The earlier 1960 Plymouth XNR post brought two things to mind. One, the 1971 – 1972 B-Body coupes with the XNR-inspired wrap-around grille are getting very scarce indeed. What’s left of them are all living pampered lives in some garage, sipping away from their 440 six-packs. And two: some of you younger and less fanatic readers may not know that the illustrious Sebring name was not recently retired by Chrysler for the first time.
I shot this in the Bay Area a while back, and I apologize for the lack of a proper front-quarter view: I was walking with a group of relatives, and by this time they were razzing me about my frequent stops. Hey, this is important! Especially when it’s an ebring Plus, that’s obviously had its roof re-coated to withstand the harsher CA sun. Snow Roof, perhaps?
The Mopar mid-size pack arrived in 1971, sporting the latest iteration of the fuselage look, which didn’t age all that well. I mean, at the time; by the mid seventies, the boxy formal look was in, and Chrysler had to try to reskin these as best as they could. The 1970 Barracuda and Challenger shared quite a bit of their skeletons with these B-Body coupes, which in turn shared little sheet metal with the four door versions.
The loop grille only lasted for the first two years, and by 1973, a dramatically less distinctive front end graced the Satellite and its Sebring offshoots. The loop grille’s heyday was over everywhere in Detroit, as the new bumper regulations started to take effect in 1973. Actually, the Satellite’s bumpers are one of the best of the breed of new five-mile bumpers, unlike some of the protruding cowcatchers that cars of that era were sullied with. I’m planning an Automotive History on the subject, so consider this a warm up act.
Speaking of warm, in 1973 Chrysler’s engines were a bit less hot than they had been, thanks to the also tightening emission standards. But a full palette of options was still on the books: the 225 CID slant six now with 105 hp (all hp figures in net); the most popular 318 V8 (5.2 L) had 150 hp; and the 400 V8 (6.6 L) came in two-barrel (175 hp) and four-barrel versions. That final version made a pretty healthy 250 or 260 hp, depending on which source you prefer.
An oddity I had forgotten about was the console in these cars. As is all-too obvious, passengers were not being encouraged to downshift the TorqueFlite in a helping way: “Mom; you need a bit of boost here getting on this freeway ramp…”
The actual shifter is covered by that notebook, perhaps as an additional layer of UV protection, which this car seems to be highly sensitive to. Must find a genuine loop-bumpered Sebring…
An older relative had one of these – in a burnt orange color, with a white vinyl roof – that was bought as a brand-new car. I remember riding in it and thinking that it still wasn’t as quiet and smooth as my parents’ 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 Holiday sedan – which was six years old by that time.
As a budding car enthusiast, I remember thinking even then that it seemed out of step with the Colonnade GM intermediates. Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths just seemed less glamorous and stylish than their GM (or even some Ford) counterparts by 1973. It was as though all intermediate and full-size Mopars were really either taxi cabs or cop cars at heart.
The bumper regs undoubtedly influenced the styling of this particular car, but it’s also interesting to note how Chrysler was desperately trying to bring its intermediates – which debuted with swoopy, fuselage styling in 1971 – in line with the styling trends established by GM. The result on the sedans was a formal front mated to a swoopy body, and it wasn’t necessarily pretty, let alone coherent. At least the original 1971-72 models all show a consistent design theme.
People criticize the GM Colonnade cars today, but between 1973 and 1977 they pretty much decimated Chrysler’s intermediate offerings. Chrysler could only stay in the game by offering a Chrysler that looked like a Monte Carlo, and was sold by an aging Mexican actor in commercials we thought were campy even then.
This car is also interesting in that the early 1970s mark the final years of Plymouth as a major marque. Plymouth actually reclaimed third place in sales in both 1971 and 1974, although it was the Valiant/Duster combo that provided the major boost. The intermediates were definitely playing third fiddle to both the compacts and the Fury. After 1974, there was hardly any reason to buy a Plymouth instead of a Dodge, and Chrysler increasingly gave important new models – Cordoba/Charger, LeBaron/Diplomat – to Chrysler and Dodge, but not Plymouth. (The Chrysler Cordoba was originally supposed to be a Plymouth.) By 1980, Plymouth was virtually invisible.
Thank you for your excellent commentary, as usual. I’m on a cycle of doing one more in-depth CC, followed by one less so. It’s obvious which one this is…so I rely on the help of friends to fill out the shorter ones 🙂
Thank you, Paul, for this wonderful site. I love reading about these old cars, especially the ones that are often ignored by the collector car community. I don’t believe I’ve even seen a 1973-74 Plymouth Sebring at the Carlisle Chrysler event.
Your stories are much more interesting than the usual recitation of engine options and trim levels found in print classic car magazines.
I could not agree more Geeber. And Thank you for filling in some details on The Sebring Plus, I had forgotten it was a Plymouth back in the day. I always hated The Taillights within the bumpers. It always looked like a cheap move to me. I’ve always loved the ever changing minute details of the expressive taillights.
I too love reading about all the cars, but especially the ones that rarely get written up and appreciated elsewhere. Plymouth always seemed like a Grandpa car.
Mr. Geeber: excellent essay!
Let people in their hindsight criticize the GM “colonnade” mid-sizers of 73-77. At the time, they were beautiful and came to define personal luxury.
One of them, the Olds Cutlass began it’s run as America’s best seller as Paul has showed us, in 1973.
Even today, if you spot one on the road and is well kept, the style holds up.
Though now they appear a freakishly large.
Just today I found myself behind a ’72 Buick LeSabre dark blue convertible here in West L.A….it was enormous! How did we drive around in those days with all these land barges poking about?
caljn, that brings up a good point. Imagine how much worse our traffic gridlock in LA would be if we were all driving the 70s full sized boats. Still not as bad as being in a car behind a big honking SUV, much less the sea of them we often find ourselves swimming in.
Geeber: Nice post per your custom. Chrysler was always number three for a reason. Their overall quality could never match Ford and GM. I also reluctantly agree on the Colonnade styling after the pillarless hardtops were prematurely dropped – and in my world, they never should have been, at least on two-door models. I must disagree with you on Plymouth’s irrelevance after 1980. I’m not sure of the sales figures, but I saw an awful lot of Reliants and later, Acclaims, of which we owned both. Plymouth always to me exuded some class by having more trim, that’s why we bought them – I hated the Dodge cross hairs even then. Of course, you or someone else will show sales figures that will make me eat my words, but I’ll take that chance and will admit I was wrong.
Thank you caljn and zackman.
I remember Chrysler being very respected for the Dart and Valiant/Duster, especially for those models with the slant six. People sought out those cars. In some ways, they were the Corolla of their day – tough, reliable, roomy for their size, frugal, but not particularly exciting or stylish.
Unfortunately, Chrysler’s intermediates and full-size cars just didn’t seem to resonate with the public after the late 1960s. The Plymouth GTX and Road Runner, and Dodge Super Bee, R/T and Charger were admired during the muscle-car era, but when the intermediate market switched to personal luxury, the Mopars just weren’t that attractive anymore. GM, and, to a lesser extent, Ford, had what the buyers wanted.
Interestingly, the older relative who had the 1973 Plymouth Sebring later traded it for…a 1981 Cutlass Supreme!
As for Plymouth’s position by 1980 – I’m comparing it to Plymouth’s glory days, when it usually held down either the number-three or number-four spot in the sales race. People routinely spoke of the low-price three – Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth.
By 1980, no one was doing that anymore. It was pretty much just Ford and Chevrolet. If I recall correctly, by 1979, Cadillac actually outsold Plymouth!
Geeber: One more thought on the GM Colonnade style: I remembered always comparing the Colonnade models to Ford and MoPar models in four-door guise, and the Colonnade style looked “finished” as opposed to merely sticking in a B pillar of what was a hardtop and shortening the glass to fit the increased space. I believe GM did that too on a couple of their large barges as an option for some reason, but right now can’t quite pin it down. See? I know just enough to be dangerous!
Until its Indian summer with the Voyager minivan…
Thanks for posting this Paul. Next you need to do a CC article on the Dodge Magnum, and I don’t mean the LX-platform station wagon. 🙂
The Plymouth logo next to “ebring Plus” is upside-down. It appears to be vertically in the right place, so I don’t think it just spun around because a mounting pin broke off. It would be funny if it was installed that way from the factory.
I never noticed before, but the Plymouth logo from that time looks a lot like the Oldsmobile rocket ship logo. I always thought that the Olds logo looked a lot like the Lincoln crosshairs logo, just with the horizontal bar bent.
What I need to do next is actually find a Dodge Magnum. Wish me luck; I’ll need it!
It seems eventually I find what I need, so hang in there.
I would love to see an article on the Dodge Magnum, which was one of the best-looking of the 1970s personal luxury coupes. Too bad that Chrysler didn’t introduce the 1975 Charger with Magnum-like styling from day one…it would definitely have sold better.
Didn’t Mrs Brady drive one just like that??
71-74 are probably my favorite years for B bodies. What happened between 75 and 78 was just heart breaking.
I believe that the Bradys had a few early 1970s Satellite wagons, but I don’t recall Mrs. Brady ever driving a Sebring. For the final season, the Bradys switched from Mopar to Chevrolet…which mirrored what was happening the real world.
You are correct sir! Who could forget the trip to the Grand Canyon in the Satellite wagon?
Then later Greg, (or was it Marcia, Marcia, Marcia) learned to drive in an Impala convertible.
The Bradys always had a Satellite/Satellite Custom…Mike went Chevrolet after Chrysler built its last ragtop, the 1971 Barracuda/Challenger. Addenum: MANNIX was filmed at the same studio, and they put a 1972 grille on a ’71, then added those big rubber bumpers so it was a “1973”. They finally gave up and put him in a 1974 Camaro.
Tell us what street it’s on and I could probably score some more pics of it…
A friend bought one of these from his f-i-l. It was avocado, a truly ugly color, with the (real) white vinyl top. His car had the 400 4-barrel and was not slow. The interesting thing to me about his car: I parked my 1980 Firebird beside it, and the height and length were within an inch or so, and his black and white interior with the bucket seats, console, and floor shift was also remarkably similar to that of the Firebird. For two cars of such similar size and general shape, the styling couldn’t have been much more dissimilar.
That JUX California plate on the car shown is almost certainly the original from when the car was new.
OMG 105 hp from a 225 thats pathetic. I remember OZ Valiants of 67 with 160hp proudly displayed and the 70 VF pacer had more, last model b4 the mighty Hemi6 took over in 71. I guess it was cheaper to strangle engines than redesign them to run cleaner.
Are those gross or net hp numbers? In fact, what did Australia use back in the day? The gross number for the 225 was 145 hp, but with only a one-barrel. If you wanted power, Chrysler had the V8 you really wanted.
A doorway to Australian Valiant stats is here:
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_info_chrysler_valiant.htm
For the VE model (about 1967) go here:
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/valiant_ve_technical_specifications.htm
A co-worker had one of these in the early 1980’s and I tried desperately to buy it as I was looking for a car after my wife went back to work. His was white-on-white and beautiful. I later found the 1976 Dart Lite which had a cool factor of its own – my young kids referred to it as the “race car”! Paul – see if you can find an early 80’s Imperial along with a Mirada. I liked both of those, too.
There’s a blue Imperial that I’ve seen twice in traffic but couldn’t catch it, being on foot. Walking does have its limitations. But I’m sure I’ll eventually will catch it; at least I know it’s out there.
The Mirada: very low hope factor. I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
Here’s another rare branch of the Mopar family tree for you. When was the last time you saw a R-body Dodge St. Regis or the Plymouth Gran Fury/Chrysler New Yorker that were built on the same platform? I haven’t seen any of those three beyond about the middle 90’s.
Nice article (as always, Paul !) . . . and good commentary Geeber! Clean Satellite – weird top respray – but – there must’ve been a sale at Pep Boys w/Krylon! My step-mom had a ’72 Plymouth Scamp in the exact same color scheme. 318 2bbl V-8 and with that light weight that car was a SCREAMER! It was also a sleeper. San Rafael Ghillotti’s “dragstrip” and Irwin Street onto 101 “runs” embarassed a ’69 Mach 1 (Windsor 351) and a (then 1977) Trans Am (California 403 chocked Olds) and a ’66 Fairlane 390 six pack. Big fun until Step-Mom discovered unusually worn rear tires . . . .
Felt sorry for the Sebring (and subsequent “small Fury” in ’75 on). The mid-size underdog. Rarer than rare the ’75 Road Runner “appearance option” . At least in ’74 you could sort of get a Road Runner (360 4bbl).
One more little thing – the Plymouth “rocket” logo wasn’t necessarily meant to ape Olds – it was the old Mopar “Forward Look” logo turned in a vertical position which saw the light of day around 1963. Plymouth’s answer to Dodge’s “Fratzog” ornament.
Also, as a Bay Area native and for many bloggers on this site, on TTAC and Bring-A-Trailer – a little about California plates:
The blue and yellows first hit the streets in the fall of ’69. I saw my first XXX AID sequence forward in San Rafael/San Francisco about October of that year.
Black and yellow COMMERCIAL tags were issued through 1971 with “K” being the last letter; blue and yellow commercials with “L” at the end around late ’71.
It is not uncommon in Cal to see a black plate 1970 model car with a “ZX-ZY-ZZ” prefix (sold new in the fall of ’69) or a ’71-’72 commercial vehicle with a black plate commercial tag.
I have read that some county DMV’s did have stocks of black and yellows issued through into the beginning of 1970, and that would make sense.
Also SoCal got the ‘oddball’ letter sequences through into 1981 when the number/letter/number sequences began. EX: SoCal black plates cars got mostly “J’s” “K’s” “O’s” “Q’s” as the beginning letter where NorCal cars didn’t.
In 1967, there were some oddball “A” beginning letter sequences that hadn’t been issued and wound up being assigned to new Cal registrations in ’67. Ex: In the Bay Area I have seen ’67 model cars with an “AEN XXX”. Even in ’65 some cars were issued with a “B” . Go figure!
The yellow on blue plates replaced the yellow on black ones, but not until existing stocks of the former were sold out. This happened at different times in different issuing offices, so it isn’t rare to see black plates that were issued in 1970. I agree with September 69 as the first time yellow on blue plates showed up.
I didn’t know that any A-prefix plates were sold as late as 1967. I do have a 1965 natural pair AGN 990 that I got in 66 or so – that prefix was the last of the original allotment sold in Lodi.
I suspect that the CA dmv originally intended to switch from steel to aluminum when starting the yellow on blue plates, because the paint on the steel variety of blue plates hasn’t lasted well over the years; I suspect it was formulated for adhesion to aluminum, and that they had a lot of steel on hand when the black plates ended and decided to use it up.
Like so many ’70s cars, I find this one bloated and silly looking.
Still, I’d never known the Sebring name was used before the Chysler Sebrings of the mid-’90s onward, and I consider myself to be someone who has heard of a LOT of oddball cars and trim packages and whatnot.
I love this site!
I love this car!!! Brings back memories!!! I owned one brand new just like it! “If I only knew then what I know now!!!” LOL
Actually, I think this is one of the better looking post muscle car efforts. It’s the boxy cars from the late 70’s-early 80’s that I thought looked even sillier. I had a Fox platform 1981 Ford Thunderbird for a while, and it was decent car to drive, but the boxy styling was awful. A coworker of mine had a 1980 Pontiac Gran Prix that didn’t look much better. Most of the US automakers were expressing themselves in cubist forms in those days. Combine the styling with the lousy performance due to tightening emissions and fuel economy standards necessitating the use of power robbing devices and controls and those were dark days in automotive history.
The “driver-oriented” tilted center console appears to be shared with the Dodge Challenger of the time.
Love the new site. You mentioned that you were going to do some pieces on how the 1973 bumper regulations affected autos. I would love to see a comparison between how imports differed in the US and abroad. Or how the continuing models changed, for example the chrome bumper vs. rubber bumper MGB.
Thanks for your continued excellent articles. Love to learn about older autos, new ones just don’t do it for me anymore.
The bumpers on the 73-74 Satellites and Chargers were pretty clean looking compared to some automakers efforts at compliance. The black rubber pads got thicker for 74, but apart from that remained pretty much the same.
Me and a buddy of mine raced stock bodied cars at the local dirt track. We bought a car similar to the feature car (ours was green/green w/400 & TF auto) for use in these races. By 1988, the car had been a daily driver for 15+ years, and was pretty rusty, but the mechanicals were in excellent condition. We both drove the car before we converted it into a race car, the 400 had plenty of grunt for a smog motor. At the time, I felt it was a shame to essentially destroy a relatively well optioned car like that. But there was no market for that model of Plymouth and as we found later, the rust damage was more extensive than we realized.
So we trussed up the old girl with a home made roll cage and ladder bars and went racing with it. Oh the best part was, the tech inspectors didn’t see many Mopars, so we convinced them the 440 we swapped in was a 400… heh heh…
It lasted all of two races, the car got totalled in a huge wreck in the second race of the season. My buddy who was driving, was injured in the wreck (broken wrist) and that incident sh*t-canned our ‘new’ race car and the whole 1988 season.
Back in the ’70s I had a friend who had two of these back to back–wrecked one and bought another to replace it. I didn’t think much of them, having an extreme Ford bias at the time, but looking back I can appreciate their strengths–mainly the reliable engine and transmission combinations. They were reasonably rust-resistant in my neck of the woods (southeastern Louisiana), but I remember them being more rattle-prone than comparable Fords and GMs.
One of the reasons that more of them haven’t survived to this day, given their simplicity and reliability, was the speed with which Chrysler abandoned parts availability for them. In 1978 Daddy was doing a repaint job on a ’74 which had been lightly hit in the rear, enough to crush the rubber fillers-to-bumper. We tried to order a new set of them, and were astounded to find that they had already been dropped by Chrysler (on a 4-year-old car!) and were no longer available.
Count me among the minority who preferred the 73-74 Satellite (and Charger) coupes to their 71-72 counterparts. This Satellite may be my favorite of the whole 71-78(?) run of the B bodies.
I have to agree with Geeber that these did not fare well against the GM competitors. In my experiences, these 70s Mopar B bodies felt awful and cheap. Slam the door and watch the steering column judder, even when these were new. The side glass would shake and rattle, the door hardware felt cheap. Those who bought these did so in spite of their body integrity, not because of it. But the tradeoff was the great Mopar engines (even if detuned), the electronic ignition, the Torqueflite tranny and the general driving feel of the car.
The 71-72 B bodies were designed at the height of ‘muscle car mania’, and to counter GM and Ford’s sporty mid sized cars. But, personal luxury took over mid size market.
Chrysler was also criticized for coming out with muscular looking cars during ‘Earth Year 1970′ when the times were changing. So, we got Sat’ Sebrings, Charger SE and Topper instead.
And yes, Chrysler starved their ‘bread and butter’ brand to a slow death. Plymouth went from the #3 selling make, to simply cheaper versions of Dodge/Chrysler cars, that appealed to no one. The Plymouth Reliant sold well, but was just known as a K Car on the market, interchangable with Aries and LeBaron. Only the Voyager was a big seller, but again, known as a ‘Chrysler Minivan’.
July 1973 I bought a new 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus. It had a 400, 4 barrel and a 4-speed with Hurst pistol grip shifter. Brown metallic paint with tan vinyl roof, full wheel covers and white wall tires. I had a friend that had a 64 Corvette with a 427 that would do wheelstands. One time he drove it like he was drag racing. He told me that it was the fastest factory stock car he had ever driven. He tried to get me to “hop it up” with aftermarket carb, cam , headers and lower ratio rear end, etc. It went through a lot of clutches until I put in a street/strip clutch. It was a well known performance brand clutch that a local speed shop clearanced to me because of lack of demand My car got a lot of compliments and everyone that drove it was impressed with it’s performance. So I don’t understand a lot of the previous comments. I kick myself to this very day for not keeping it!
A friend that I worked with, bought one of these brand new in 1973. His was black on black with the 360 4bbl. That car was a SCREAMER!!! For such a large car, the overpuffed 360 used to move it along quite well! I am also one of those guys that thought that it was one of the better looking vehicles of 1973 (lump in the ’73 Buick LeSabre in there too!)!!
I am still a sucker for old Mopars and AMC products.
Thanks for the article guys! So good to revisit some of the old haunts!!!
OMG, the simulated lamb’s wool seat covers in that car look exactly like the seat covers in my own Sebring Plus. I think everyone had those in the 70’s and 80’s. Luckily, mine came with the 400-4bbl. which was top of the line for the Satellite coupe that year. To get a 440 you had to buy a Road Runner (which was expensive to insure by 1973) or a four door with the police package (not generally available to the public).
I had a 1973 Sebring Plus triple white ….vinyl body and interior. Floor shifter with 318 V8. Bought it new. I think around $2700.