Once upon a time, a Satellite served its family well. Originally purchased by a mechanic who worked at Mitchell Chrysler in Ontario, Canada, it even towed a 24-foot travel trailer to Florida each winter. After years of such faithful service, it would be Steve Tucker who would come to give this Plymouth its just reward.
Steve found the Satellite in a local Auto Trader. Almost immediately, he and his brother, Mike, went to look at the Satellite and that evening it was sitting in Mike's garage ready to be restored-it was going to start a new life.
With 92,000 miles rolled up on the odometer, the 383 Super Commando had never been rebuilt and still ran well. Certainly, the exterior needed work-repairing the fenders, quarter panels, trunk floor, and rear frame rails were a must.
Steve and Mike decided that they would do all the work themselves. However, with Mike being a body shop professional, things were expected to go smoothly. Steve told us, "We started the restoration in April '92 and finished it in May of '94. The car was worked on every work day in the evening and all day on the weekends." Steve estimates it took a combined man-hour total of over 6,000 hours to bring it to the condition you see here.
The 383 was in such good condition there was no need for even a clean-up hone. All the original internal parts were used again, as were the original exhaust manifolds, which feed into a DynoMax muffler equipped exhaust system with 211/42-inch tailpipes that exit beneath the rear bumper.
The transmission also received a stock overhaul, the exception being that Steve wanted the transmission to hit gears a little harder, so a Mopar Performance valve body modification kit was installed.
The interior was freshened up with new black and sliver vinyl upholstery on the bucket seats and new black loop pile carpet to cover the floor. Keeping the dash stock, Steve used all the original gauges. This car was factory equipped with a center floor console that was restored and put back into place.
The exterior of the Satellite needed its fair share of body repairs. The previous owner had made repairs-using lots of fiberglass and carriage bolts. Because of this, the quarter panels required extensive reconstruction. The past owner also had the car painted Massey Ferguson Red, as he owned a farm equipment dealership. Once the car was stripped of its old paint, one of Mike's co-workers would join in by applying a new coat of FE5 Rallye Red basecoat/clearcoat.
Several awards have been won during the four years since the work was been completed. Steve only drives the car to shows, cruise nights, and the occasional summer drive. When the car is not being shown, it sits in Steve's garage, living a pampered life beside the two other Mopars in Steve's collection-a '71 Polara and a '70 Coronet R/T.