1971 Fury GT, Gold, Promo Car

1970FuryConv

Old Man with a Hat
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SOLD - 71 SPORT FURY GT FACTORY SHOWCAR PROMO PROJECT
You may have wondered what happened to this car. I bought it on April 15, 2019. It was 15 days away from being parted and having its roof cut off, per the previous owner deadline. See end of thread above. There are less than 10 1971 Fury GT cars known on this website out of a total production of 375 cars. I couldn't bear the thought of this one being destroyed, so I paid $4000 for the car and another $2000 to have it shipped from Washington state to Virginia. Basically, I bought it because I love fuselage Fury's and to save the car.

· History from Dan @ph23vo the previous owner: He contacted the dealer that originally sold the Canadian Promo car, (green, produced before mine) who informed him that the 2 1971 Fury GT promo cars were sold by Chrysler at auction as dealer demonstrator cars at the end of the 1971 model year. The dealer said my car, the USA promo car, was purchased and sold by a dealer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In Colorado Springs, My Fury's engine froze and cracked and was thrown away, (supposedly, but who can prove that? Hope it's still out there somewhere). From there, the 1971 Gold Fury GT made its way to New Mexico. It appeared on a gas station lot in New Mexico sometime in the area of 1977 - 1978. By that time, it had a 383 in it. The farmer, who owned it and wrecked the passenger side, died and left it sitting on the gas station lot. The first previous owner that Dan was able to contact, said that the gas station closed in 1981 and he bought the car off the lot. The 1981 owner was able to get title to it and had it for several years before trading it to a friend also in New Mexico. This friend ran into some health troubles and sold the car as part of a lot of 10 cars to a dealer in Missouri in 2007. Dan went to Missouri and bought the car in 2007. He had been collecting NOS parts for it since, but something changed, and he had to sell. The price dropped from $8900 to $4000. I bought it. Car has been off the road since at least 1978, 43 years or more. Essentially, it needs everything.

Some pictures
Leaving Dan's house on a 2000+ mile trip via Acertus car carrier.
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Pictures after delivery
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Driver side is not bad except lower quarter panel rust
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Vinyl top did not do damage up front. No perforations on top.
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Lower rear window area was not so fortunate, but is repairable
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Trunk, amazing, went unscathed except for surface rust
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Interior. unused for 43 years, but mostly original. Floor pans are perfect except minor surface rust. Big plus
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2.jpg

Back seat is not original
3.jpg
 
VIN and Fender tag
16.JPG

FENDER TAG (pic below decode)
M special order code for USA promo car and 8/2/70 production date visible on second line. I believe pilot cars were produced on 8/1, so this would have been first day of regular production. Correct me if I'm wrong.
PP 1971 Fury GT
23 Hardtop coupe
1TD 1971 440 4BBL Belvidere IL plant
100266 Serial #
E85 440 4 barrel
D32 727 torqueflite
GY8 Gold metallic exterior paint
H5Y5 High grade cloth and vinyl bucket seats, medium gold interior trim
000 upper door frame paint
802 August 2 production date scheduled
M01020 order number
V1X black vinyl top
U 15 inch tires
A01 Light package
A94 Reminder light package
B41 Front disc brakes, 10 inch
C21 Center cushion armrest (buddy seat)
C55 Bucket seats
G11 Tinted glass
G31 Right side outside mirror (manual)
H51 Air-conditioning with front of heater
L31 Turn signal hood and fender
M25 Body sill mouldings
M31 Body belt mouldings
P25 Left side power seat
P31 Power Windows
R13 AM radio
S62 Tilt steering column
V01 Paint Monotone
Y16 Sales Bank
15.JPG

The fender tag from the Canadian Fury GT promo car has lower serial number, 100235, which proves it was made before mine. Was my gold Fury GT the second GT produced in 1971? No one can be sure. See for sale thread for debate on this.

Can I categorically prove that my car was a USA promo car? No, but why would a dealer make such a story? OTOH, Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the gold Fury GT being used as a promo car.
I did find 1 article stating that M is for pilot cars in 1971 on first day of production, Mopar Action 12-2011
1971 Charger M-Code MA 12-2011.jpg

1971 Charger M-Code MA 12-20111.jpg

1971 Charger M-Code MA 12-20112.jpg

1971 Charger M-Code MA 12-20113.jpg

Adds credence to the idea that M code cars were special purpose vehicles. The M code and early production date are cool.
 
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Engine: stuck 383 now removed
No carburetor or distributor, so a about a pint of water drained out when I removed the oil pan drain bolt. Then I got gloppy sludge oil
14.jpg

Nest at distributor hole
PXL_20210206_180059728 nest.jpg

1968 383
PXL_20210207_002114204 stamping.jpg

Antifreeze leak at cylinder #8. Blown head gasket, cracked head or block?
PXL_20210207_194704357 rs cyl.jpg

Head above
PXL_20210207_194530541 rs head.jpg

Right side wasn't so bad, but I'm afraid this block is recycling material. Need to look further at the 906 heads.
Had to take off the oil pan to separate the block and trans
PXL_20210209_171931502.jpg

PXL_20210209_173841342 crane.jpg
 
Transmission, numbers matching and surprisingly good internal condition
PXL_20210210_214441666 pan off.jpg

Filthy outside
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VIN pad. Not a clean strike, but 1D100266 is numbers matching
PXL_20210212_212328567.jpg

Left side oil pan rail
· Trans Marking Left side, PK 3515847 3259 4911. 3515847 correct part# for 1971 Plymouth 440 4BBL 335hp. 3259= June 20, 1970. 4911 unit built that day at Kokomo
PXL_20210207_165239078.jpg


PXL_20210212_212502022.jpg
 
Front Subframe: Repairable?
Under radiator support panel
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PXL_20210207_165430350.jpg

Bent right side strut
PXL_20210212_215740976.jpg

PXL_20210212_215910195.jpg

Left side does not look right either
PXL_20210212_215915387.jpg

Right side sway bar hanger snapped in 2
PXL_20210212_220736361.jpg

Plans
I drove 21 hours round trip to AMS in Georgia to pick up this NOS right side quarter. It's nearly 90 inches long and I was afraid of shipping damage. They did give me a $200 discount for picking it up. $1100 piece of sheet metal
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As far as it getting on the car, I talked with Gary @Wollfen who has owned and assembled a 1971 Fury GT and who has excellent body skills. He is going to install the quarter, fix the under rear window rust, and fabricate a lower quarter for the right side. Hope he will update this thread as he goes. First I need to install another passenger side door shell. Then I need to get the car to North Carolina. Don't have time table.
This is not a drop the car off in Athole ID and get a 100 point resto. This will be the usual stops and starts of a normal resto. Felt like it was time to share a thread on this car. Will update as we go.
 
Kudos for saving PP23T1D100266 — you put your money where your heart is, hats off to you!

You mention a stuck 383 — since your car a T-code GT, what happened to the engine?
 
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Kudos for saving PP23T1D100266. You put your money where your heart is, hats off to you!

You mention a stuck 383 — since your car a T-code GT, what happened to the engine?
"My Fury's engine froze and cracked and was thrown away, (supposedly, but who can prove that? Hope it's still out there somewhere)."

Awesome Project!
 
SOLD - 71 SPORT FURY GT FACTORY SHOWCAR PROMO PROJECT
You may have wondered what happened to this car. I bought it on April 15, 2019. It was 15 days away from being parted and having its roof cut off, per the previous owner deadline. See end of thread above. There are less than 10 1971 Fury GT cars known on this website out of a total production of 375 cars. I couldn't bear the thought of this one being destroyed, so I paid $4000 for the car and another $2000 to have it shipped from Washington state to Virginia. Basically, I bought it because I love fuselage Fury's and to save the car.

· History from Dan @ph23vo the previous owner: He contacted the dealer that originally sold the Canadian Promo car, (green, produced before mine, Bill @FURYGT owns) who informed him that the 2 1971 Fury GT promo cars were sold by Chrysler at auction as dealer demonstrator cars at the end of the 1971 model year. The dealer said my car, the USA promo car, was purchased and sold by a dealer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In Colorado Springs, My Fury's engine froze and cracked and was thrown away, (supposedly, but who can prove that? Hope it's still out there somewhere). From there, the 1971 Gold Fury GT made its way to New Mexico. It appeared on a gas station lot in New Mexico sometime in the area of 1977 - 1978. By that time, it had a 383 in it. The farmer, who owned it and wrecked the passenger side, died and left it sitting on the gas station lot. The first previous owner that Dan was able to contact, said that the gas station closed in 1981 and he bought the car off the lot. The 1981 owner was able to get title to it and had it for several years before trading it to a friend also in New Mexico. This friend ran into some health troubles and sold the car as part of a lot of 10 cars to a dealer in Missouri in 2007. Dan went to Missouri and bought the car in 2007. He had been collecting NOS parts for it since, but something changed, and he had to sell. The price dropped from $8900 to $4000. I bought it. Car has been off the road since at least 1978, 43 years or more. Essentially, it needs everything.

Some pictures
Leaving Dan's house on a 2000+ mile trip via Acertus car carrier.
View attachment 438245
View attachment 438246
Pictures after delivery
View attachment 438247
Driver side is not bad except lower quarter panel rust
View attachment 438257
Vinyl top did not do damage up front. No perforations on top.
View attachment 438258
Lower rear window area was not so fortunate, but is repairable
View attachment 438259
View attachment 438260
Trunk, amazing, went unscathed except for surface rust
View attachment 438261
View attachment 438262

I actually to be honest kind of forgot about this car, I personally thought it was still for sale because I remember it being for sale for the longest time.

Congratulations on getting one of the best of the best and the rarest of the rare cars, I truly applaud your efforts for saving it and bringing it back to life. I think you got it for a VERY good deal too, I will definitely be following this one!! Please keep us updated on the progress.
 
Given the very low production number, this is likely one of the two promo cars, as as far as I know, they were the only ones built with the T-Code engine in '71.

Dave
 
Maybe you said something above and I missed it but I hope you will put a 440 back in it.

Excellent that you saved this car with some history behind it and it is well loaded with options.

I am also glad you bought it at that price and I didn't see it available for that sum or I would have been sorely tempted to save it.

Keep us informed as you move along......................
 
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