Suddenly, It's 1960 And Plymouth Outruns The Competition

[DonMiller]

By Don Miller

In 1957, Hot Rod magazine built a 1957 Plymouth with a 392 cubic inch Hemi V8 for the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was named “Suddenly” to play on Plymouth’s new advertising theme -- “Suddenly It’s 1960” -- indicating the new cars were years ahead of the competition.




#1 Specially built Plymouth.

Now, fast forward to 1959.

The American economy began showing signs of recovery as 1959 drew to a close. President Dwight D. Eisenhower promised increased prosperity, but warned the country against “military industrial complex”, and American automobile sales slowly regained momentum after the 1958 economic recession.

The year 1960 promised a bright future for Americans. The American automobile industry was focused on consumer demand for the new fuel efficient, compact car line-up. New models from every manufacturer flooded the market. Names like Falcon, Comet, Corvair, Valiant and Rambler were the subject of most manufacturers' publicity campaigns.

While compact and economy cars remained centered in the automobile spotlight, the sales of standard size Fords, Chevys and Plymouths continued to account for a significant segment of new car sales.

Despite the fact the price of a gallon of regular gasoline had climbed to 25 cents, the youth market continued to demand performance. Chevrolet led the charge by introducing its new 335 horsepower 348 cubic inch V8 engine. Ford was in hot pursuit with a 300 horsepower version of its venerable 352 cubic inch V8. Meanwhile, Plymouth plodded along with its 305 horsepower 361 cubic inch Golden Commando V8.





#2 1960 Plymouth 413-Long Ram engine.


By mid-January, Ford introduced a 360 horsepower version of the 352 engine equipped with a single four-barrel carburetor and a high lift solid lifter camshaft. Chevrolet boosted the 348 cubic inch up to 345 horsepower. Plymouth dropped the bomb, however, when it introduced the all new Sonoramic 361 cubic inch ram tuned 310 horsepower dual four-barrel engine option. The Sonoramic option was comprised of two four-barrel carburetors mounted on 30-inch long tubular intake runners crossing over the engine with the left carburetor feeding the right bank of cylinders and the right side carburetor feeding the left bank of cylinders. In addition, for the consumer who was willing to part with an additional $405 over the standard 318 V8 option, one could “hammer down” on the 330 horsepower Sonoramic 383 cubic inch version of the Ram tuned Mopar.

On the street, the Sonoramic 361- and 383-powered Plymouths were very docile until you stomped the accelerator and then the ram tuned manifolds performed their magic, as up to 460 foot pounds of torque was applied to the rear wheels.

On the drag strip, the Sonoramic Plymouths held their own in Super Stock, but when equipped with the standard three-speed manual transmission, they were easy prey for the Pontiac super duty 389 and the Chevy 348 equipped with the new Borg Warner, four-speed transmission. In the Super Stock automatic class, the shoe was on the other foot. The Plymouth and Dodges equipped with the torque flite three-speed automatic were ferocious performers. A super stock automatic 383 Plymouth captured the 1960 NHRA Nationals at Detroit Dragway with driver Al Eckstrand over arch rival Jim Wangers in his Pontiac Super Duty Pontiac Catalina.

In NASCAR, Rex White won the championship in a Chevy, Richard Petty finished second in a Plymouth and Ned Jarrett placed fifth in a Ford. It should be noted that NASCAR required all engines to be equipped with a single four-barrel carburetor so the Sonoramic engine was not allowed.





#3 1960 Plymouth Fury.


In September 1960, Plymouth released a small number of 413 cubic inch Sonoramic Fury and Belvedere coupes, but the NHRA and NASCAR refused to recognize them as production cars and did not allow them to compete in sanctioned events. Chevrolet quickly responded with the experimental 409 and Ford began production of the 406 cubic inch engine that made its debut in 1961, but that’s another story.

The horsepower race was truly in high gear and Plymouth, which built its reputation as a totally reliable, if not doughty family sedan, had shed its Casper, milk-toast image forever. After all, it was 1960.

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