For 1965, the Plymouth lineup included the hottest engine combinations in the biz, a broadened product line, and a new slogan: “The Roaring ’65s.”
Even though Pontiac had taken over its traditional number-three slot in the U.S. sales charts, Plymouth still managed a strong year in 1965 with more than 728,000 cars produced—its biggest year to date. As the Chrysler Corporation’s volume leader, the Plymouth division presented a wall-to-wall product line that included the compact Valiant, the sporty fastback Barracuda, the intermediate Belvedere, and a newly enlarged Fury. Plymouth hadn’t had a true big car in its portfolio since 1961, and the new full-size Fury, built on the Chrysler corporate C-body platform, was a brisk seller.
With the Mayflower brand’s growing success on the drag strips and NASCAR ovals, thanks in no small part to the all-conquering 426 Hemi rolled out in mid-1964, Plymouth was enjoying a hot new performance image. And naturally, the marketing people cashed in with a new slogan for the print and TV campaigns: “The Roaring ’65s.” And that’s the theme for the mini-theatrical production in this original Plymouth spot. Feel free to join in with the singing and dancing, Mopar fans.
By 65, MoPar was finally getting back to some decent styling, getting away from the bug eyed look. The Belvedere and Fury led the pack quite nicely, but it was going to be a couple of more years before the Barracuda and Valiant got their growing pains settled and turned into sleek cars.
In the rural area I grew up in, Plymouths of any type were fairly rare, the closest dealer was probably 40 or 50 miles away, where there were several Ford and GM dealers in a 20 mile radius. People didn’t travel as far as they do now to purchase vehicles, they tended to do more business with the closer local dealer, much easier to get warranty work when needed.
One of my cousins had a 65 Fury in about 75, nice 2 door hardtop V8 car. He drove it through high school, then when he went to college his folks bought him a year old Ford LTD, what a barge compared to the Fury! He was more a geek than car guy, so they were all just transportation to him.
I’m guessing the reason they didn’t show the ‘Cuda’s front end was so the comparison to the Valiant wasn’t immediately noticed.