Greatings from Maryland

tfrogh

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Joined
Aug 18, 2015
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Location
Westminster MD
Just crossed the 2 year mark with my baby. It is a 1972 Plymouth Fury Custom Suburban. I am the second owner. Garage kept since day 1. All original, motor has never been apart. 134,000 miles. 6-passenger with 360ci. While most people call it beige, those of us in the know call it Honeydew! Runs like a champ. No worries about driving any distance other than how to afford the gas!

When I was a kid my parents had a 1972 Fury III sedan with the hide-away headligts. dad bought it late in 1972 and the dealer practically gave it to him to get it off the lot. Black paint, Black Seats, Black Vinyl roof. I called it the Bat Mobile. When it was wrecked, dad bought a 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury Brougham sedan. Mom named him James. I learned how to drive, courtesy of an elderly neighbor who was like a grandpa to me, in a 1967 Fury III convertible. I mastered parallel parking and burning rubber in that battleship.

As an adult, my first C-body was a 72 Fury wagon, base model. 318 and no options...but rust! I only had a it a few months as the rust was just too much for me to live with. A few years later I picked up a 1973 Chrysler Newport Sedan down in NC. It was PRISTINE! 400ci and chrome so shiny it was blinding. A tear in the brocade driver seat was its only flaw. I sold it to help us buy our first house and have always regretted it. It was green on green.

After we moved, I noticed a c-body wagon rear end sticking out of the garage at a house I passed on my way to work. It was too far from the road to know if it was Plymouth, Chrysler or Dodge. A few years later I spotted it on eBay and quickly set up an appointment to see the car. The owners niece was helping them sell it. Well the owner was in tears in her driveway showing me her beloved car. She had picked it out herself in 1972, trading in a Cougar her then 16 year old daughter had speeding in. She thought she would have it till the daughter went to college. Almost 40 years later she still had the car though she could no longer drive it. I came home that night and immediately called her niece and told her about the tears. I told her I want the car when her aunt is ready to sell. She took down the listing and I went back to rear gazing on my way to work. A few months later I mailed the owners a card with my info to tuck in the glove box. The following spring, after they came out to my home and verified I had a garage big enough, the wagon was mine. I send them photos still of the car at shows and keep them up on any work I do. It is my baby!

My goal is to keep the wagon forever. I know I will never find another like it. If I ever hit the lottery, I won't be buying Ferraris and such. I will have a collection of C-bodied Mopars to fill a parking garage! Well, C and R bodies.


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Welcome to the site from the Motor City! Excellent story, you'll fit right in here.
 
Thanks. That plate is what the previous owners had and they signed a form so I could continue with it. Back in the mid 70's when they moved their daughter into her college dormitory, someone spied the car out the window and hollered, WHO OWNS THAT TUNABOAT???? From that day forward, the car has been known as the Tunaboat. Over the years they have been flagged down by couples in traffic arguing over the license plate. Is it two in a boat or Tunaboat.
 
The previous owners did a lot of long trips in the car. All of those places were destinations. They did some sort of Craft Show/Sale gig for years. Always staying at Motor Lodges with the Wagon backed right up to the room.
 
Welcome aboard. Great looking SW. It is always special when you know the history of an old car. Thanks for sharing.
 
Belated welcome! This is a great car, with a great story! I was really sorry to hear of its untimely demise. Your inbox is full -- tried to send you a PM but to no avail.
 
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