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The Plymouth Gran Fury was an automobile manufactured by the Chrysler Corporation from 1972 to 1977, and again from 1980 to 1989.
In 1975, the car previously known as the Plymouth Satellite was restyled and became known as the Plymouth Fury. As a result, the previous full-sized Fury became known as the Gran Fury. The Gran Fury, however, only lasted from 1975 to 1977, when all of Plymouth's full-size C-body models were dropped. The mid-sized Fury would follow a year later.
In 1980 the Gran Fury returned, this time based on the R-body introduced for 1979. Nearly identical to the concurrent Chrysler Newport, it was intended to satisfy dealer requests for a lower-priced full-size model, but more importantly to fulfill fleet orders. The model was short-lived, and was discontinued midway through the 1981 model year along with the other R-body models. Like its sibling, the Dodge St. Regis, the R-body Gran Fury was mainly popular among fleet customers, especially police departments. The 1981 Gran Fury was the last full-size car to bear the Plymouth name, up until the brand's demise twenty years later.
In 1982, Plymouth launched the last car to carry the Gran Fury name, this time using the Dodge Diplomat's platform. Although available to the general public, the 1980s Gran Fury was far more popular with police departments and other fleet customers, primarily since the car was reasonably priced and had a conventional drivetrain with proven components that could withstand a good deal of abuse. Though this generation of the Gran Fury sold in respectable numbers, the Diplomat always outsold it, usually by several thousand units each year, and its Chrysler siblings' total sales were always more than that of the Gran Fury and Diplomat's by far. Declining sales, a lack of advertising and general old age (the platform dated back to the 1976 Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen) eventually contributed to the model's demise in 1989.
Production Figures 1982-1989
| Year |
Units |
| 1982 |
approximately 18,000 |
| 1983 |
approx. 16,000 |
| 1984 |
approx. 15,000 |
| 1985 |
approx. 19,000 |
| 1986 |
approx. 15,000 |
| 1987 |
approx. 10,000 |
| 1988 |
approx. 12,500 |
| 1989 |
approx. 5,000 |
The M-body Gran Fury was also sold in Canada from 1977 to 1989 as the Plymouth Caravelle, and later as the Caravelle Salon, after the front-wheel drive Caravelle debuted there for 1983.
