- Plymouth Satellite
Infobox Automobile
name=Plymouth Satellite
manufacturer=Chrysler Corporation
production=1965-1974
platform=FR B-body
related=Dodge Charger Dodge Coronet Plymouth Belvedere Plymouth GTX Plymouth Road Runner
successor=Plymouth Fury
body_style=2-doorconvertible
2-doorcoupe
4-door sedan
4-doorstation wagon The Plymouth Satellite was an
automobile introduced in 1965 as the top model in Plymouth's mid-size Belvedere line. The Satellite remained the top of the line model until the 1967 model year, where it became the mid-cost model with the GTX taking its place as the top model. The Fury name was moved to Plymouth's mid-size models for 1975, at which time the Satellite name disappeared. The Satellite always used Chrysler's mid-size B platform.When a new, larger
Plymouth Fury was introduced for 1965 on Chrysler's full-size C platform, thePlymouth Belvedere name was moved to Plymouth's "new" mid-size line for 1965, in what was really a continuation of Plymouth's full-size 1962 to 1964 models. The Belvedere Satellite was the top trim model in the series, above the Belvedere I and II. It was available as a two-door hardtop or convertible, both with bucket seats. The front end was simple: a single headlight on each side, and a grille divided into 4 thin rectangles laid horizontally, similar to the concurrent Fury.In 1966, along with a reskinning, the Satellite was available with the newly optional "Street Hemi" engine, with two 4-barrel carburetors, and 10.25:1 compression. This was also the first year that the Satellite name was available on a station wagon, a line that would be carried through the 1972 model year. With minor trim changes, this body continued for 1967.
Along with a significant restyling, a higher trim Sport Satellite model was introduced in 1968, at which time the Belvedere name was relegated to the low-trim base models, This body continued through 1970, with a minor front and rear restyling for 1970. This would be the last year for the Belvedere name. 1968 was also the first year for the
Plymouth Roadrunner which shared the same body as the Satellite and Belvedere models.A significant restyling was done for 1971 as the Satellite adopted new "fuselage" styled bodies, with different wheelbases, grilles, and sheetmetal for two and four door models. Sedans were available in base, Custom and Brougham trim, while two doors were called Satellite (a base coupe with rear windows that did not roll down), Satellite Sebring and Satellite Sebring Plus, which was the emissions performance model that came with a 400 c.i four barrel. Wagons came in base, Custom or wood-trimmed Regent models. Two door models had an unusual loop type front bumper (a period Chrysler styling trend), and this body was the basis for the related GTX and Roadrunner models.
Two-door models received a more conventional front end and squared up sheetmetal and rear side windows for 1973, while the sedans and wagons adopted large Auto mph|5|0 bumpers for 1974. The Satellite nameplate and sheet metal were dropped mid-year in 1974, although the B-body chassis continued as the
Plymouth Fury through 1978.In popular culture
* The TV
sitcom "The Brady Bunch " prominently features a 1971 Plymouth Satellite Regent station wagon.
*in 1971,Jack Webb purchased several Plymouth Satellites from theLos Angeles Police Department for use in his tv series "Adam-12 ".
* A heavily customized 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring was featured in the cover of "Hack", a 1990 album bysynth-pop band Information Society.
*A Plymouth Satellite was mentioned inThe B52's song "Planet Claire", an inhabitant of which "drove a Plymouth Satellite - faster than the speed of light" which persuaded the singer that he "knew she came from there".
* The movie "Cold around the heart" starts out with David Caruso being thrown from a Satellite
* In the "Dirty Harry " movie "The Enforcer", Harry crashes his 1974 Satellite through a liquor store window
* In “Reservoir Dogs”, Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino ) is killed while driving a Plymouth Satellite as the get-away car. [cite journal |title=Mopars in Movies
url=http://www.allpar.com/history/movies.html
journal= [http://www.allpar.com/ Allpar]
accessdate=February 2007 ]References
External links
* [http://www.allpar.com/model/satellite.html Allpar.com Satellite section]
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