1965 Plymouth Fury III Sedan Is Junkyard Treasure in Colorado

I've been finding some interesting Detroit sedans from the 1965 model year during my recent junkyard explorations, including a zero-frills Chevy Biscayne and a Ford Fairlane 500 US Army staff car.

Today we'll add a Chrysler product to that group, with a big-block 1965 Plymouth Fury III found in a Colorado Springs boneyard recently.

This car was sold new at a Colorado Springs dealership and has an old parking pass for Pikes Peak Community (now State) College on the rear glass. There's also a bumper sticker for the legendary KYSN (pronounced "Kissin") low-power AM radio station that ruled the rock airwaves in Colorado Springs during the 1960s and 1970s. I think this car spent its entire life in or near the Springs.

And this car isn't just representing Colorado Springs history but American political history as well! Here's a bumper sticker from Ronald Reagan's campaign to knock out incumbent President Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican presidential primaries, complete with Nevada governor (and old Reagan pal) Paul Laxalt's name in the fine print.

The base engine in the 1965 Fury was the rugged but underpowered 225-cubic-inch Slant-6, and a 318-cubic-inch small-block V8 was an affordable upgrade. The original buyer of this car wasn't messing around, however, and so this car has the big-block 383 with 330 hp. A 360-horse 426 Wedge was an even pricier option.

The Plymouth Division was all about getting a lot of car for not much money, and even this top-trim-level full-size sedan had a list price that started at a mere $2,754 with V8 engine (about $27,723 in 2024 dollars).

Of course, the 383 added another $183 ($1,842 after inflation); the automatic transmission tacked on $211 ($2,124 in today's money); and those weren't the only extra-cost options in this car. Somewhat surprisingly, there's no air conditioning.

It's got a bit of rust and the interior is crispy from all those decades of High Plains weather, but overall a solid C-Body Chrysler that couldn't find a forever home.

This generation of Fury was built for the 1965 through 1968 model years. We've seen a '66 Fury III coupe and a '67 Fury III convertible in this series, both with small-block engines.

This big, powerful car was a lot of luxury for the money in 1965, with a sticker price that started at just $2,648 ($26,666 in 2024 dollars).

KYSN (pronounced "Kissin") was a legendary AM rock radio station in Colorado Springs from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. This bumper sticker appears to be of late 1960s through middle 1970s vintage, judging by the Robert Crumb-ripoff "Keep on Truckin'" figure.

It was sold new at the Perkins Motor Company, which has been selling cars in Colorado Springs since 1944. You can still buy a Dodge, Ram, Jeep or Fiat there today. Mopar or no car!

It appears that this car spent its entire 59-year career in the Colorado Springs region.

The Fury for 1965 came in four trim levels, helpfully designated as Fury I, Fury II, Fury III and Sport Fury. The Sport was available only in convertible and hardtop coupe form, so the III was the nicest sedan.

The 1965-1968 Fury was a full-size car, best enjoyed with big V8 engine and bench seat.

The 1965 Fury III sedan came with a 225-cubic-inch Slant-6 engine as base equipment, but this one has the optional 383-cubic-inch big-block V8 with 330 horsepower. A 426-cubic-inch version (the Wedge, not the Hemi) with 360 horses was available for an extra $545 ($5,486 in today's money).

There's some rust-through in the usual spots.

A parts seller wrote a note for later junkyard shoppers looking for Fury bits.