Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube
This 1972 Plymouth has been sitting in a garage for 33 years. The last time the doors opened and closed was in 1991. Since then, the owner has never even thought about driving it. Now, the car is being washed for the first time in all those years. But the detailer's heart skips a beat when he checks the carpet.
RJ and Mike from WD Detailing drove over four hours from Cleveland to Pennsylvania to pick up a car that has been sitting in a red painted wooden barn for over 30 years. It's a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring, covered in dust and grime, longing to finally see the light of day again.
The owner says every panel on the car has a dent. He's sure the Satellite will start with new spark plugs. RJ is reluctant. If he had a penny for every time he's heard that, he'd be filthy rich by now.
The Plymouth Satellite arrived as a midsize luxury car in 1964 and hit the market as a 1965 model to compete with the Dodge Challenger and Ford Superbird. But the two stole the show at the time, forcing the Satellite into oblivion.
The Satellite was the flagship model of Plymouth's Belvedere B platform. The Satellite remained the top-of-the-line version until the 1967 model year.
1991 was the last time this car set its wheels on the road
The window sticker says 1991. That's when this car was last on the road. The current owner recalls buying it from someone in Pennsylvania, who bought it from someone in California: an old lady from Pasadena. It was the perfect 'go to church and back on Sunday' kind of thing.
Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube
RJ pumps up the Satellite Sebring’s tires, and surprisingly, they hold air. So hauling the Plymouth out of the garage doesn’t cause them much of a headache. Just sweat. They tow it back to Cleveland to give it its first bath in over three decades.
Under the thick layer of dust, the black paint is peeling off, revealing the original color: a mustard brown. The first step in detailing is vacuuming up the dirt and cobwebs that have accumulated on the bodywork over the years.
Pressure washing should come one step closer to the car that rolled off the assembly line in 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri. The vinyl top needs a degreaser application and a pressure wash more than once. The brushes do their fair share of magic.
But it is still not enough to remove all the stains that have accumulated over the years. Then, they manage to remove the oxidation from the wheels after so many years of sitting in the same place.
1972 – the year Dodge first phased out the HEMI
A MOPAR VIN decoder helps them figure out what engine is under the hood. The last 13 digits indicate that it has a 318 cubic inch engine, which once allowed it to reach a top speed of 150 mph (241 km/h). That seems pretty optimistic today…
Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube
1972 was the year that changed the face of the automotive industry. It was the year Dodge discontinued the HEMI and would not bring it back until 2003. So, customers had to deal with that and move toward smaller engines.
Whoever painted the car must have run out of paint before masking the original paint under the hood and under the trunk lid. So that's where the gold color shows up best.
The salesman told RJ and Mike that he once tried to put fuel in a line under the hood, but the engine still wouldn't start. It definitely needed more than just fuel to come back to life. There are wires and hoses dangling under the hood, which is definitely not a good sign. This car may have had a rat infestation at some point.
The cabin of the Plymouth, stored for 33 years, is a time capsule. There’s air conditioning and a radio, but no power windows, despite the Satellite being billed as a luxury car. Mike is curious about a button that says RR speaker, but he’ll have to do more than Google to find out what it does.
Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube
The wood-effect finish on the Plymouth is not real wood. The 1970s was the era when car manufacturers switched from real to faux wood veneer.
Mike is astonished as if he had never seen mice on board cars before
Mike's heart skips a beat when he notices a mouse right next to the footwell, and he exits the Satellite faster than he entered it. However, he's used to finding all sorts of dead rodents in the cars he describes. So, he finally picks it up and throws it away before he starts vacuuming up the dust.
The beige leather covering the seats comes off nicely. All the stains disappear and leave no trace, unlike that poor vinyl top. Unfortunately, the leather on the driver's seat has torn from both use and time.
The carpet looks like it's been eaten by mice: it has holes and it looks directly onto the floor. The floor on board, on the other hand, doesn't look bad. But the one in the trunk is covered in mud, a sign that humidity has penetrated that area and has transformed the dirt and dust into disgusting soil.
Photo: WD Detailing | YouTube
The team at WD Detailing will not do anything about paint chips. The owner will be doing a full restoration on the Plymouth Satellite, which should give it the paint job it deserves. The current one is horrible.
But they can work on the chrome and make it look as shiny and new as it did 52 years ago when this car rolled through the gates of the St. Louis factory. And there's plenty of it: on the fenders, window moldings, grille, and mirror caps.
Once the detailing is complete, RJ and Mitch bring it back to the owner to wow him. Now, this is a good starting point for the restoration.
