Plymouth sales tumbled in 1960, and while many have blamed the over-the-top styling, there were other forces at work, too.
Not everyone was a fan of the 1960 Plymouth. When the prolific historian and author RIchard M. Langworth wrote up the ’60-’61 Plymouth for Collectible Automobile magazine in 1991, he titled the feature “Suddenly it’s 1957!” With his sarcastic twist on the famous 1957 Plymouth slogan, “Suddenly it’s 1960,” he asserted that as a followup to the stunning and influential ’57 Forward Look design, the ’60 makeover was a step backward. In his view, the ever-taller rear tailfins were cartoonish, and he called the bright-metal detailing “baroque.” Others have said the styling recalled early Japanese sci-fi movies.
TV personality and Plymouth spokesman Steve Allen
Along with the flamboyant exterior (“Batmobile,” some called it), there was plenty to distinguish the ’60 Plymouth from its Ford and Chevy rivals: swiveling bucket seats, Highway Hi-Fi, a rectangular steering wheel, and push-button transmission control. There were significant technical advances as well, as Chrysler adopted unitized body/frame contruction that year, originating the now-universal term Unibody. Also that year, Plymouth introduced its version of Chrysler’s ram-tuned induction system, marketed as the Commando Sonoramic V8 with 383 cubic inches and 330 hp. And lest we forget, 1960 also brought one of Chrysler’s most revered engines, the Slant 6.
Richard Petty in the 1960 Daytona 500
Despite all these attractions, Plymouth sales plummeted nearly 45 percent in 1960 to around 254,000 cars. While it’s easy to fault the extreme styling, we see plenty of blame to go around. In 1960, the Chrysler Corporatiopn launched the low-priced, Plymouth-based Dodge Dart as a direct competitor to Plymouth, boosting volume at the Dodge division but subtracting an equal number from Plymouth. The compact Valiant, which sold nearly 200,000 units in its first year but was not yet a Plymouth, no doubt robbed some sales as well.
It’s also been theorized that the corrosion and quality-control complaints in the ’57-’59 cars crippled sales of the ’60 models. Meanwhile, at that moment the automaker was embroiled in accusations of chronic mismanagement, generating a stockholder revolt and a scandal that soon toppled the company’s senior management. (See our feature, “The 1960 Scandal That Nearly Took Down the Chrysler Corporation.”) So what, exactly, was the actual cause of Plymouth’s abysmal sales performance in 1960? Here we take a clear, unequivocal stand and declare All the Above.
Don’t blame Exner for this. After a major heart attack, he was in and out of the office, sometimes in a wheelchair. In his absence, leadership chaos and probably corporate “suggestions” likely reigned and 60-62 styling decisions are part of it. After all, if fins worked, bigger fins would work better. Elwood Engel couldn’t come soon enough.
The US was still coming out of a pretty severe recession in 1958/59 – the hangover likely crept into 1960 and auto sales in general.
Our family had the wagon. The build quality was just awful. Sad, because it was a well engineered, strong running car.
My dad had a 4dr belvedere. I remember him changing head gaskets on the 318 and finally junked it. Cracked block. RFUSCO135@GMAIL.COM
“All of the above”, I’ll drink to that. After Mr. Chrysler was gone, ChryCo management’s favorite perversion seemed to be the joys of stabbing engineering in the back, evolving into the abysmal build quality, non-existent corrosion protection and scandals from ’57 onward.
But you could get dual quads three different ways in 1960 at your friendly neighborhood Chrysler Plymouth dealership! Plymouth used actual stabilizers on the rear of these cars, not tailfins, actually proven under actual proving ground conditions. GM and all the rest used just tailfins…
Porsche copied 1960 Plymouth stabilizers to solve the aerodynamics on 917 long tails…
If you are reading this, you probably remember Leave it to Beaver. Ward Cleaver initially had Fords, but switched to Plymouths in 1959 and for the remainder of the show. The 1960 was his 2nd Plymouth, and their neighbors, the Rutherfords, had a 1960 convertible. While Chrysler did not sponsor the show, Ward was shown with a new Plymouth almost every year.
Not mentioned was dismal build quality. My uncle had a late 50s Plymouth 4 door we were told not to sit next to the doors, as they would pop open on big bumps. Trunk too. I heard, Dodge and Plymouth had some of the worst build quality, but to be fair, all the automakers had problems. The demand was just too great and they came down the lines too fast. Personally, I think if there ever was an automotive atrocity, it would be the 1961 Plymouth, immortalized in the comedy “Car 54”. I thought the 1960 was a sharp car.
A neighbor had a beautiful 1960 Plymouth. Copper and White. He had it 20 years and had to have the transmission replaced twice. The third time the transmission gave out, he traded it in. The cars then though beautiful were too heavy for the transmissions installed in them.
My first car was a 1960 Plymouth Fury, 4 door with the V8 383 engine.It was as speckled green painted with white paint on the roof.
It was a huge roomy car, with a front bench seat. It had push button transmission which was very cool.
The speedometer was unique with a red, thermometer like, filling the speed units.
One great car!!!!
I personally think the 1959 Plymouth was the best of the Exner look. My first car was an 18 year old 1964 Fury. I loved the push button transmission. It was one great car.
Plymouth lost more than half its dealers too. Until 1960, Mopar dealers had either a Dodge, Chrysler or DeSoto franchise and all sold Plymouth. They were reorganized into Dodge-only and Chrysler-Plymouth ones that year with DeSoto on death watch.