Lot Ended
Description
Super-cool and super-rare Yank estate with classic Virgil Exner
styling; 5.2 V8 with Synchcro-Silent three-speed manual overdrive; 'Christine'
in family-friendly format; find another one!
Anyone who has
seen the 1983 John Carpenter horror classic ‘Christine’ will recognise this car
immediately. In the film, Arnie Cunningham buys an old 1958 Plymouth Fury called
Christine which turns out to be possessed by evil spirits and ends up killing
not just Arnie but half the rest of the cast too, not to mention blowing up a
gas station and doing battle with a bulldozer…
All scary stuff but have no fear – this car is not a malevolent
two-door hardtop Fury, it is the family friendly-four-door Station Wagon
version, the Suburban. More or less identical from the windscreen forwards, it
also shares the flamboyant rear tail fins of the Fury but with the added bonus
of a vast rear load area which can swallow all your worldly possessions and then
some.
Like the Fury, the Suburban was styled by
Virgil Exner who Cyrysler (Plymouth’s parent company) had just poached from
the Raymond Loewy team at Studebaker to add some jet-age glamour to their rather
staid model range. A key part of Chrysler’s ‘Forward Look’ styling makeover, the
Exner team gave the Plymouth sleek, low lines with lashings of chrome, thrusting
front wing overhangs and the iconic tail fins that came to symbolise the era.
‘Going Places with the Young at Heart’ was the slogan chosen by the Mad Men in
the advertising department.
Imported from
America in October 2013, this 1959 Suburban has the top rank 5.2 V8 mated to a
Synchro-Silent three-speed manual transmission with optional overdrive engaged
by pulling a handle on the dash. When the driver lifted their foot from the
accelerator, the overdrive would engage for more relaxed highway cruising at
lower RPM. For overtaking, the driver could ‘kick down’ the gas pedal which
would drop the transmission back into third for a burst of passing speed.
Sadly the car comes with no history other than a
V5C which records four former keepers from import. Our vendor had know this car
several years ago when it was owned by a friend of his, Andy Inglis, who dealt
in Fifties Yanks down in the south of England. He acquired the car from a
subsequent owner in a p/x deal late last year but has nowhere big enough to
store it, hence its appearance in this sale.
As
you can see in the photos, it looks impressively straight and solid with what
looks to be a largely original interior. A really cool feature is the wind-down
window in the tailgate, operated by a clever handle which folds away neatly when
not in use.
Running and driving nicely on site,
we are told that the car has been very little used in recent years so a
precautionary check-over may be advisable before any long journeys are
undertaken - we did note that the brake pedal is rather too spongy for comfort
although the brakes do work.
We can find no
record of any other Suburbans being sold at auction anywhere in Europe in the
last 15 years or so which must make this a very rare find.
Fantastically cool and immensely practical, it would make a wonderful
support vehicle for a Historic race or rally car and is on offer here at a
modest guide price. We absolutely love it and we are sure that you will too so
make sure you come and see it!
Consigned by
James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com