Early 1970’s Chrysler products are legendary for their bold looks and powerful engines. To name a few, the Charger, ‘Cuda, and Roadrunner all could be had with lots of power or a little power depending on what you desired. When most people hear the term Mopar, they probably think of a high-powered icon from the early 1970s. Though four doors have yet to have their heyday, station wagons have made a comeback in recent years and this 1972 Plymouth Satellite is no exception. Originally destined for use as a family hauler, this Satellite will likely continue to do so but for the simple reason of pleasure rather than utility. Find it here on eBay in Texas with a Buy It Now price of $4,500 and the option to make an offer.
Under the hood sits the mighty Chrysler 318 cubic inch V8. Known for reliability and moderate power, this Satellite won’t be winning any races with a full load of passengers. Any work that will need to be performed on this engine will likely not be costly or difficult as replacement parts are readily available and affordable. The seller claims that this car has what appears to be 72,000 actual miles and runs a little rich. Other than that and a faulty brake master cylinder, there is no mention of mechanical issues. If this car indeed only has 72,000 miles, there is a lot of life left in this 318!
Although the dash and door panels appear to be in excellent condition, both the front and rear seats are in rough shape and will need to be recovered. The headliner is also missing and subsequently will need to be replaced. Because much of the interior is intact and very presentable, it may be best for the new owner to repair the headliner and seats to match. This way what is good and original can be preserved, plus money can be saved and used for something else.
What a tailgate! Although the Satellite wagon and sedan share very little, Plymouth certainly didn’t lose their touch when styling the rear! It may not be the same as a sedan, but it sure does look nice. All this car needs to be the essential family hauler/tow vehicle of this 1970s is a trailer hitch. Though this car is almost nice enough to be a survivor, weather damage to paint and trim combined with rust damage on the driver’s fender is probably enough to make someone want to restore and repaint this car. The seller intended to customize it, but evidently decided it looked better the way it is and is selling it. Would you customize it, enjoy it as it sits, or bring it back to the way it left the factory?
The Carol Brady special
Keith your right this is the ” Brady Bunch” station wagon. Got to wonder if Chrysler was a sponsor for the show. It seems that they always drove Chrysler products.
Sparkster, I believe Chrysler did sponsor the television show for a few years. In the beginning of the first season Mike Brady drove a white 1968 Plymouth Fury convertible for the first two seasons, then drove a 1970 Plymouth Fury convertible in season 3. Then in season 4 he drove a 1973 Chevy Caprice Convertible and a 74 Caprice convertible in the final season of 1974. I can’t recall what Mrs. Brady drove after the Satellite wagon but it’s safe to say Chevrolet took over sponsorship in 1973.
One year was conflicted where they had the Plymouth wagon and Chevy convertible.
Mike’s Furys – a 1968, 1969 and 1970 – were all light blue. He then got a light blue 1971 Barracuda ragtop. After that he switched to a light blue 1972 Impala convertible. He finished out the show with red 1973 and 1974 Caprice ragtops.
Carol had 1969-72 Satellite wagons and finally a 1974. All were medium brown. She never switched to Chevy. The reason Mike switched was because Chrysler stopped making convertibles after ’71. It wasn’t a product placement issue.
Mrs B kept her Chrysler wagons throughout the series, even after Mike switched to Chevy.
Keith, I barely recall a Chrysler product wagon, if there were, seems it would be a 9 pass wagon.. top of the line seems like I remember Mike driving a Barracuda convert but, I could be wrong..
My first thought exactly .. tho I believe Carol’s wagons were gold. She had the mid-size Dodge/Plymouth wagon at some point in the series
It survived 45 years this way. Personally, I wouldn’t have the heart to change it. But I certainly wouldn’t hold a grudge against a new owner if they did. Cool car either way. I think I’m waffling on this one.
I rented one of these when it was almost new. I only took it because it was the last car they had, and they gave me a break on price. Drove it for 4 days. LOVED IT! Drove MUCH better than I expected. You could put an entire Little League team inside! It would make a GREAT tow vehicle with air shocks in the back.
In 1980, I went to work at a public library that had a 74 Satellite wagon. Blue. I put several thousand miles on it delivering new books and returns to the 10 branch libraries in the county.
Ours had the 340 or 360 V-8, I forget.
Had several weird breakdowns over the 4 years it was there with me. In 1984, it was on its last legs. Leaked so much oil we didn’t change it any more, we had to add a quart a week.
My supervisor and I were out in the country one day. There was a back road connecting two state highways
We decided to see what the car would do
Speedometer needle past 120. Still an inch of clearance between the gas pedal and the floor.
We were hoping to blow the motor. MOPARS are tough. The car was pushing 100,000 miles at that time.
340’s ended in ’73.
That’s scary. But all of our MoPar wagons handled quite well for family barges.
Severely overloaded on camping trips, the use of overload rear shocks helped a bit. All vehicles today have load limits in the ops manual, so it’s a good thing we didn’t pay attention to limits. Scary stopping distances.
Real wagons like this need to come back into the world.
Bewitched And i dream of jeanni had gtos. Camaro convertibles impalas and more
Sweet the way it is. Or have fun with some Cragars?!?!
Wide stock cop car wheels stuffed in the wells would work for me.
The fact that this car exists at all is amazing. These wagons were the workhorse of the family. Often unwashed, uncared for, and run until they rusted in half, and the motor would go into the Grandma’s inherited Dodge Dart. The remaining examples became the car of choice for demo derbies, since the Imperial was banned. It’s funny what a big impact TV had on our lives. Even though the color was off, we all recognized it as Carol Brady’s car, what the typical American housewife would drive. In the 70’s, we wouldn’t be caught seen in one of these, much less drive one, but today, a great tribute to everyone that rode in a station wagon as a kid. Got to love that A/C compressor. Bet THAT sucks the hp. Could cool an office building.
My dad picked up one if these back in 84 for 350. A 73 Satellite Sebring same dark green vinyl, high back bench seat up front and a 3rd row. Although it was a creamy yellow color with the woodgrain. It was actually a nice car, solid cruiser. Like this one, the ass was dragging low. Pops went to the police auction one weekend and came home with a 69 Polara wagon. It sat just right. An Elwood Blues 440 cop motor, etc. Black and white paint lots of miles, lots of wires hanging, rust blisters. But 25 bucks and a 5 dollar auction fee brought it home. So pops idea was to get my uncle a diesel mechanic, to swap spring packs to restore the ride height. Well there was about 8 inches difference in eye to eye length. Uncle says leave both of them with him. Unc left the main springs in place and took out the rest of the leafs on both cars and trail and errored different packs till it sat right and then put the pack together again and Bob’s your uncle. Well that Satellite came home with alot of the Polara in it. Power train, diff, big rad, duals that dumped before the diff, and of course the best of the two’s springs. It now looked and sounded very 70’s hot rod like, and high in the ass now. My uncle said they will settle down after a couple weeks. My dad was livid about the rest of the changes though. So he gave my dad 800 for 2 cars, and pops came home with a 200 dollar 4 door Aspen. The springs did settle level like he said and my uncle would take me and my brother out for ice cream on Sundays. And of course be a unassuming sleeper that just about beat all contenders. It now occupies a corner of his shop with a two door waiting for a transplant. He can’t bring himself to do it though. The wagon never rusted. But the coupe is pretty crunchy. Dont think he will swap either. Life, business, and kids, yadda yadda, yadda. It still goes out occasionally and rarely disappoints. Dad shoulda kept that one but he hated money not doing anything.
My Dad had 2 of them in the seventies for daily driving and hauling stock around for our variety stores. You could put a lot in them with the back seat folded down,. There was also a well at the back to store additional stuff. I like them now and as a kid of 12.
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I can almost smell the old vinyl.
We had one of these in the early 80’s with a 400 2 barrel. It was a great car for our family except for the 7 MPG.
Mike Brady drove a 1968 blue Dodge Polara convertible in the pilot; a 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible also also blue; second season a 1970 Plymouth Fury III convertible in blue; a 1970 blue Plymouth Barracuda convertible in year three; a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible in year three (in one episode it has a rear clip from the ’72 Barracuda; Plymouth dropped the Barracuda convertible in 1971); also there was a 1972 blue Chevrolet Impala convertible; a red 1973 Chevrolet Caprice convertible; and a dark red 1974 Chevrolet Caprice convertible in year five (the one Greg and Marcia used for their “driving test”). The “Bradys” 1974 dark red Caprice was also used in an episode of The Odd Couple in 1975. Carol, on the other hand, drove five different Plymouth Satellite station wagons, one representing each year from 1969 through ’73. The ’69 took the Bunch on an overnight camping trip in season one; the ’71 took them to the Grand Canyon in season three; and the ’72 was involved in a fender bender in the later part of that same season. The vehicles were loaned to Paramount by the Chrysler Corporation and The Chevrolet motor Division for filming. Incidentally, the 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible that “Mike Brady” drove was recently restored to showroom condition
I had a 72 Custom Suburban or something, the huge Plymouth Wagon with a 383 2bbl that was used for communting between LA and Las Vegas with two other people and a full load. The car was perfect for the job, in this color, with this color interior. Which i hated. I bought it for $250.00, it lasted two years and died in a used car lot in Northern California.
Drove the Dodge version in Driver’s Ed, 1972. Same color, same color interior. Full six passenger seating and all that cargo room.
Some of these wound up in demolition derby’s. It was either that or straight to the wrecking yard without a send off. Nobody ever gave a darn about these old land yachts.