"Christine"

[Andrew Martin]

I just watched this movie after a few years today and I'm sort of curious about something now. In the book, though Christine is a 1958 Plymouth Fury, they used three different models to portray the malevolently murderous car in the motion picture; the Fury, the Savoy and the Belvedere. (I actually think they used a Belvedere for the largest portion of the movie, instead of the Fury.)

What are the main differences between these three cars? I could never see much difference with any of them when I looked them up.

[MagicRat]

It's just changes in trim. Mechanically they were pretty much all the same.

As I recall, the Savoys were the least expensive and looked a bit more plain. The other models had a bit more chrome/stainless on the outside than the Savoy. They also had carpet inside in place of the Savoy's rubber mat, dual sun visors, instead of just a diver's side visor, standard cigarette lighter etc.

The Fury was the top of the line. There were, I believe some performance options available in the Fury (larger v8 engine) that were not available on the others, but I am not sure on this specifically for the 1958 year. But back then the Sport Fury was one of the fastest cars sold in the US.

[59finnedwarrior]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

It's just changes in trim. Mechanically they were pretty much all the same.

As I recall, the Savoys were the least expensive and looked a bit more plain. The other models had a bit more chrome/stainless on the outside than the Savoy. They also had carpet inside in place of the Savoy's rubber mat, dual sun visors, instead of just a diver's side visor, standard cigarette lighter etc.

The Fury was the top of the line. There were, I believe some performance options available in the Fury (larger v8 engine) that were not available on the others, but I am not sure on this specifically for the 1958 year. But back then the Sport Fury was one of the fastest cars sold in the US.

They weren't pretty much all the same-the Fury had a 2 4bbl 318 option and a 350 -specific only to the Fury line.
You would never see a flathead 6 in a Fury but many were found in Savoys and Belveys.The Fury was a flat-out 50s muscle car-it's like comparing a GTX to a 6 cylinder Belvedere in the 60s.
Sport Fury was introduced in 59

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by 59finnedwarrior

They weren't pretty much all the same-

From an appearance, functional,mechanical, engineering and manufacturing point of view, they were pretty much all the same. They all had the same body panels, suspensions, chassis, brakes, steering etc. They shared the vast majority of their parts.

Imo you are just pointing out relatively minor detail changes
Imo minor upgrades in trim and interior pieces makes little difference, as does carb selection.

As for the engine, both the 6 cyl and the V8 will get you down the road. Respectfully, more power does not reconfigure the entire car, imo.

[59finnedwarrior]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

From an appearance, functional,mechanical, engineering and manufacturing point of view, they were pretty much all the same. They all had the same body panels, suspensions, chassis, brakes, steering etc. They shared the vast majority of their parts.

Imo you are just pointing out relatively minor detail changes
Imo minor upgrades in trim and interior pieces makes little difference, as does carb selection.

As for the engine, both the 6 cyl and the V8 will get you down the road. Respectfully, more power does not reconfigure the entire car, imo.

Police spec bigger drum brakes and torsion bars were part of the heavy duty suspension in the Fury package.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by 59finnedwarrior

Police spec bigger drum brakes and torsion bars were part of the heavy duty suspension in the Fury package.

Seeing as they all had drum brakes and torsion bars...... yup, pretty much all the same