On a recent warm, sunny, summer day,
There was a needed item for which I’d have to pay.
Excited, I was not from my house when I did depart,
As the destination of my journey was stinking Wal-Mart.
If finds such as this Plymouth were an ironclad guarantee,
I might shop there more than twice annually.
This B-body Plymouth was a find exquisite and rare,
especially when enhanced to such a period air.
I once wrote an uncharitable CC on a similar ’72,
Low mileage, 318 powered, and painted blue.
There’s no way this Satellite came from Highland Park painted plum,
As odds would be better of catching Lynn Townsend sucking his thumb.
Yet six and forty years later,
you’re not reading a hater.
He’s rather enamored with this tan gutted Satellite,
As finding it made a trip to nasty Wal-Mart a delight.
A green ’71 was repeatedly spotted three years ago in Jefferson City.
Is this it? Who knows? It’s being driven; if not, that would be a pity.
Somehow that Plum Crazy paint just works on this car. To me the 71 Satellite/Coronet sedans wanted to be the hip, cool cars painted in these high impact colors. Of course they never were, but were usually green or baby blue and driven by either someone’s grandfather or the police. They were modern for a year, maybe two and then they became terribly out of date.
I never found them as satisfying to be in as the prior generation of B body that ended in 1970. I like them better now than I did then.
My original comment did not really get into the poetic spirit of your post. To paraphrase an old song, I think you have found a four-eyed black-striped flying purple fecal beater.
+1
Channeling your inner Sheb Wooley?
I agree that this colour really works on this car and the round headlights definitely suit this body better than the quad rectangular lights that would come to uglify so many fuselage bodied cars.
the 4 door B bodies have became a de facto replacement 4 the Charger/Roadrunner and Challenger/Barracuda – usually as cop car tributes and/or Bluesmobile replicas
Nice bit of doggerel =8-) .
I like this car ! most of my experience with them was the police versions, sturdy good handlers right out of the box .
Plus of course the Hamtramk Humming bird =8-) .
-Nate
Excellent work Jason. You are indeed a renaissance man.
This is just so wrong in many ways, but somehow adds up into something that works. I like it, maybe I would have done a more detailed job on the tail stripe and added the Super Bee logo where the busted side marker light is. Then again that may have spoiled the overall effect.
These were (are?) okay cars, but they were so different from the 2 door models Plymouth should have done what Dodge did and “divorce” them. That is, give the 2 doors the Satellite name and the 4 door models the Belvedere name….or some other contemporary name.
From the 4 door models of this Satellite I’ve seen, I would have to agree with JPC in that 55% must have left the factory “wearing” light green paint, 35% wore light brown, and the remaining 10% wore various pastel and metallic colors.
I’d rather have a 71 mid-sized Mopar 4 door sedan instead of a 71 Ford or Mercury mid-sized 4 door, but by 72….heck, the Ford and Mercury were more attractive.
I agree and I could go a step further if Plymouth had used another name then Sebring to pave the way for a future personnal luxury coupe like Belmont (named from the 1954 show car).
Some folks had lots of imagination to create some phantom cars like a 1971 Superbird and GTX convertible.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-0508-1971-dodge-and-plymouth-phantom-wing-cars/
http://www.71wingcars.com/the-cars
It was more of a dark a avacado, but green so many, many were.
Not as much percentagewise as later in this generation B-body sedans’ run, but surely a not insignificant proportion came in black and white?
Given the source of your inspiration, the outcome is commensurate.
Actually, I love it. The car, that is. 🙂
I liked the styling of these right away. The former body was looking dated…who knew that the squared-off look would come back so soon? These were solidly built, too…over bumps and on rough roads they felt like a single, solid chunk of metal, which their main competition, being body-on-frame, could not. Finding a good example today, with the lively 318 under the hood, I’d be tempted even if it were in Anonymous Tan, which after all is only paint.
“These were solidly built, too…over bumps and on rough roads they felt like a single, solid chunk of metal”
That raises a really interesting conundrum of these cars. You are right – the unibody structure was very rigid, giving the car a very tight feeling. *However* there was also a general cheap and thin-ness to the body that was evident when you shut the doors (or hood or trunk) and the way the steering column would shudder just a bit as you slammed the drivers door shut. I spent a lot of time in a 74 Charger and it was both tight and solid over the road, but also felt like an aluminum soda can in so many other ways. Only Chrysler in the 70s could figure out how to make the same car feel both solid and tinny.
Here’s one in need of rescuing, and yes, it is tan: https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/6204747494.html
Not all that bad from looking at the very few pictures. And if it spent all of it’s life there in Spokane I don’t think it would have much rust.
I don’t know how to say it poetically but I have a pair of ’71s. Great cars. My Dad had a gold ’71 Satellite sedan that made it to 150K and he was hard on cars. Today, the sedans are nearly extinct; I drove the green 4 door to the mega Chrysler show in Carlisle last year and it was the only one there, but there were plenty of Road Runners.
The 1971 Chrysler B-body plan was interesting in how it seemed to be Chrysler’s way of trying to get into the burgeoning intermediate personal luxury market, opened by the 1969 Grand Prix and 1970 Monte Carlo, on-the-cheap. It looks like they figured if they made the 1971 2-door coupe with completely distinct sheetmetal from the 4-door, they’d be able to eke out a piece of the personal luxury pie. It was much different from GM and Ford’s way of having personal luxury offerings with the normal two- and four-door models, like having the Chevelle 2-door hardtop alongside the Monte Carlo.
It might have worked better, too, with models like the Satellite Sebring Plus and Charger SE (there were no similar ‘personal luxury’ Chevelle models), except the success of the A-body Duster was savaging not only the E-body ponycar, but was likely taking a big chunk of B-body coupe sales, too. What’s fascinating is how, by the time they were able to do it right with the 1975 Cordoba, there was still a huge market clamoring for such a car. The Cordoba was one of the few bright spots for ChryCo in the mid-to-late seventies. Ironically, the Cordoba-based Charger was an abject failure.
That’s a hella nice pair, LTD! Seems like you have both ends covered: A pristine RR for nice days, car shows and generally making everyone jealous but also a gritty sedan that has patina and character. Being a B body and all that entails, that one seems like itd be a blast to take out and slide around some gravel road curves without a care in the world if you get a chip or two in it…actually adds to its charm. Heres hoping both those cars are wearing slots!
Did you have a lot of folks looking over your humble Satellite sedan at the Chrysler show, LT Dan? I’ll guess there were lots of people milling about your green ’71, esp. because it was the only one there. I know I’d have checked it out; I’m always up for checking out old cars that have survived despite being just plain ol’ transportation.
Also, I like the Satellite in plum, too. Looks good on it.
Carter, thanks and yes there was a lot of interest in the Satellite, possibly more so than the Road Runners Im guessing because there weren’t any there and they have all but disappeared from the classic Mopar landscape. Its funny, there were several 4 door Valiants, Furys, Coronets, etc but no Satellites. I saw several pictures of it show up on the internet on various websites after the show with comments like “I haven’t seen one of these in ages!” I drove it up not because I wanted to show it off (it really needs paint, but it is an otherwise nice rust-free original car with 70K miles on it) but because it has morgue-like air conditioning. Its a very comfortable and quiet road trip car and I drive it often.
MR74, thanks but the RR is far from pristine and it gets driven hard and often since Im not really into the car show scene. Sitting in a lawn chair in the hot sun all day with doowop music blaring in the background with know-it-alls judging my car and telling me whats ‘wrong’ with it is not my idea of a good time. Showing off isn’t my thing, I just love my cars and love driving them and enjoy sharing them here with like-minded enthusiasts that also like the one-off cars. As for wheels, the Satellite has later 15″ slotted police wheels with dog dish caps, and the RR doesn’t have slots but equally period correct Keystones. It was a street/strip car when it was new so Im keeping it in the period look.
Something I just noticed looking at the picture again: The RR has 2 side-view mirrors which are of a completely different style than the 1 side view mirror affixed to the Satellite.
It doesn’t surprise me, LT Dan, that your green Satellite sedan attracted as much attention as any of the Road Runners. There’s no shortage of those to see . . . but where were any of the attendees going to find another utility sedan to pore over?
Small world! I remember your Satellite, pointing it out to my brother! We came down for the meet from Connecticut where he lives and I was vacationing. Beautiful country out that way – I’m heading to Lancaster Thursday for a few days….
The Ford show in June is next on my bucket list….
When I first moved into my apartment in 2004, an elderly neighbor, who I used to see around but never interacted with, had one of these- sky blue with a disintegrating white vinyl top and a dingy, threadbare white interior.
It was NOT a “nice car”. At all. Every single body panel dented, trim missing, crooked front bumper, tailight broken, plus it clearly sagged on one side. The worst part was a massive dent in the left front fender, big enough for a skinny adult to stand inside of.
Somewhere around early 2006 or 2007 the Coronet finally disappeared. Weeks after it vanished I was at Ecology Auto Wrecking in Wilmington, scrounging parts for my Olds. I wandered over to the Mopar section, and there was my neighbor’s old blue Coronet- looking every bit as forlorn in the yard as it did on the street. No one had even removed any parts from it.
I think I know what happened to the owner, although I can’t be sure because it was so long ago. Not long before the Mopar got carted off to the scrap heap, I witnessed a sad sight inside my complex. As I was hustling on foot towards the back street where my truck was parked, I saw a bunch of people milling about outside one of the buildings. Many of them looked shocked and / or upset, and one woman was crying hysterically. I looked up the stairs just in time to see paramedics wheeling a covered body downstairs on a gurney. The Coronet went away the following week.
Don’t know if the two were connected. If so, it was a tragic end for both owner and car 🙁 .
Even the name “Satellite” was dated by 1972, as was Galaxie and other space age names. What was it with Satellites and elderly men? My best friend’s maternal grandfather, a veteran electrician in the movie business, picked one up new in that green color that was fashionable during the Nixon Administration. As for my friend’s father, I always respected and admired his taste in automobiles. A surgeon, he drove Buicks (“The Doctor’s Car”) for years until he got a new maroon ’65 Super Sport Impala fast back. He traded that in for brilliant first year of the front wheel drive Eldorado, also in maroon, and traded that for the next generation of same in a black convertible. Then something interesting in the good doctor took hold. His next car was an early Monte Carlo, which, despite his handsome and growing income, he traded in regularly for the rest of the history of the Monte Carlo. I not sure what he drives now, but whatever it is, I’m sure I’d respect it. What do you all think? What would make a man who could afford to drive any car he wanted stick with the Monte Carlo, decade after decade?
Funny that you would call GALAXIE “dated” by 1971, as Ford re-introduced the Galaxie name for it’s European built minivan. Even today you can buy a Ford Galaxie in many parts of the world…just not North or South America.
Nice comments fellas! Do you remember the top-of-the-line Dodge Coronet for 1971? It disappeared after 1971 leaving the top trim “WP” models for the Charger and Station wagon only. The interior featured padded upper door panels. There was a standard pin stripe on the outside of the WP41 sedan. I guess that they were not a hot seller. Upscale you say? With an optional manually adjustable front seat, not a power seat! Power windows, yes. Two-speaker stereo system – HUH? Oh well! I remember seeing a 1973 build-out model. It was the low line WL41 with a six cylinder engine (the 225 slant six of course), power windows and a vinyl roof. It was on the street parked in 1974 so the philosophy of some Mopar personnel held true – “There’s an ass for ever seat.”
I just looked that up on OldCarBrochures. The full line 71 brochure lists a Coronet Brougham that for some reason is not in the Coronet-Charger brochure. And as you note, it is not in any of the 1972 brochures. I don’t think I have ever seen one of these. You would think that with the killing Ford would be making as a “luxury midsize” starting in 1972 the Dodge Coronet Brougham would have been a great place to start. But no, Mopar B body sedans would henceforth come as only strippers or average cars.
Yet more proof that the right wheels/tires can add a healthy injection of awesome to just about anything. Reminds me of a ‘moonshine runner’ ’71-ish Coronet sedan with the same slots/RWLs rolling stock and a pair of subtle PIAA lights on the bumper. Although that one was a spruce green which was more in line with the intended purpose. Either way, those small upgrades made the leap from frumpy Gramps mobile to low key badass. Nice catch! This car looks pretty solid.
Bumblebee stripe on a Plymouth? Blech! My purist trigger has been pulled!
Slots however, I approve. Everything made between 1970 and 1980 looks awesome with those wheels
Eh, its just a solid tail stripe….I can allow that. If it carried the superbee or Rumble Bee logo, then that’d be a nugatory, Kimosabe.
Speaking of slots, whatever has happened with wheel designs of today? The vast majority of them are simply (sometimes weird) variations on the number of spokes. I realize that “flat faced” wheels are good for mpg purposes, but I’d LOVE to see some newly designed slotted wheels with a LIP! 🙂
Increasing positive offset helps prolong bearing life, which is surely another factor, especially with modern CV shaft designs. FWD has always meant flat or even convex wheels(66 Toronado is a prime example). I agree, deep wheels always looks better, to hell with aero.
In defense of modern though(which I don’t often do), almost every model on the road today would have constituted as “wide track” in the 60s-70s. Where the tires on this Satellite are positioned in relation to the fender edge is pretty much the modern stance we see today. The way this Satellite rolled out of the showroom however, probably complete with dimensionless wheel covers, is another story entirely.
There once was a plum colored Plymouth
whose four-decade light didn’t dimmeth.
When encountered at Walmart,
it posed, as for art,
as a sea of admirers swimmeth.
Outstanding, Jason. You are the jack-of-all-trades at CC! One of them, anyway!
That car brings back memories of high school in small town Ontario. There were a few of these old sedans kicking in the late 70’s early 80’s. Usually base model, painted a solid flat tremclad, and if they were mopars usually shackles on the back cause the leaf springs would be about done.
I’m sitting here watching Preacher and realized that Tulip’s hotrod Chevelle sedan reminds me a LOT of this…same basic vibe going on, that one being in a TV show has some cash behind it.
Its uncanny how a colour can add personality to a car. In the same era you could get purple on local cars too, although it was never that popular then. Now though the unusual colours have made a comeback and I’m sure a few original purple cars that were painted over in the 70s/80s/90s to look cooler have been taken back.
Here’s a NZ market Chrysler Valiant, not a sporty model, that was sold to someone who wanted purple.
If that car was a righty it would fit in just fine Down Under 🙂 .
I’m sorta the type that likes stylish cars like the Satellite. I still want the ’71’s even more, many of them went to Japan, Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Phillipines where Mopars are treasured… The owners take SPECIAL care of their finds, and I still wanna soup-up both a ’71 Sedan and a Wagon in time for the Victoria Hot Rod Show in September, any sellers? Anyway I’m a Plymouth man for life, and the Satellite sedan and wagon would be a sexy centrepiece for my “stable.”
There was either an ex cop car or “tribute” for sale at a local used car lot where a lot of basket cases end up at. It was painted an odd Navy Blue, and had a working spotlight on the driver’s side. The paint Maaco?, and body were pretty decent, no rust I could see, but the interior was totally trashed. The 360 in it was near death and that was what kept me from biting on it for $1000. Zero oil pressure under about 1500 rpm, and massive blow by. I kind of wished I had bought it and just waited for a 318 or 360 to pop up, but just to fix the dash, door panels, and front seat would have probably ended up being $2000, and then the engine, and I would guess the trans would die as soon as a decent engine was installed.
I own a 1973 Satellite Custom sedan. Best car that I have ever owned! I know that many in the hobby crap on sedans but in all reality, they are much harder to find these days than the beloved coupes. I know that when I role into a car show, I’ll be the only one present with a 4 door Satellite. I like that feeling much more than being just one of the 20 Camaros that attend. It hauls ass as well. You can catch a lot of people off guard when cruising a sedan.