My First Car - 1970 Sports Satellite

Back in 1970 I was a senior in college and with student teaching as part of my class work, a car would come in handy. I had been getting by borrowing my folks 1955 Dodge Coronet or 1965 Fury II but now it was time to get my own car. I went to my local Dodge/Plymouth dealership and looked over all the literature in hopes of ordering a new 1970 Dodge Charger. After studying the material and checking with my folk’s insurance man the choice was going to be an olive green Charger with bucket seats and 318 motor. I would have preferred the 383 or 440 power plant but they would have made the insurance bill higher than my yearly car payment. I did like the body style of the ’70 Roadrunner and GTX but again engine cubic inches meant too big of an insurance bill for me to afford.

Unfortunately, by the time I decided what I wanted and the options desired, the dealer informed me that no more 1970 models could be ordered. He did say that he had a 1970 Plymouth Sport Satellite coming in to be used as a drivers education car. The Sports Satellite is the model closest in appearance to a RR or GTX. This car was ordered with the extra cost high impact EV2 tor-red paint accented by a black vinyl top. Except for not having the rally dash the Sports Satellite interior was identical to the GTX. This car had the economical 318 with a column mounted 3 speed manual transmission backed up with 2.93 gears in an 8 3/4" rearend. Other options, to name them were: air conditioning, light package, AM radio with rear speaker, power steering, 6- way drivers seat, rear window defogger, drivers remote outside mirror, and rear bumper guards. The dealer told me I could buy it when the school was through using it. I would also be able to get an additional discount off the list price of over $4,000, due to the car being used as a drivers ed. vehicle. I told the dealer I would take it. Approximately 600 drivers education miles later the dealer called and said I could come down to pick it up for $3000 plus tax and license.

Since I have owned it, the car has been involved in a few fender-benders but no major accidents. In 1971 the driver’s side rear quarter was replaced after the car was struck in the side. At that time the flat black paint was applied to the lower part of the body and door panels to accent the chrome trim.

In 1984, after almost 200,000 miles of service, it was retired to be restored at a later date. The drive train was in very good condition but years of driving on Iowa salted highways in the winter had taken their toll badly on the rear quarters and rocker panels. This picture taken in Oct. 1990 show the best side and "hide" a lot of the rust damage.

That summer the original 14" steel black rims with sport wheel covers gave way to a set of 14" road wheels. I still have the original window sticker that was scraped off the driver side glass and I did find the broadcast sheet to this car in the back seat springs. I had Galen Govier decode this sheet for me Note on row 8, the first box is checked for "drivers train. decal".

Home