Imagine if by 1980 General Motors had abandoned their 1977 down-sizing efforts and instead "up-sized". That's what Plymouth, a long-defunct division of Chrysler did, ostensibly, after downsizing in 1962 and then up-sized in 1965. Above is a 1965, up-sized Plymouth Sport Fury. And for the record, Chrysler did the same with Dodge. Chrysler (the division) and Imperial models were were spared the ignominy of smaller designs in 1962. Imperial was a separate Chrysler division from 1955 through 1975.
The only tangible difference being if in 1980 GM upsized and kept their 1977 full-size models around as de-facto mid-sized models like Plymouth essentially, although unofficially, did. Speaking of which, that's exactly what 1977 was like at GM dealerships (save for Cadillac) what with the new full-size models rubbing bumpers with the old "mid-sized" models that were quite close in size. That all changed come 1978 and GM eventually did up-size their 1977 (vintage) big cars in their early '90's...but I digress.
Of course the circumstances behind Chrysler's 1962 downsizing and what GM did in 1977 were completely differently. GM shrunk their wares because upon rolling out their elephantine 1971 full-size models, and subsequent bloated mid-sizers in 1973, someone, thankfully, came to their senses. That and the 1973 gas-crisis spurring eventual governmental madates for gas-mileage. Makes you wonder how big cars would have become if either of those circumstances hadn't occured. It's not as if GM full-size models weren't oversized before 1971 either.
Chrysler downsized in 1962 because, forgive me if you've you've heard this before, sometime in either the late '50's or very early '60's, they misinterpreted intel about General Motors downsizing Chevrolet models for '62. In an attempt to beat them to the punch, just-like-that, Chrysler scraped their planned 1962 Plymouth's and Dodge's for significantly smaller models that were built on an elongated chassis (A-body) that underpinned the compact 1960 "Valiant by Chrysler"; the new designs also looked like stretched out 1960 Valiant's as well.
Meanwhile, back at Chevrolet, they weren't downsizing but instead introducing a new line of compact cars for '62 that would be known as the Chevy II. Whoops; hate to be the Chrysler executive who bore the brunt of that bad news.
Sales cratered at Plymouth (and Dodge) for the new "B-bodies" and Chrysler scurried to alter 1963 and 1964 models to make them, for the lack of better terms, less weird looking. Personally, I think the '62 "big-little" Plymouth's are fabulous looking; then again, I also like Edsel's. Taste being like arm-pits and all.
The '65's like our Sport Fury here were clean sheets known as the "C-body" and featured a new full-perimeter frame, interiors and exterior styling drawn up by the talented Elwood Engel and his team. If anything, they were far more mainstream and contemporary looking than even the 1964 designs and, as designers and design trends often do, appeared to be quite similar to the also new for '65 big Chevrolet and Ford models.
Product planners smartly deduced that what was known as the Chrysler B-body would make for a pretty good if somewhat oversized mid-sized automobile. The "B" going onto underpin a host of famous Chrysler products including the 1968 Plymouth Road Runner\Dodge Charger and lest we fail to mention, come 1975, the Corinthian-leather lined Chrysler Cordoba. A short wheel base "B" known as the Chrysler E-body was the chassis for the 1970-1974 Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Challenger.
Chrysler would build a Plymouth Fury of some ilk on a number of different body designations, including the "B-body" for a time in the late '70's, through model year 1989.
The story of the Chrysler C and B-bodies of course, didn't end well. Both slogging through the 1970's suffering from poor product planning, derivative "me-too" styling, and a lack of developmental funds brought on by the company's improprieties of the 1960's and poor overall sales in the '70's. In retrospect, not hard to see why and how Chrysler faced bankruptcy, ahem, for the first time as the '70's melted into the 1980's. Makes you wonder if they had they not downsized in 1962 if they would have faced the same myriad issues in the late '70's.
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