During Thanksgiving week last year we got on a turkey kick. (Then again, who didn’t?) One of our featured automotive turkeys was the 1974 Plymouth Satellite that was featured here.
That was the car that lit the fire for my son Jimmy to become a car owner. Although we passed on the Plymouth, the story had a happy ending when Jimmy ended up with a big cat instead of a turkey (CC here).
But wait – just like some leftovers way back in the fridge, the golden Satellite re-appeared in another parking lot yesterday, and still for sale. Although this car was a turkey in the marketplace of its day, it is a very nice original example of a car that today is seldom seen. The owner must have gotten the car running properly, because the price is now up to $2,600. The price of turkey is going up–and I am starting to salivate all over again.
Be careful, Jim. Think of Mrs. JPC!
What, don’t you think she’d give this turkey a good roasting?
All I can say is if my Dad brought home something like this, Mom would say, “I hope you like it because you’re sleeping in it tonight.” But then he already has an old car, an old motorcycle, and the boat!
That said, this would be a cool Curbside Classic for JPC. Plus, he might get a better price than $2600 since car cruising season is over.
I’ve been threatened with having to sleep in it if I bring home a fake wood sided B-body wagon.
You need to call that bluff!
>>But then he already has an old car, an old motorcycle, and the boat!<<
Add another old car and you've got the makings of a nice suite. Grab a convertible and that's a three-season porch. Not bad for sleeping at all.
How timely; I just read the original turkey post earlier today.
Suppose you bought it…it would give you many memories and you would never see its twin in the parking lot at Big Box Mart. It wouldn’t be all bad.
Do it.
Then take a trip down to Disneyworld sometime and I’ll buy it off you.
Sooooo tempting. Buy it, drive it for a year, sell it for the same price!
Not bad. Reminds me of the ’72 Scamp (with the 318) a friend from high school had. Man, I miss that car. (Actually, it reminds me of the police cars in Hazzard County, but we won’t go there right now.)
If it were a 73, it could be the car my dad taught me to drive with. Right down to the color and vinyl top. All I can say is it was probably the most reliable car they ever owned as long as there was a spare ballast resistor in the glovebox.
Thanks, but I’d feel bad trying to flush it out and then whacking the poor thing.
Not to mention the following Psych Eval, Court, the fines and how the heck would my Dog retrieve that?
Pass.
Is it an optical illusion or are there more cu. ft. of space in the trunk than the back seat?
Once upon a time cars had these things called “trunks” that opened really wide and swallowed just about whatever you wanted to put in there. Giant fishing coolers, golf clubs, card tables and chairs, many dead hookers… etc. And honestly, life was good. Then stylists came along, and car companies that would rather sell you an SUV/CUV/Crew Cab pickup, and the party eneded.
My father packed for a week long camping trip for a family of 4 including Coleman stove, cabin tent, cooler, lawn chairs, luggage, supplies in the trunk of 1982 Chevy Celebrity that had all of a 15 cu ft trunk. Can you imagine trying to do that today in a Malibu or a Cruze?
The bicentennial vacation. The summer of 1975 my parents took off cross country. Thier three children ages 3,8,12 and the 12 year olds best friend. So six people. That trunk + a borrowed pop up camper held the provisions for 6 people for a month. We left western NY the second week of july and returned the first week of august. We got as far as the east side of the rockies. Saw most of the upper midwest and returned accross the upper southern states. No air conditioning. We didn’t suffer for it. Was probably the best thing my family ever did.
in 1982 my parents packed all 5 of us into the then newish 76 Chevelle sedan, my 11 year old big sister and 6 year old me and my twin sister in the back seat, my parents in the front, and two weeks worth of luggage in the smallish 15 cuft trunk. I seem to recall it being packed to the gills, and it getting searched at the Canadian border because the Texas plates were suspicious or something. Yes we drove from Dallas to Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Gettysburg, and points in between
My ’86 6000 had the slightly bigger 16cuft trunk with a far more usable opening than the 76 has.
That’s no turkey, that’s Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree!
“I never thought it was a bad little tree. It just needs a little love.” – Linus
C’mon, Mrs. JPC, look at it with the generous holiday spirit in your heart…and JP, promise to give it new paint and a set of Magnums, ASAP.
I’m thinking something like this…
You guys aren’t making this any easier. Actually, I would be thinking either the 70s era road wheels more commonly found on the Sebring coupes, or maybe the dog dishes with trim rings. However, BOC is right – a real keeper Mopar would have to be a C body. Its a good thing this isn’t a 67 Fury III.
New for ’74, the brown Hot Wheels Satellite! Funny, not a big seller. Thanks anyway, Tom. 🙂
Whenever I see a car like that pictured, I think “squad car”. In black and white. Normally, these would only be seen in light green or dark tan above.
A turkey, indeed, but these were all over the road in the day – and disappeared just as quickly!
My mom had a 1973 Coronet sedan, the Dodge-branded analog of this Satellite, in metallic rootbeer brown. It hung in there until it was replaced with an Aerostar in 1986.
If you’re looking for a daily driver, go for it Jim. If you want something special though, hold out for a 65-68 C-body. 😉
I’d only make an offer BELOW the original price of $2,100. The car hasn’t gone up in value by $500, and I doubt that the original owner put $500 worth of work into it. Even if he did, that doesn’t necessarily translate into a $500 higher asking price.
Sellers do this at the Carlisle shows every year – a car fails to sell one year, so it is back next year, at the same or higher price. Doesn’t work that way. If you are taking the car home at the end of the show, raising the price isn’t going to guarantee a sale the next year.
Agreed. I have bought cars and sold cars. I would rather buy, particularly if it is something old and unique.
The problem with that car is it’s a middle child.
Too nice/old to beat up as a daily driver, but not desirable enough to be worth a restoration.
If they have dealt with all the mechanical issues you noticed last year, it could be a nice affordable summer cruiser, but that seems like a really big if.
Another vote for the 65-68 C’s here. 🙂