There’s something for everyone at the Barrett-Jackson 2025 Scottsdale Auction! Sure, maybe you were entranced by the big money spent on Saturday, but there’s cars to be had for mortals who take home a basic paycheck. A possibly fine example of what you find when you keep both your eyes and mind open is this 1970 Plymouth Sport Satellite (Lot 1552.1) went across the block on Sunday, January 26th.
The Sport Satellite was introduced in 1968 as Plymouth’s top-of-the-line mid-size model, along with the GTX. Both cars were trimmed similarly, though the Sport Satellite was available with everything from a 318 to a 383, while the GTX featured the high-performance 440 Super Commando or 426 Hemi.
For 1970, Plymouth A-bodies received a restyle of the 1968 redesign. Plymouth offered several front and rear treatments depending on the model, with the Sport Satellite and GTX receiving a honeycomb grille over the horizontal pattern that was used for the Belvedere, Road Runner, and Satellite. Both the Sport Satellite and GTX featured contrasting paint on the rear panel, though the latter used matte black paint while the former used a textured silver called Astrotone. The Sport Satellite also used the same divided taillight lenses as both of Plymouth’s performance models. The non-functional side scoop was decorated with chrome only on the Sport Satellite.
Standard for the Sport Satellite two-door was a vinyl and cloth bench seat with center arm rest, though buckets were available, unlike the more pedestrian Plymouth B-body models. The biggest distinction between this and the GTX was that the latter featured a performance-oriented dashboard featuring round dials; the Sport Satellite continued to utilize the familiar horizontal instrument panel used since 1968.
Ordering a Sport Satellite with the 383 four-barrel could give you Road Runner performance with GTX luxury for those who wanted it—and something that would seemingly be friendly to a collector on a budget, as everyone seems to want a Road Runner. Order that combination with a four-speed and you’d receive a surprise in the form of the Road Runner’s 383, which was rated at 335 horsepower versus 330 horses for the pedestrian models. Why Plymouth did such a thing without advertising it is unknown.
This 1970 Sport Satellite is painted Dark Burnt Orange Metallic with a Burnt Orange cloth and vinyl bench seat. Options on this car include four-speed manual (with the tall shifter only used on non-console cars), 3.55 Sure-Grip, 14-inch Road Wheels, AM/8-track, and rear defogger. You may note the Air Grabber hood, which wasn’t a legitimate options for pedestrian Plymouth B-bodies but it was added when restored. As this was being written, the Plymouth crossed the block and achieved a $99,000 selling price—quite shocking, as most people would gravitate toward a Road Runner or GTX. So why was this possibly affordable car out of reach for the average collector? Because car auctions can be wild cards? Because it was rotisserie-restored with plenty of NOS parts? Tell us what you think in the Comments section below.