It’s always refreshing to find a non-muscle car version of a muscle car, in this case, a 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus, as opposed to its performance-themed sibling, the Road Runner. But this Plymouth appears to have a trick up its sleeve so let’s review. It is located in Chula Vista, California and is available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $18,000.
By 1973, the Mopar B-Body intermediate-sized cars were in their third iteration of what was known as “fuselage” styling and, subjectively, I preferred this version of the Satellite to the two years that proceeded it. And Plymouth did a fine job of incorporating the Federally mandated 5 MPH bumper into the Sebring’s redesigned front end. The Satellite lineup included body styles of a two-door hardtop, a four-door sedan, and a station wagon, with trim levels of a basic Satellite, Satellite Custom, Sebring, and crowning out with the Satellite Sebring Plus which was perched at the top of the heap. The Road Runner continued on as the two-door hardtop performance variant but high performance wasn’t standard any longer, just the look – more on that at another time.
This Satellite was supposedly on display at the San Diego Automotive Museum and it’s now up for sale. The pictorial is fair but the details are light, very light – interested acquirers will have to contact the seller. Right off the bat, it looks great! And if you followed my write-up on a ’72 Ford Torino, you’ll know that I’m not a fan of brown, but this Plymouth really pulls it off! The finish is deep and rich, it just presents beautifully and is enhanced by its body-colored steel wheels and doggie bowl hup caps. Of note, this Sebring Plus has an optional sunroof which was not a commonly selected option back in the day. If this were my Plymouth, I wouldn’t change a single exterior detail.
Where the disappointment comes is under the hood – there is no engine image provided even though there is a shot with the hood in the raised position! The listing states that there is a “360 factory roller” for power but ChryCo’s 360 CI V8 engine was not available in a Sebring Plus in ’73 as a 318 V8 was standard and options included a pair of 400 CI motors. So, the powerplant is a transplant, and the assumption will be that it’s a strong runner, but we don’t know for certain. Besides the no-engine image, there is no shot of what we are told is an “immaculate interior” either. Obviously, it’s tan in color and is either all vinyl or cloth and vinyl mix, based on availability. The front seat could be comprised of a pair of buckets but could also be a high-back, split-bench seat too. I wish that I had more for you, but I don’t.
This is a strong-looking car and the museum association makes it interesting enough to dig further if you are really interested in such a Mopar. The typical abbreviated Facebook posting, however, isn’t doing this beautiful Plymouth any favors. What do you think, worth a deeper dive?
If I were to go solely on looks, this looks like a really good car, but details are what’s needed! The ad is like a Cheez Puff, light, airy, and lacking in substance, LOL! GLWTS! :-)
When the 71 Satellite hit the showrooms I thought, WOW, that is one dynamite looking car. And the Sebring Plus model gives you a nicer looking instrument panel…just like that in the Road Runner. But this facelift? UGLY. It looks like the stylists did it on a late friday afternoon just before racing out of the studio for a long weekend.
BTW, in 1973 2 door cars only had to meet a 2.5 MPH bumper standard.
Beautiful car, on some level, I suppose, but that front end design and the super light feeling steering would keep this out of my dream car garage.
If you blow up the pictures it looks like the car does have bucket seats and not the split back bench.Looks like a nice Mopar!
I couldn’t be sure about this being a Plus ,Maybe just a Satellite . the Plus models were high line cars, and usually had vinyl tops, and pinstripes or side moldings, though its obviously been repainted and they could have been removed.. The paint looks like 1974 Sienna Poly ; nothing looked like that for 1973 , and the color does no favors for this car – the same can be said of the painted rims and dog dish caps IMO.
Spot on Don. Also for the Sebring Plus, it would have full wheel covers as standard. Stripe kit was standard. Not sure why it was in a museum.
I had one that was silver, With black int., Bucket seats, 400/4bbl. Ran like a beast.
Had a 74 with 318 V8. Nice car.
I think ’73 and ’74 Satellite/Sebring were the best-looking of all the mid-sized Mopar offerings at that time The ’71 restyle was bloated and curvy in all the wrong places and, after ’75, the whole line had a generic fleet car sort of look. And they they did a better job with the 5 MPH bumpers than either GM or Ford. So slick! Especially in bronze.
Had a 73 rr 340 4sp pistal grip only it had a burnt valve still got up
I had a brown 73 also. Almost identical to this one. 400ci. slapstick auto trans. I recall my car had an almost exact color factory paint job. These photos make it tough to be sure the color of this matches what mine was.
Had the same interior which was white buckets, black carpet, and a very nice console that dated back 5 years being used in almost all the MOPAR muscle cars.
Had the period correct rear air shocks so the 10 inch wide aluminum rims and L60 tires would clear the fenders. A shift kit for the auto, required the addition of ladder style traction bars under the rear leaf springs.
Loved the car, had it repainted brown with a ton of metal flake, almost a root beer color.
Got 20+ mpg on highway at 65mph. Cruised like butter at any speed.
Wished I still had it but 2nd gas crisis made me sell it for the 35mpg Toyota Corolla.
This is an interesting case here, too bad there isn’t more to be known about the rest of the car. Like it extra more for the factory sun roof.
I had a ’71 Sebring Plus in the GY9 Tawny Gold Metallic with a white vinyl roof. I never thought I’d own a brownish car, but at the time I needed wheels to replace the 340 Swinger I had just totaled and my buddy had it for sale. Somehow the color scheme just worked and it grew on me for the year that I owned it.
That car had the wraparound chrome hoop front bumper and complementary rear end treatment. Definitely more curvy than the later fuselage cars like this one, but IMHO elegant from every angle. Not exactly a muscle car with a 318 2BBL, but still fun to drive with a slapstick automatic.
These cars were under-appreciated when new, and probably are now. They may never be massively collectable, but for the right price a clean one like this might be a fun Mopar to own.
IIRC, the 360 was only available in C bodies in 1973. A,B,and E bodies got the final year of the 340. Sebring Plus was the highest trim level for B bodies. I think that the 340 was only available with the Road Runner trim package.
Now, if it’s a 5.9 Magnum crate motor…
Had a 74 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus “Sundance” version. 318 ci, factory sunroof (rare at the time) custom pinstripe with custom interior. Bought it brand new, put old school Cragars on it. All show. 20 years old I was in car heaven. Got rid of it when I went in USMC couple years later.
B-52’s – She had a Plymouth Satellite, faster than the speed of light!
I like it,based on what I see,but would really like with the original engine, I had a brown 4-door 73 318 2 -barrel,that I loved back in the late eighties, only paid like 200 for it,would buy another, just cant,and won’t spend a fortune on one.
Sporty looking car. I remember these Satellites still being around in the eighties but after that not so much. Too bad it didn’t have the 4 barrel 400 would have been a fun car to blaze around in. Still could be.
Kinda funny to think of it but that look with the steel wheelies and caps give it a “law enforcement ” undercoverish vibe, at least in the seventies it would have.
At some point in the early 80s I acquired a 73 Satellite Sebring Plus that was green with a white canopy top, a green bucket seat interior with console, power windows and the manual crank sunroof. The car was complete and really decent but i didn’t care for the styling back then and I still don’t. I held onto the car for awhile but just couldn’t get inspired to do anything with it so I pulled the whole sunroof mechanism and scrapped the rest of the car. Talk about bad moves. I still regret that one…
Can’t say that I care much for this brown example despite the sunroof. I doubt that it bears much resemblance to “as-built” and would like to see a shot of the fender tag. Agree that it wasn’t museum material either.
The sign pictures in front of the car says 318 cid.
I believe that placard is referencing how the car came originally equipped. The text clearly states 360 Factory Roller
JO
Worked on these brand new in 73. Cheap made Chrysler stuff, but far easier to work on than today’s Chrysler junk. The 318 was a great engine with few problems. Yes, these cars rusted in the Northeast, but after the government jerk offs mandated stupid useless changes, Chrysler did a great job styling the Sebring and Satellite line. These cars are under appreciated and probably always will be, but look at some recent prices of 73 Road Runners. And the 73s are better looking than the fat 71 and 72 models.
George Mattar,you call today’s Chrysler “junk”,I can’t speak to brand new,but newer stuff,I’ve git an 05 durango with 180k,and a 14
Charger r/t awd,both hemi,and both dependable, and far easier to work on than transverse engine mounted “junk”thats much more difficult to work on,my Durango gets 23 highway, and charger 28,not bad for obese Chrysler stuff huh?
I’m with you, Kevin.
My 2013 Charger Blacktop edition (V6, RWD) that I’ve owned since new has 140K on it and has never left me stranded or visited the dealership for a repair.
I can’t say that about any Audi I’ve owned. Really, can’t say that about ANY car I’ve ever owned.
And, its the only car that I’ve owned this long and not gotten bored with.