How Stephen King's 'Christine' Made 1958 Plymouth Furies Cool
The 1958 Plymouth Fury, a rare and beautiful beast, was brought to life in Stephen King's novel 'Christine' with a fictitious shade of Autumn Red. This palette, reminiscent of a butter cream wedding cake, was axed for a more fitting color for the story's eponymous, killer car. The novel's impact on the car's popularity cannot be overstated. Once you've seen the red '58 Plymouth Fury in the film, it will haunt your nightmares and seem undeniably cool, which it wasn't really, in pop culture terms, until the film came out.
According to a 1984 interview with Lofficier, King chose the Plymouth Fury because they're almost totally forgotten cars. He didn't want a car that already had a legend attached to it like the fifties Thunderbird or the Ford Galaxies. With that, the Fury went from invisible to iconic. Today, Hagerty values a Concours example at around $80,000, while one of two locatable survivors from the film, formerly on display at the Rochester Auto Museum, fetched $275,000 at a Saratoga Motorcar auction in 2020.
The '58 Fury was a sports package added to the Belvedere, with only around 5,000 assembled. Filmmakers cobbled a number of Christines together from over 20 different Savoys and Belvederes, and a single Fury. Only three original film cars survived: the Rochester car; a restored stunt car, currently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum; and a third that disappeared after being part of an MTV raffle. The best-known parts-built restoration, a Belvedere owned by a collector, has its own Facebook page, travels the country, and has an uncannily macabre build date of Halloween, 1957.
The '58 Fury featured either an automatic transmission with push button selectors, or a three-speed manual; an optional limited-slip differential; and a sophisticated suspension. At the time, Hot Rod called it 'the number one full-size road car in this country in our opinion.'
The Fury's design and name are also noteworthy. The car's red paint and pitch-black window tint set off the chrome body trim and the wedge of textured aluminum that runs to the modest tail fin. The contrasting white roof floats and connects delicately to the body on the A and C pillars. The interior is awash in a gorgeous mix of glossy plastics, upholstery, and chrome. Knowing the real Fury only came in beige feels wrong, just like when modern cars deserve a better color palette.
The Fury's name is also fitting, with the car's optional 350-cubic-inch V8, packing 305 horsepower and 370 pound-feet of torque, called the Golden Commando. The name is a nod to the car's power, and the film's use of engine sounds from a 1970 Mustang 428 Super Cobra Jet. The '58 Fury is a rare and underappreciated car, and its cult following, combined with its low production volume, makes it a desirable collector car.
