Autumn red and white, red “as a fire engine” inside. A thumper of a mill under the hood, capable of a low, rhythmic bassline at idle and a banshee howl when booted to the maximum. One of precious few cars that could make tailfins and wide whitewall tires give off a feeling of impending dread, a high-test drinking and body-stacking monster she was. Loyal to her only true love, her owner, and a demon possessed to anyone who dared cross her. That’s how you turn a 1958 Plymouth into a beautiful monster. When Stephen King drew up “Christine”, he worked from the middle first, then finished the beginning and end stories. He knew how Arnie Cunningham was going to transform, how he’d go from shy, goofy nerd to withdrawn, cynical and confident in one fell swoop, but the car was something else. The book centered around the car being the root cause of Arnie’s transition, but what should it be? 
Why not the Plymouth? Why not the car that languished in the shadows of the 1957 Chevrolet, the Fords, even Chrysler Corporation’s own Chrysler and DeSoto automobiles? It was an off-brand, a car derided for being homely and ugly, yet when polished up the Plymouth looks like a relatively clean form of the late 1950s fins-and-chrome set, with just the one, long sweep of trim cutting the body in half to break up the skin. Stephen King gave her the soul, and John Carpenter and his team gave her the swagger in the movie. I remember watching this movie for the first time when I was five and being completely enamored with this car. The color, so rich, so mirror-like. The roar of the V8 under the hood, bellowing like a raging rhino. And the “X factor” that came with a dark red car brooding underneath an overpass while playing doo-wop tunes loud enough to hear fifty yards off. It was just too cool.
This particular car? It’s one of the survivors from the movie shoot that saw a motley mix of Fury, Belvedere and Savoy models all get the red-and-white treatment. This is a star car, one of the beauty shot machines that showed off the details of the world’s angriest Plymouth in great detail and gloss. It’s also claimed to be the only car from the shoot with full documentation from it’s time on set. The bumper sticker might throw you for a second…that wasn’t in the movie. No, but it was on a Fury in the King movie “Cat’s Eye”. If you aren’t a Stephen King fan, just know: his universe connects to every story.
Back when they still made cats with style and personality
I remember when the movie came out, decided to read the book first. Both versions were good and Stephen King using a Fury was genious.
Steven King described a car that wasn\’t a Fury. It was a 4 door. Furys only had a 2 door model in 1958 and they only came in one color – white. King also described the shift lever moving. 1958 Plymouths had push button transmission controls. It\’s a shame movie producers came up with a fictitious red Fury that resulted in Christine fans turning valuable 1958 Furys into Christine clones.
Wonderful car and wonderful movie. I thought that car was a belvedere, . My dad remembered those cars and he was a general motors man, he said they would blow a 57 chevies off the road with that 350ci dual carb engine. Long live .mopars
I HAD A 58 AND MINE WAS A LIGHT BEIGE AND THE GOLD DOWN THE SIDES. BACK THEN IN PANAMA IT WAS PROBABLY THE MEANEST CAR THERE..