NASCAR Racing: 1956 Plymouth Fury, carl kiekhaefer, 1956 plymouth fury

Question

I understand Plymouth made 16 Furys in 1956 that were to be use on the track. They had the rear wheel wells cut out radial and super beefed up suspension. Do you know anything about them or where any of them are today?

Answer
I could find no specific info on any "special 16" Furys built for the NASCAR track. In '56 the two main Plymouth drivers were Johnny Allen driving the A. M. Crawford Plymouth and Blackie Pitt driving the Brownie Pitt Plymouth. Allen drove a '55 until the July 1st race at Asheville-Weaverville, Pitt was in one starting on 5/5 at Columbia, SC. Pitt only drove it for 3 races and switched to a Buick before coming back to the 5 '56 Plymouth at Asheville-Weaverville. If these '56 Plymouths were Furys (the old records only list make, not model) they weren't too special since the headliner Plymouth driver, Johnny Allen, had a best finish of 5th (twice) in the '56. Jim Graham did drive a '56 Fury to a 3rd place finish in his only start in one on 6/3.

So...did Plymouth make a special 16 Furys? I really don't know but I would have figured that Carl Kiekhaefer, the Chrysler/Dodge owner of favor in the '56 Mopar era would have been given some to try. He wasn't. And the auspicious finishes of the '56 Plymouths sure didn't make them too "special".

By the way, I found an old B&W of Blackie Pitts '56 Plymouth spinning at the Southern 500 that year. You can look at it and be the judge if it is a "special Fury", a production Fury, or just the regular old Belvedere. Just give me your email address and I'll send you a scanned copy.