STROBOGRAMMATIC SAVOY
Providence Pete has had incredible luck recently finding old rides. He recently sent me a couple teaser snaps of the car below and I begged him to head back for more. Behold this quirky spaceship from the most recent Strobogrammatic year!
This is a 1961 Plymouth Savoy with remnants of its original Mint Green visible amidst the rust/primer/patina ruckus. This car is awesome and you should show respect. Doff your caps!
Come on already! Few rides are as outlandish as the '61 Plymouths in the front.The grill, when taken on its own, is the shape of an anvil. Not only that but it curves rearward as it goes down. It has legit eyebrows and an eager (if kinda off putting) expression. The center of the bumper has that ribbed section drawing the air into its mighty maw. The movie car from Christine was a '58 Plymouth but this is easily sinister enough to have filled that role.
This golden emblem in the grill is a combination of hyper stylized images. The original logo for Plymouth was of the Mayflower (Plymouth Rock, get it?). By the late '50s it had become so abstract that you couldn't really tell what it was. Then the Valiant debuted in 1960 with a streamlined rocket emblem in the upright launch position. This looks to be a combination of the two, and a proper precursor to the Fratzog (a made up word for the 3 pointed emblem that would arrive later).
Look at this overhanging aggressive stance! The frowning eyebrows hang over the headlights, which in turn are leaning over the bumper.
The original parking brake; a log.
The rusty drippings on this beast make for crazy patina. Moments of Mint Green can be seen just above the wheel center and on the rocker panel.
The Savoy wasn't putting on airs. The dealership sales brochure from the era calls it "The economy line for 1961". Above the Savoy was the Belvedere, and above that the mighty Fury. That line running back from the eyebrow over the wheel well originally had a bit of chrome on it (only in the very front). The Belvedere had the same short chrome trim on the front fender but the rear chrome extended to mid-door. The Fury had an unbroken chrome line from front to back.
The rust pattern on the hood is so odd I figure it must have had a pile of leaves on the drivers side or something. I've also seen cars that spent years under a tarp for their protection completely rotted as any moisture couldn't escape.
Give it up for Siddartha Guatama chilling on the front seat! A full width bench was the Savoy standard. The brochure bragged that the dealer could adjust the seat height and angle to perfectly suit the new owner.
The dashboard is stupendous! First of all the steering wheel has clear acrylic top and bottom, with that space age rectangular horn ring. The push buttons to the left of the wheel are the transmission controls (I'm 99% sure it's sitting in Drive). The buttons to the right are optional heating controls (below the furthest button is a lever for opening the vent). The white square below the speedometer is where the close would be had it been ordered. One amazing (not included) option that was available for this car was an under dash record player!
Even the smallest details are well thought out in this era.
This chrome spear would've continued further towards the front had it been a higher trim level.
From this angle you can see the huge reverse light on the back panel. This was an option in '61 with the sales literature going so far as to point out that it was a safety item.
This is the taillight housing for 1961. They just hung on to the side of the car like rocket boosters. It certainly looks cool when they're working properly but are very susceptible to damage.
A little more Mint Green remains on this side. The short roof 2 door with post is a Savoy exclusive. Both the Fury and Belvedere had a long, sloping roofline in a hardtop style.
Original poverty caps on Mint Green steelies complete the thrifty look. That tire with its dry rot and years of dirt in the flat crease says this hasn't moved in years.
Well there we have it; a super sonic space age slab holding down a driveway in Providence. Nothing beats the oddity of '60s Mopar design in my book. Every Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth in this era had weird touches like square steering wheels, these overhanging eyebrows, pushbutton transmissions, and unique but equally crazy dashboards. These are unibody cars so tackling a really rusty restoration would be daunting. However the drivetrain technology is tried and true with everything easy to work on. Even the quirky pushbutton trans worked very well; it was only discontinued later in the '60s to save something like $1 per car. Some day I would love to own one of these. Pete - if you see a sign on this wreck one day hit me up!
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