Plymouth introduced the Rapid Transit System for 1970 to promote its wares to the high-performance market. The automaker aggregated all its high-performance cars as a team to assault all comers. Out of five models in the Rapid Transit System, two were brand-new for 1970: the Duster 340 and the Sport Fury GT.
The Sport Fury first appeared in 1959 as the top Plymouth model, then disappeared. It was reintroduced in 1962 as Plymouth’s bucket-and-console hardtop or convertible and, in similar form, continued through 1968. For 1970, a year after the introduction of “Fuselage” design, Plymouth expanded the Sport Fury lineup to include a four-door (both hardtop and sedan), somewhat diluting what Sport Fury had come to mean in the market.
Within the Sport Fury series, there was a Sport Fury GT, Plymouth’s full-size Rapid Transit System vehicle. It featured many of the standard Sport Fury items, such as hidden headlamps and a cloth and vinyl bench seat with an armrest (again, a change from the past), but the Sport Fury GT included features like a 440 Super Commando V8, H70 x 15 tires, Rallye road wheels, chrome exhaust tips, reflective strobe stripes along the trunk lid and sides, accent stripes on the hood, heavy-duty suspension and brakes, and a 3.23 rear.
Strangely, the standard 440 was the 350-horsepower version, with the 440/375 not being available. However, the Special 440 (otherwise known as the 440 Six Barrel) was available—the only C-body Mopar to receive this engine. Another interesting bit of trivia: Plymouth initially gave the Sport Fury GT its own VIN prefix (PP23), but that changed when production began—it had a conventional Sport Fury hardtop “PH23” prefix, with a buyer needing to specify the A52 GT package.
Washington State’s Rocket Restorations filmed this 1970 Sport Fury GT, one of 1,306 U.S.-spec cars built, at the 2024 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) last month. It was among other black/white-interior Mopars in a special display. Owned by C-body enthusiast “Billy Fury,” this GT is optioned with 15-inch chrome styled road wheels, a vinyl bench with an armrest, air conditioning, an AM/FM stereo, a clock, and more.
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