Plymouth Automobiles
In the first King Bennett novel Dean established the continuity of having King drive a Plymouth. The model that appeared first was a 1956 Plymouth Belvedere two door hardtop with a two-tone red and black color scheme. Dean actually drove the same kind of car in his daily life.

1956 Plymouth Belvedere.
In the spring of '59 Dean received an offer from Plymouth to update the car and be part of an ad campaign. It seemed the target demographic they were shooting for with their new Plymouth Fury convertible was males between the ages of 18-35, which was basically Dean's core audience. All he had to do was mention the Fury at least twice in each book for the next year. That was fine with Dean because he did that anyway in his stories. For his efforts Plymouth gave him a brand spankin' new white Fury convertible. This is the same car that King would now drive in the series. 

The company also would send him on a book tour for one month across the country. Instead of appearing at bookstores, Dean would meet his fans at various Plymouth dealerships. The tour started in Los Angeles and wound up in New York. For added publicity Dean drove a Fury along the famed Route 66. Each week LIFE magazine ran a one-page update (sponsored by Plymouth of course) that would show him and the Fury at various Route 66 landmarks. After he reached the end of America's most known roadway he flew to the remaining locations. Even though he enjoyed the whole experience immensely, Dean never did another book tour.

1959 Plymouth Fury
In the fall of '59 Dean made an appearance on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show. After doing a quick interview with the talk show icon the program culminated with a skit spoofing King Bennett’s Las Vegas. Dean played the part of King and Steve Allen was Captain Fleming. Other comic greats that appeared in the skit were: Don Knotts, Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Gene Rayburn, Skitch Henderson, and Marilyn Jacobs. Unfortunately, this television gem is unavailable on videotape.

The Steve Allen Plymouth Show aired Monday nights on NBC in 1959.
Dean still owns these cars as part of his valuable automobile collection. In 1992 Dean's Plymouths (the Belvedere and the Fury) were on exhibit at the Las Vegas Car Show.