Meet the 1966 Plymouth VIP, sent to do battle against the Ford LTD and the Chevrolet Caprice in the Motor City’s hot new value-luxury category.
By the mid-1960s, the Motor City’s product planners had spotted an interesting trend. Frequent new car buyers—traveling salesmen and the like—had figured out that you didn’t need to buy a luxury car to get a luxury ride. By checking all the boxes on the option lists, savvy shoppers could buy a Ford, Chevy, or Plymouth with most if not all the gadgets and features found on the high-priced brands, and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the process.
Ford was the first to seize on the trend and offer a model expressly designed for these buyers with the 1965 Galaxie LTD. A genuine hit, the LTD sold more than 100,000 units in the first year, spawning what we could call the value-luxury class. Chevrolet quickly followed suit with the Caprice; American Motors brought the Ambassador DPL, and Plymouth introduced the VIP.
Essentially a top-of-the-line Fury III with more stuff, the VIP was launched in September 1965 as a four-door hardtop, followed by a two-door hardtop in January of ’66. Standard goodies included premium upholstery materials, front and rear armrests, rear cabin cigar lighter and reading lamps, special badging, and fender skirts. Naturally, the endless list of extra-cost options was also offered. Here’s the sales pitch in an original 1966 commercial spot, below.
The VIP was a car that I’d never heard of until I saw a brochure for one. I may not have been the only one, as the model only lasted three years before the Sport Fury regained the top of the hill. I feel that Sixties Plymouths and Dodges lagged behind in styling after leading in the late Fifties, and that they caught up again at the end of the decade.
Value-Luxury is a good name for these cars. I believe these models were one more nail in the coffin of the traditional American luxury brands. Who needs a Cadillac when you can get all the luxury and features in a Buick, Olds, or even a Chevy?
> Who needs a Cadillac when…
Agreed, but the same things is true of the Japanese and Germans. An Avalon can be equipped nearly the same as a Lexus, but people still want the Lexus. I don’t know what they or Mercedes do differently.
I think it would do Cadillac some good to hand their trucks over to GMC and concentrate on cars. I also think they need a new Eldorado Biarritz. Something on the level of a Mercedes 600 or Rolls Phantom. They’ve had several concepts that would be adequate as a halo car. Sadly, I think custom Fleetwood coachwork is impossible with the existence of Federal crash standards. And Lincoln seems content to be no better than a Buick.
That dude in the first photo indeed looks like an up-and-coming, middle-American, middle-management something… I especially appreciate his about-to-become-the-definition-of-frumpy-and-passe hat. And his middle-American, upper-middle-class brick ranch-style home.