Curbside Classic Outtake: Suddenly It's 1970
Published: October 31st, 2010
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Plenty of ’69 – ’69 Mustangs around, but the seventies’ B-Body Mopars are might scarce, except for the restored garage queen Chargers and the like. This Plymouth wagon particularly caught my eye, because it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to ’73 Coronet wagon that replaced my mother’s ’65 Coronet.
Her ’73 drove and handled quite a bit better than the ’65, which had particularly nasty steering and agricultural habits: plowing the front wheels through every turn taken in spirited driving. Both had the 318, but the newer LA version in ’73 ran much better than the old polyshphere, despite the smog controls. Of course, it was new, and the ’65 old, so maybe the comparison isn’t exactly fair and balanced.
More by Paul Niedermeyer
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I know somebody that just bought a Satellite wagon exactly the same as that, except for the rims, as his new daily-driver. I think it's even the same green color. My mom's second car was a Dodge Coronet in metallic rootbeer brown with black interior. 318-2bbl engine. I forget the exact year, but it was the same bodystyle as that wagon, except it was the sedan version. My grandmother had been the first owner. My mom drove that Coronet until it rusted out and was replaced with a brand new 1986 Ford Aerostar. Now THAT was a real POS and the only car that my parents used as a trade-in on something else instead of driving into the ground.
I owned that same Stang coupe in a mustard gold color with what was called a Western vinyl roof pkg with the rococco embossed trim around the qtr and rear window which was different than the Grande roof. It had the 302 Auto W/ factory A/C, AM Radio, pwr steering and manual drum brakes. Back in 1978 I bought it from an elderly couple for $300 with a slight knock in the engine. Could not figure out the knock for months till I tore it down and found a broken piston skirt. I found another short block, rebuilt that and ran it till 1986 with 220K. Original transmission lasted too with normal maintenance.