However, someone at Plymouth must have realized that the thousands of "real" Fury customers might just be ready to trade in their earlier models. In response to this potential demand for a specialty model, Plymouth introduced the slightly watered down Sport Fury for 1959. This is the tactic that Chrysler would use in 1962, producing a lesser 300 line as well as the 300H letter car. Apparently Plymouth felt that the effort of the extra model wasn't worth the trouble, because the Sport Fury wasn't offered again until 1962. 

The 1959 Sport Fury was available with the standard 318 single 4 bbl engine, developing 260 hp @ 4400 rpm with torque of 345 @ 2800. Compression was 9.0:1.  Some 30 horses short of previous years, the engine did not exactly help sales. For those who wanted more go power, the single 4 barrel  361 "Golden Commando 395" was optional with 305 horsepower @ 4600 rpm, and torque of 395 @ 3000. Compression was 10.0:1. Both were backed up by a heavy duty Torqueflite. The Sport Fury was available as a coupe or convertible only, (thank you) and rode on a 118" wheelbase. Weight was 3475 for the coupe and 3670 for the convertible. Pricing was $2929 for the coupe and  $3125 for the convertible. Not bad; try to buy a car for less than a buck per pound today and see how you make out.

The Sport Fury had a large round emblem on the fin, swivel seats, the embossed spare tire thingy on the deck lid, and unique silver (no longer gold) side trim reminiscent of the 1956-1958 models. The interior was a better grade, and that was about it for specialty status. You could get any color combination you wanted, and both Sport Fury engines were available on other models. Gone were the 150 mph speedometer and special wheel covers. In addition, production was no longer limited. Plymouth would build all the Sport Furys they could. Production records indicate that sales were good, with 17,867 coupes and 5,990 convertibles built, more than all 3 previous years combined.

I don't know why Chrysler kept doing this. They had a good line of unique specialty models in the 300, Fury, and Adventurer, but just couldn't seem to keep them as such. They had to play with the formula and that led to things like Fury sedans and 4 door 300s. The original base models suffered too, as they were watered down and absorbed into the rest of the lines. People who thought they were getting something special bought these clones, while previous customers who had owned the real thing walked away in disgust. Sales reflected the failure of this pattern. The knockoffs sold well for a while, but overall sales declined for Chrysler. Plymouth sales were up about 45 percent for 1959, but dropped an equivalent amount  after the garish new 1960 design was announced. 

A lot of these seemingly stupid decisions were the result of a lack of leadership at the top. Chrysler execs had been mired in scandal and cowed by the AMA, which unilaterally decided that auto manufacturers could no longer engage in racing or actively market high performance cars. This obviously led to cars like the Sport Fury, Sport 300, and later the regular production Adventurer. There is a balance that had to be considered, that being wholesale highway slaughter  perpetrated by idiots who could not drive high performance cars versus sales. The auto execs were caught in the middle; should they defy the AMA and continue to push performance, or water down their cars and face staggering sales losses? We now know which way they went. This, however, would not last. The urge for speed would rear its head again in the mid 1960s with the advent of the "muscle car." It would usher in an era of speed the likes of which America had never before seen, based primarily upon one car. Chrysler, unfortunately, would not get the credit this time.