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 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 with thoughts of using it as a support vehicle for his Plymouth Barracuda
dragster 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