No option 72 Satellite

Bryans garage · Post by **Bryans garage** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:59 pm

Hello, I'm new to this board, but not other MOPAR sites. I have a 72 Dodge Charger and a 67 Valiant, my son has a 70 RoadRunner .
My son recently bought a 72 Satellite 2 door hardtop ,with no options at all.
Was a heater an option or required in 72? This car does'nt even have roll down 1/4 widows!
225 /6 ,3 spd colulm shift, radio delete, dog dish on black steel rims, and what looks like a 8 1/4 rear axel!
We guess that this was puchased for under $2000 new! Am I very far off?
The odd thing ,is it has a two tone green interior. The car is in great shape for it's age. The interior is near perfect, and the body has some rust issues below the body lines near the wheel wells and lower 1/4s.

Bryans garage · Post by **Bryans garage** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:13 pm

Wow, 20 looks and not one reply! I guess it's because it's not a RoadRunner.I'm new to this site and thought someone might know about these cars.
My son Ryan, took the car out to the Woodward Dream cruise Saturday and most everyone who saw it, loved it.

Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 9:44 am

Hi!

Sorry to take a while to post on your thread. I've been SUPER swamped at work, to the point I didn't even get to drive down to the Mopar Nationals this year.

Good news is, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, it sounds like a neat Satellite. My parents had a very basic 71 Satellite Coupe that really started this love of the 71s for me. It was a 318/Auto car with the AM radio and full wheel covers as the only options. Fixed quarter windows, and not even carpet, just a full rubber floor mat. So I have a special place in my heart for the stripper coupes.

I don't have the exact option pricing for the 72s, but yea, right about $2000 new sounds right. I don't have documentation to back this up yet, but I do believe that the heater was standard in 72, and I'm not 100% sure it could be deleted for that matter. The 2 tone green interior, I'm guessing is lighter green inserts on a darker green seat, right? If so then yea, that was the base interior scheme. On a black interior car, it would have been black seats with gunmetal inserts.

Anyway, sounds like a really neat car, and honestly probably a fairly rare animal. What are your son's plans for the car? You really don't see many RL21 coupes around. Personally, I'd love to see something like that restored to just how it left the factory.

By the way, I do have tucked away a set of factory tinted quarter window glass for a coupe (it's different than the hard top cars), if you are ever interested. I'm sure there weren't many made, and years back I parted out a 72 coupe that was an orignal A/C car, hence the tinted glass.

Again, welcome to the site!

Bryans garage · Post by **Bryans garage** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 4:52 pm

Thanks Dave, I kinda' thought that other members would have an answer.
His original plan was to drop the /6 for a 318, 4spd, change the car to black ext., black interior ,and RoadRunner markings.
After telling him to slow down on mods, he finally realized that the car is a rare one the way it sits. He got way more attention at the cruise, than the 71/72 RoadRunners around him.
The body is arrow straight, but rusted on each side of the rear wheel well. Surface rust along the panel below the doors, and a rust through spot by the wheel well in the trunk.
We found the build sheet , but sadly the mice got every thing but the bottom.
So he's going to repair the rust and spot in the paint to match. We have a digital camera, maybe I'll shoot you a picture or two. I'll get one of the data plate too.
Bryan

Post by **Dave** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:16 pm

I'm sure the car will get attention simply because you just don't see many 71-74s at all motivated by Ye-Ole-Leaning-Tower-of-Power. Heheheh. Not to mention the complete stripper quality of the car.

It does sound like a good starting point for a nice restoration, as it really only has the typical rot common to the 71/72s. As long as the rot isn't up in to the wheel lip area above the wheelhouse, it shouldn't be too hard of a fix. Even as rare and cool as the car is, in terms of possible resale value, it's not "worth" a full blown restoration, but I think it's worth putting the time into it to make it a quality driver, simply in the spirit of preserving a rare car. Do you know if the car is still #'s matching? If so, I definately think it would be worthwhile (maybe not in $$$ like I said) to keep it original.

I'd love to see some pictures of it! Feel free to email them to me (dave@roadrunnernest.com)!

I guess I look at your son's car in the same way I look at the SSP I picked up earlier this year. You just don't see nicely restored Satellites anywhere. Sure, there are cars that have RH or RP VINs that have been restored, but a large majority of them are running around as Road Runner or GTX clones. A well restored Satellite will definately draw attention simply because it's different. That's why when I get to it, my SSP will be restored right back to it's fender tag, since it's a #'s matching 383/2bbl car.

Bryans garage · Post by **Bryans garage** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 1:13 pm

Dave, It is a #s matching engine,trans and axle. The car was bought new by a farmer in Peck ,Michigan. We have the original title .The farmer must have gotten to where he couldn't drive and it was parked in his garage for 15 years.

Post by **Dave** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 4:49 pm

That's awsome that you have the history of the car, as well as an all #'s matching driveline. The more I learn about the car, the more I'd love to see it restored.

Is your son the 2nd owner then?

If you don't mind me asking, how much did he give for the car?

Bryans garage · Post by **Bryans garage** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 10:51 pm

Dave, Try $1300! The guy we got it from bought it from the farmers estate for his son to fix up. The son didn't like the 3 on the tree ,so they bought a 78 Aspen.
We got a couple pictures today at a local cruise, so once my wife downloads them, I'll send you a couple. Maybe you could post them on the web site.
The only thing we added was the ralley wheels from my Charger, while it's waiting for paint. But we have the stock steel wheels and poverty caps.

1972RM23 · Post by **1972RM23** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 11:10 pm

Hey Bryans garage....sorry for not posting earlier. I saw your post last week and meant to reply but I was at the Michigan Nascar race last weekend ....I saw Woodard Ave Dream cruise on TV though!

Anyway here's what I can tell you about your car:
For 1972 Plymouth Satellite 2-door coupe RL21 (US market) there were:
9,248 cars made.
2,145 were 225 CID 6 cyl
1,737 auto's
408 3-speed column manual trans

Your two tone green interior is B2F6 (the same standard vinyl bench seat that was on Road Runners).
707 were made with this (green) standard trim vinyl bench seat.
You did not say what exterior color it was buy I'll assume it's GF7 Sherwood Green
235 were made Gf7 Sherwood Green

As far as price goes:
RL21 Satellite 2-door coupe 6 cyl MSRP was $2609.00

Pretty much as bare bones car you have there...
Does your car have M21 drip rail moldings if so it was an option for RL21
M21 $12.65

Thanks about all I can think of .....hope this helps.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Steve (1972RM23)

Post by **Dave** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 9:41 am

$1300 sounds like a decent price on that car.

I picked up my SSP, which sounds like it's a little more solid, but still a project car, for $3300 earlier this year. I'm definately looking forward to seeing some pictures of it!

Steve, way to go with all the info! Guess I was off a bit on the 72 pricing. Hehehe... That's exactly what this site is about, sharing good info like that. So it looks like this coupe is 1 of 408 at the most. Pretty cool! Guess that technically makes it more rare than a Superbird, right?

71440 gtx · Post by **71440 gtx** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 10:30 pm

cool nice car the 71 74 satelites road runner gtx. a6 318 340 383 400 440hemi i like themall

russ71satellite · Post by **russ71satellite** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 11:17 pm

I restored my amber sherwood 71 Satellite to stock after considering the RR clone route, and I'm glad I did. While there's nothing special about mine, except the optional Tuff wheel, it does get alot of attention, because you just don't see many nicely restored 71-74 Satellites. As far as shows go, if judges are fair, it doesn't matter what the car is, as long as it's restored correctly.
Like everyone else, I wish my car was a big block, but the little 318 with a/c still won best engine in one of the larger Mopar shows in this area, and also won best post 1970 B body.
Would anyone know how many of these were made with the Tuff wheel option?

Post by **Dave** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:56 am

Russ,

I'm really glad to hear of a GF3 Satellite being restored as a Satellite! The car that my parents bought in 71, and you could say is the reason this site exits, was a 71 Satellite coupe, in GF3. We had that car for 14 years - and I still regret ever letting it get away.

I have no doubt your car gets a lot of attention at the shows. It's different, and that's what really stands out. I'd love to eventually be able to see your car someday. It sounds really awsome.

russ71satellite · Post by **russ71satellite** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:07 pm

Thanks for the reply, Dave. As soon as I can figure out how to, I'll post a picture of the car. I bought it four years ago from the original owner in California for $2,000 out of Hemmings. Paid $800 to have it shipped here to the Mississippi Coast. No rust at all, very solid, definitely used, but not abused. She had about 155,000 miles. I did a cosmetic restoration and to this day, engine has never been torn into. My wife and i just returned from a 1400 mile round trip to St. Louis for Monster Mopar Weekend and she performed perfectly.
The original owners gave me the original window sticker, owner's manual, key tags (for getting replacement keys) and engine inspection tags.

By the way, this is an awesome site and I loved reading the reprint of the article on designing of the 71 B body.

Thanks,
Russ Jennings

71383bee · Post by **71383bee** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:20 pm

Nice find,

I got a pretty plain jane satellite. The only real options are drip rail, power steering and vinyl top. Other than that it's bench seat auto with manual brakes. The rear 1/4 windows do roll down however.

As far as keeping the /6...if it were me there is nothing like the sound of a v8 through true duals, but to each their own. An engine swap is not too dificult for these cars. It's the periferals that need to be considered. namely radiator, brakes, suspension, transmission, driveshaft, and rear axle. Running any power on any rear less than an 8 1/4 is foolish and the 8 1/4 is only good for mild motors anyways. All of the parts are available and a swap would be fairly easy, but try not to forget about the periferals.

Road Runner Nest

No option 72 Satellite

No option 72 Satellite

Welcome!

Doesn't sound bad...

Cool

Hope this helps

71 74

restore it as a Satellite!