1973 Plymouth Satellite Custom sedan

There are lots of Mopars that are more "desirable" and certainly much flashier than this one, but this car will always be very special to me. My folks bought it at Jay Smith Chrysler -Plymouth in the fall of 1972, and I wasright there with them at the ripe old age of 8. The car became mine in 1980 with around 150,000 miles on the 318/904, and since then I've racked up almost another 250,000! The odometer actually says 390,000 (or would if it had that extra digit!) and I still drive it regularly. It faithfully took me through high school, college, graduate school, the first 5 years of my professional career, and even took me and my wife Ann on our honeymoon. In 1993, I started alternating it with my 1966 Polara on the daily drive, cutting the rate at which it piles on the miles down by a factor of 2. Still, it sees about 13,000 miles a year without complaint. The 318 got "freshened" at 190,000 miles and with 200,000 miles on the rebuild it still isn't burning oil and runs great. With an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold and a Carter Thermoquad carb (purchased for $10 at a garage sale!) its getting about 16 mpg in combined city/highway driving. Up close, its "road warrior" nature is apparent through numerous door-dings, windshield specks, and scratches, but the curvy 3rd-generation Satellite lines are still attractive from any angle.

Nice front quarter shot showing the American Racing alloy wheels that I've come to absolutely hate. They've NEVER balanced in well, and will be replaced with a set of steel 15x7 Mopar Police Car wheels from a mid-80's Diplomat. Unlike the cop-cars, though, these will have both center caps and trim rings. I haven't decided yet if they'll be painted white to match the top or black like authentic cop-car wheels.

Rear quarter shot showing (barely) the dual exhaust tips woven through the trailer hitch. I wanted stock-looking exhaust tips, and it took a bit of doing to bend those pipes right (thanks B&B Muffler, Austin Texas!). This vintage 318 powered B-body never came with factory dual exhaust, but it sure is a benefit.

The dash layout is simple and very "early 70's". Gone is all the pretty chrome found in the 60's cars, but the plastic and vinyl work is extremely high quality compared to today's cars. The mere fact that it looks like theis after 26 years and almost 400,000 miles is proof enough.

I need to update this picture.The engine bay is still just as dirty- but at least now the most visible feature isn't a cheesy chrome air cleaner. I've found an "almost correct" Chrysler air-cleaner from a 71 Dodge motorhome that fits the 4-barrel carb and still looks very similar to the original 2-barrel air cleaner. The dirt stays-its a badge of honor at this point!