When it comes to 1950s cars with large tailfins, everyone seems to be crazy in love with the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. Me, I’m a Mopar tailfin kind of guy. I dig the two-tier fins of the late-1950s Dodge Coronet and every single Plymouth full-size from 1957 to 1960.
That includes the Belvedere, Plaza, Savoy, and the Fury, all of which shared wild tailfin designs around that time. And yes, I’m that weird guy who likes the forward-slanted fins of the 1959 Plymouths. What’s my all-time favorite finned Mopar? Well, I’m having a hard time picking between the 1957 and 1960 Plymouths, but I think the 1957 Fury would be the winner.
Of course, the Fury didn’t become a stand-alone nameplate until 1959, but the badge appeared on the Belvedere model from 1956 to 1958. It was a luxurious sub-series restricted to the two-door hardtop body style and offered only in white or beige with gold anodized aluminum trim. They also had special interiors and V8 engines with twin four-barrel carburetors. It was rated at 290 horsepower in 1957 and 1958, which makes it an early muscle car.
While all early Furys are nice-looking classics, the 1957 version stands out as the prettiest in my book. So I get all excited when I see fully restored examples at car shows. At the same time, I get sad whenever I see one rotting away in a junkyard or a barn. Unfortunately, while the 1957 Fury is rare at only 7,438 units built, many soldiered into the 21st century as rust buckets.
Some were stripped for parts and are going to the crusher, while others will eventually get a second chance at life. The derelict example you see here is one of the lucky ones. Because it just got rescued after spending around 40 years in a bamboo field.
There’s no info on why it ended up there, but the old Mopar shows severe damage on the driver-side front fender. So it’s probably safe to assume the owner parked it in a nearby field after the crash. And as it usually happens, he never got around to fixing it. Sadly, four decades of total exposure to the elements have taken a toll on the Fury, which is now covered in surface rust from bumper to bumper. The lower body panels also display significant rot due to sitting directly on the ground.
Our host doesn’t give us a good look inside the cabin, but it appears to be in deplorable condition. Not surprisingly, the floor panels are rusty, and the fabric and vinyl covering the seats and the door panels are too far gone. There’s no word on whether the V8 engine is still under the hood. But if it’s still around, it’s safe to assume it’s locked up and will need a complete rebuild to run again.
So is this 1957 Fury worth restoring? Well, it depends on who you ask. I’d say it’s rare enough to deserve a second chance, but a full restoration will cost a small fortune in this case. Arguably more than the car’s market value in Concours-ready condition, which is a bit over $100,000. It’s not the kind of vehicle you want to restore to flip it, so it requires a Fury fan willing to invest in a classic he intends to keep.
Our host doesn’t say if the hardtop will be restored or dismantled for parts, but it’s still cool to see a derelict Fury getting rescued after 40 years of neglect. Check it out in the video below
