Plymouth used to be one of the biggest names in the American automotive industry before the marque met its end in the mid-2000s. The brand was a Chrysler subsidiary, and made everything ranging from sedans and vans, to sports cars and muscle cars. Over the course of their ninety-year history, Plymouth certainly gave the market some unforgettable classics. Be it some amazing muscle cars that managed to go head-to-head with the Mustang and Camaro, or proper open-top convertibles that made the youth flock to them, Plymouth cars are worth remembering.
Sure, as with any company that had a run as long as Plymouth, there are many cars that never failed, and the fact that the company doesn’t exist today shows that they had plenty of failed cars. However, when Plymouth did things right, it nailed the mark, resulting in some extremely cool cars that cemented their place in the history books. Here are the 10 best cars that ever came off the Plymouth assembly line.
10/10 Plymouth Valiant
The oil crisis of the 1970s hit the automotive market awfully, and companies now had to make gas sippers and compact cars in order to stay afloat. Though the Valiant had been introduced all the way back in 1959, Plymouth reintroduced it in the ’70s as a very dependable and reliable car.
This was the car that kept Chrysler afloat at the time, as it sold in huge numbers and found great support from consumers. Sadly, Chrysler axed the Valiant in 1976, and three years later, Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy before the government bailed it out.
9/10 Plymouth Fury
A sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, the Fury came into the market in 1956, and stayed for thirty-three years. Technically, the Fury was Plymouth’s first-ever muscle car, but it was just introduced to the market in an era when it hadn’t yet realized its fascination and craze for muscle cars.
The 1956 Plymouth Fury shook its competition, outshining all its rivals shortly after launch at the Daytona Beach Speed Week. After all, it had a massive 5.0-liter V8 powering it, which rendered the Plymouth Fury downright unstoppable at the time.
8/10 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Satellite
Plymouth’s Belvedere model cars were some of their very best and most popular. They were so popular at the time that one was even sealed in a time capsule in Oklahoma. When Plymouth moved the Fury to a larger platformer in the ’60s, they also shifted the Belvedere nameplate to the mid-size line.
The top trim for the Belvedere was dubbed the Belvedere Satellite, or just the Plymouth Satellite for short. Armed with a behemoth 7.0-liter Commando engine, the Satellite later moved to a Hemi unit in 1966, and remained just as much of a crowd pleaser.
7/10 Plymouth Duster 340
All the Duster models from Plymouth were similar to the Road Runner, which we’ll talk about in due time. The Duster came armed with a 5.6-liter 340 ci V8 engine and delivered all its 325 horsepower to the rear wheels.
The Duster was capable of hitting the 60 mph mark in under 7 seconds, which was extremely impressive for a car in the early 1970s. While it was meant to be compact version of the Plymouth Valiant, the Duster did far better than the Valiant on the market, and went on to sell 1.3 million units worldwide before its final model year.
6/10 Plymouth Superbird
It’s strange how the Plymouth Superbird is one of the greatest classic cars ever made today, but at the time of launch, nobody wanted much to do with it. In fact, dealers actually had to remove the huge spoiler and aerodynamic nose from the Superbird in order to make it more appealing to the masses.
Today, however, things have changed, and the Plymouth Superbird is every car collector’s dream. To say you’d have to part with an arm and a leg to get the Superbird would be an understatement. What came under the hood was a Hemi so powerful it decimated everyone at NASCAR, so much so that the organization had to ban Hemi engines from competing.
5/10 Plymouth GTX
The Plymouth GTX is one of the best cars to have ever come off the Plymouth assembly line, but the 1971 model was something completely special. The B-Body platform for the GTX was altered for the 1971 model year, and it came with either a 7.2-liter 440ci V8, or a 426ci Hemi V8.
A Hemi V8 Plymouth GTX was capable of cranking out 425 horsepower. In fact, any Plymouth Road Runner model which was armed with the 440 cubic-inch V8 block, was renamed to the Road Runner GTX instead.
4/10 Plymouth Race HEMI Belvedere
Plymouth introduced the Belvedere in 1962, but it was the ’64 Hemi Belvedere that changed the game. The Hemi engine decimated the competition such that Hemi Race Belvedere models won first, second, and third position in the very first Daytona they competed in.
The Race HEMI Belvedere was only made for the track, and was never street legal. However, riding on the success at Daytona, Plymouth did develop a street-legal Hemi Belvedere two years later in 1966. Of course, the ’64 Hemi Belvedere that set fire to the track holds a place of reverence in the heart of every gearhead from the time.
3/10 Plymouth Road Runner
Not including the Plymouth Road Runner on this list would have been nothing short of blasphemy. One of the most popular Plymouths ever to see production, the Road Runner truly came into its own with the 1970 model year, where it came with a 6.2-liter V8 engine.
With 335 horsepower and 425 lb-ft of torque, the Road Runner was also one of the most powerful Plymouth cars ever. While at the time, the Road Runner was one of the most affordable Plymouths around, today they are collectors’ cars which can fetch over $150,000 at auction.
2/10 Plymouth Barracuda
The Plymouth Barracuda technically beat the 1964 Ford Mustang to the punch when it came to being the first pony car. Sadly, Ford’s pony overshadowed the Barracuda by a landslide. By 1967, the Barracuda got its own nameplate away from the Valiant.
One of the most popular variants of the Barracuda was the Formula-S 383 trim, which came armed with a 6.3-liter V8 and churned out 280 horsepower. The Barracuda is perhaps the most popular and world-renowned Plymouth car, and it truly managed to take the fight to the Dodge Challenger and the Mustang, especially from 1970 to 1974.
1/10 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda
The Camaro killer, the Hemi Cuda was a formidable car, and easily the most valuable car today that bears the Plymouth badge. The Barracuda was a great car, and the Hemi Cuda in 1969 came to improve it by leaps and bounds.
With its hood scoop, Dana axles, and a growl that would be music to gearheads’ ears, the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda remains one of the greatest Hemi cars ever made. All 385 horses of the Hemi Cuda made it a beast of a car, and today, it is also quite the rare commodity. In fact, a 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible sold for $3.5 million in 2016, which was a record at the time.
