HOW PLYMOUTH CARS GOT THEIR NAME

Christine

The Plymouth automobile was not named after Plymouth Rock or even Plymouth, England when it was introduced in 1928. Chrysler executives instead had been inspired by Plymouth Binding Twine, a product of the Plymouth Cordage Company. Plymouth Binding Twine was used by farm households all over the country and was renowned for economy, simplicity (as opposed to those complicated kinds of twines), durability, and reliability--all virtues which Chrysler wanted associated with its new brand of car. It was several decades later that Chrysler stuffed huge Hemi engines inside certain models of Plymouths and transformed them into racing vehicles, police interceptors, and highly-collectible muscle cars, although basic-level economy family cars remained the bread-and-butter of the line until its demise in 2001.

A red 1958 Plymouth Fury served as the antagonist in the book and movie version of Stephen King's Christine. All-in-all, it is one of the better stories about coping with a demonically-possessed Plymouth. I too once owned a Plymouth of evil--a 1975 Gran Fury. It was not one of Chrysler's shining moments. Perhaps its most loathsome feature, at least on my vehicle, was an automatic choke which shut the car down dead sixty seconds after starting, regardless if it was idling in the driveway, approaching the middle of an intersection, or crossing railroad tracks. On the other hand, my dad's '60 Plymouth Sport Suburban wagon with tail fins to rival those of Boeing 747s ran like a Swiss watch.