On the Saturday before Christmas, my son and I went into town to pick up some last minute items for supper at the grocery store. As we walked through the parking lot, a beautiful, shiny white ’65 Plymouth Satellite rolled in, drove past us, and parked at the back of the lot. The burble of the engine told me it had a hopped-up big block.
My guess was the owner had just bought it, and wasn’t quite ready to store his new toy for the winter despite the near-freezing temperature. We walked over to investigate, and my suspicions were confirmed.
The proud new owner removed the hood pins and lifted off the fiberglass hood to show us the dressed-up 440–which, combined with a four-speed stick and 4.10 gears in the diff, made this car what he said was the fastest he’s ever owned.
I’m not surprised; one look under the hood makes it clear that this car is built to go!
He said he had to go in and do his shopping, but that the doors were open if I wanted to check out the interior. How could I refuse? It was just as clean as the exterior, but I imagine low-speed maneuvering could be a chore with the small diameter aftermarket steering wheel and manual steering and brakes.
I’ve always liked the style of the 65 Satellite and Coronet. Great find!!
A fun find. It seems that almost every 2 door version of this 1962-65 Mopar has been hot rodded. I would love to experience a bone-stock one of these. A nice original sedan would even be fun, but probably very difficult to re-sell.
Here another 2-door of these Mopars, a 1965 Coronet with a swapped new-gen 5.7L Hemi http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/video-5-7l-hemi-swapped-65-dodge-coronet-up-for-sale/
My grandparents had a ’65 Sport Satellite, coupe, gold with a gold interior. It had the 273 with an automatic. I always wanted to inherit the car, but apparently it was badly rusted and got traded on a ’78 Buick when I wasn’t paying attention.
Never heard of Fortinos…sweet car, however
Do I see a three-speed pushbutton automatic transmission AND a four-on-the-floor manual? The car must be a manual as there is a clutch pedal. My old ’63 Dart had the same pushbutton auto, just located on the left side of the dash.
Push button trans controls were gone for 1965 Mopars.
I think those pushbuttons to the right of the dash cluster are the heater controls.
Typically the pushbutton transmission controls are at the left hand side of the instrument panel.
You are correct – Mopar Torqueflite pushbuttons were always on the left side of the dash, presumably to keep kids in the front seat from playing with them while the car was underway.
I still go ga-ga over that C-pillar and roof line!
These cars were beautiful from any angle and I loved them. I used to drool over a neighbor’s down my street when these were new.
I love cars that look like they’re moving when standing still.
Very nice find!
I’d hook up the heater hoses and drive it anytime the streets were dry.
(And maybe ditch the Eddy carb and Mallory coil.)
Love it saw a similar Coronet recently. With 4.10 rear end it might be fast off the line but thats all, so really it would have no top end cruising ability
It’s not meant for top end cruising.
The 65 midsize Mopar is like Tigger – “I’m the only one.” What a beauty and a stout skeleton underneath.
Hopefully that’ll be my Biscayne in the future.
For me, White is the new Red. I love this car! The white paint accentuates the lines of this car, especially that rear roofline. I suppose the only thing that needs to be done is ditch the after market steering wheel for a period correct wheel and exchange the Cragar S/S rims for some gray spoked Torque Thrusts. Although truth be told, the Cragars are just as worthy for this era hot rod! Well done!
A buddy of mine has a 66 Belvedere in White with a black top and red interior. I feel the same way about the White paint on these cars, it really pops the lines.
The Cragars are OK but a set of “Smoothies” would be perfect.
This is the perfect “hot rod” to me. Hopefully the new owner will change out the steering wheel and keep the AM Radio.
I thought it was very cool of him to take the trouble of removing the hood & trusting you to poke around it while he was in the store. Not many people would do that.
Yes, I sure wasn’t expecting that and was very grateful. The owner didn’t have the hood off for long. It was a bit windy, so he was probably struggling with it while I took my pictures.
Forgive me, when I was a teenager I would have been all over this car. Now I’m mostly interested in big block engines in full size cars. I can’t pinpoint why either. I guess now I’m into ultimate cruising coast to coast rather than 1/4 mile times.
Until you actually build and run your own you may never understand.
Putting your right foot down legally for 1320 feet makes you feel like a star at the right track.
I see Ontario plates and a 905 number in the background, so this one must be somewhere around the GTA. With the dump of snow we got the other day, it must be in the garage by now, but he’s had a good season for driving it. I’ve always liked the Mopars of this vintage. An old neighbor of mine had a blue ’64 Polara convertible that he’d bought new and drove only in the summer. When he died ten years ago it still had less than 40,000 miles on the clock. I’m not sure if it stayed in the family or not, but I hope it went to a good home.
Maybe dual slant-sixes if customization is desired.
There are semi-hemis so what about a kinda’ V-12.
Three-on-the-tree mandatory.
Mopar for the win.
I gotta agree that this car, and this (1965) body style are very cool! It appears to be done just right.
My father owned one of these cars up until about 83 or 84. It was an automatic, but I remember it having a T handle shifter on the floor. And the interior was all black.