The Wow Factor: 1966 Plymouth Satellite Hemi
Wow, just…wow. Sometimes there just aren’t enough superlatives to describe how nice some cars are. For sale here on eBay and located in Columbus, Ohio is this sparkling example of 1960s rolling iron. Complete with a clear title and a host of documentation, you merely have to hand over $89,500 and this can be yours. Simple as that.
Now I’m going to try to put my rational hat on and take a closer look at this. It really does look nice. The seller claims that this car has covered a mere 60,000 miles. I think that it’s best to quote him directly from his ad: “Guaranteed original with Certicard, broadcast sheet, trim tag, owners manual with original purchaser’s name, Hemi glove box supplement and other original owner documentation.” That covers a fair amount of documentation. As I look at it I really struggle to find anything about the external appearance of this car that I can criticize. There are also a number of photos of the underside of this Satellite and they show just as nicely as the top side does. For those who are worried about those wheels, fear not. The seller is including the original date-coded painted steel wheels and the original spinner wheel covers as well. And the icing on the cake is that the original jack and Goodyear Blue Streak spare still reside in the trunk.
I have struggled to find a flaw in the external appearance of this car. This is really the only thing. This shot shows an area that is admittedly not normally visible. I’m interested in the runs in the paint. Given how flawless the rest of this claimed original paint is, this just seems a little odd. Thoughts?
There are a number of interior shots, but they are pretty specific. They show the instruments and an absolutely perfect black headliner. This shot is the closest to an overall interior photo and it does look good. Once again the seller states that this is the original interior and is unrestored.
Looking for somewhere to dine out? Then you could easily eat off this engine! That’s about as clean as they come. This is the original 426ci Hemi. It’s backed by a 4-speed transmission and a 3.54 Dana. Once again the presentation here is first rate. The seller states that if you ever wanted to know what it’s like to drive a brand new Hemi, then this is your chance. He also states that given its location, it is only 30 minutes away from the Mopar Nationals on 10th-12th August. I’m not sure if he means that the car will be there, but if someone is seriously interested in this Plymouth and is going to attend the Nationals then I’m guessing that it’s a safe bet that he’d get it there.
Scouting around the internet reveals a number of ’66 Satellites for sale. Interestingly I could only find two that were genuine 426 Hemis. Only one was a factory 4 speed. Prices for both were north of $90,000. Of course asking a price is one thing, but achieving it is another matter entirely. In this funny old world that we live in I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if the seller gets his wish.
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Comments
Wow! I just passed through Columbus yesterday. Now all I need is an extra 80K and I’ll be livin’ large in a vintage Mopar.
You would be literally living in it.
Runs in the paint are common on cars of that era. Those look like primer runs where the entire body was dipped before painting. They were not on the exterior where you would see them,
I don’t think these cars were dipped. If I’m wrong please let me know.
Because it was hidden by bumper. The guy pulling the trigger hammered the paint.
My thinkin if dipped the paint would be running of the ridge line all the way across. Looks like the painter overlapped hard. Bodda bing runnage.
Yes, Chrysler used to dip the bodies. Not paint, though. They would need a bath set up for each colour. 21 colours – 21 baths.
Chrysler had a dipping process as part of their rust proofing. They started it with the arrival of the unibody for 1960, and by 1964 they had a seven-stage rustproofing system where the bodies were dipped for each stage. Which is why all the holes in the floor – to drain off the chemical bath as the body left the bath.
Bodies were spray painted once the bodies were dried and sanded after the primer layers and before anything was added to the body. Door handles, locks, bumpers were all added after the painting was done and the paint heat dried.
A friend in our car cruise club is at the Mopar Nationals with his Roadrunner which he drove it there from Kansas City. I’ll have to email this to him.
Flippers, OH my. Let’s leave cars to the car lovers. Beauty, car lovers are hard working, solid people. But, like me poor. So the “flip” them is bad. If you want to play, bring CASH. You all remember when…. I will never help you, cause you want too much
Hank, I literally got a headache trying to figure out what your post was trying to say! LOL
Me TOO!
Grammar and syntax are obviously not a priority
Nice….but it’s made the rounds before….just not sure about it….but of course I don’t have that kinda cash around either.
“She drove a Plymouth Satellite, faster than the speed of liiiiight…”
In addition to admiring the cars on Barn Finds, I enjoy the clever and humorous articles like this one. BF has talented writers.
Sweet! I like it, can’t afford it but like it none the less.
Back in the 70’s (post OPEC) knew a guy with a decent job that picked up every Hemi he could lay his hands on for about 10 cents on the dollar. He had one similar to this one IIRC. He had around a dozen cars at that time and I drooled all over the place looking at them. This looks better than any of the ones he had.
These cars were sprayed not dipped and imperfections in the paint particularly in areas where it was not that visible, there were runs and over-spray. This is one of my favorite body styles. My brother had a 66 sport satellite with a 383, 4 barrel, auto. Great car. I owned a 67 GTX but it wasn’t anywhere near this pretty.
What a car! I am surprised it did not come with some type of tach from the factory.
I always loved the hard edged lines on the roof and especially the C pillar of these Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth cars of that era. Very distinct. For the Mopar die hards, they will pay, if it checks out. Most of them are very, very well informed about their brand. Tim Wellborn could probably tell you if this car is legit, because he may have owned it already! I’ll take Tim over Galen simply because I have heard of a couple of Mopars that Galen approved that turned out to be pumpkins. Not saying he did it, just that someone may have fudged his work.
My FAVE Mopar……..:-) LOVE it!!
I’m not a MOPAR guy, nor do I have that kind of money, but she sure is pretty!!
yes……….WOW!
What else can I say? But Wow! That’s the cleanest 66 Plymouth Satellite I’d ever seen. I’ve always loved Mopars of the 1960s and early 70s. :)
This car is in one of my older magazines. Beautiful car! Good investment for somebody!
MOPAR = Motor Parts Division…. morphed into the corp. name??
Mopar became Chrysler’s parts name around 1938. It never really morphed into anything as the corporate name was Chrysler Motors Corporation and Mopar was a division. Prior to the Mopar name the parts business was handled by the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation, a subsidiary of Chrysler Motors Corporation. And that morphed into Mopar.
In Canada Chrysler of Canada came up with the Chryco name for the Canadian parts business. The Chryco name was used into the 1980’s when it was replaced by Mopar. Chrysler of Canada also had a line of parts for service stations and other non-Chrysler related companies – Autopar. In business from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
Pioneer Chrysler in Mission, BC, still has their Chryco/Autopar sign on the building.
You’re right Bill W. I’m from Vancouver and go out to the Valley a lot. Pioneer Chrysler has a lot of nice brand new MoPar muscle on the lot all the time…right?? :-)
Too bad it is a hard top. Now if it was a 2 door post. white with red bench seat interior–I’m in
Oh no!!! I have become a BF whinner
I have painted Chrysler’s that I knew to be original paint they had Factory runs
I’ m not sure but I think that the street hemi was only available in the bellvedere ll in 66 not the satilite
Paint is still not perfect today, Nissan Rogue demonstrator the dealer gave me to “test drive” had orange peel paint worthy of a mid-50’s Ford. Went to Audi dealer across the street, paid twice as much, but paint is perfect.
You own this and can’t afford college? Nope .
Beautiful! Nice ride. Wishing I had that kind of money….If he’ll let me buy it, a piece at a time, I have enough for a valve stem…
Drips and runs were the norm in pretty much all detroit cars back in the day. It was common in pretty much all areas not seen from the outside. Places like the firewall, inside door jambs, the trunk area, even the bottom of the runk lid, and places underneath, like in the photo, and bottoms of rocker panels, you name it. Restorers often photograph those areas of a car before stripping it, mostly in platinum restorations, and they duplicate the runs when they repaint the body.
These are beautiful cars regardless of what lies under the hood.
Thanks for primer dipping info Bill W.
Asking price is a hair above fair value – very respectable. If I had $80K I’d make an offer.