the mighty Mopar new from Johnny Motors in Hamtramck, Michigan. Father and son added American Racing Torq-Thrust wheels, cam, wheel-well headers and 4.56 gears, which helped the Sport Fury run 12.84 in D/Stock Automatic. In 1970, Dad had the Plymouth repainted in a contemporary custom metalflake and lace schecme. What you see here is the car as it was in 1970.

When Dennis was of age, he bought his first new car, a 1967 Plymouth GTX. That car featured a Super Commando 440, which was basically a larger version of the 426 you see here. Though no longer in the Kerrys’ stable, there are two other 1967 GTXs that currently reside in their garage.