AHD presents:

1974 Plymouth Satellite Police Car

History

This 1974 Plymouth Satellite was purchased by the Dekalb County Police Department. Dekalb County was host to several miles of I-285 and I-85 that ran in and around Atlanta, Georgia. This particular car was one of 2 or 3 purchased for the specific purpose of chasing down highway speeders. It was equipped with a 250HP 4bbl 400.

At somepoint, it was converted to a 2bbl. The EGR was blocked off as was the heat riser. There was also a "stop" bracket bolted to the A727 pan rail that prevented the shifter linkage from shifting into 1st gear. The original transmission was replaced with about a 1976-77 unit. I suspect that all of this was done by the department motor pool.

Options and Components

250HP 400/4bbl. HP exhaust manifolds.
9-1/4" Spicer rear, non-SG
dual exhaust.
auxiliary trans cooler, same one used on 66-71 Hemi cars
front and rear anti-sway bars
Power assist 11" front discs, pin-style calipers
11x2.5" rear drums
radio delete
"firm feel" steering box, this was the first year for such an option on Police cars
Air conditioning
rubber floor mats
Leece-Neville high output alternator. (in 1975, Chrysler replaced the Leece-Neville units with there own hi-amp alternators). This had a special wiring harness with a voltage regulator under the dash.

How the car came and went

In 1986, I was sixteen. I had bought my first car when I was fifteen, and although I had been hoping for a big inch muscle, the first muscle car boom had hit and the best I could afford was a tired 1969 Dodge Charger, 318 car. It was orange, with a poorly done black tail-stripe. It had previously been an "01" General Lee car and was used as a display car at Lainerland Music Park (country music venue in the North Georgia Mountains), If fact, I bought it from Lainerland. It was beat when I got it, so I sold it, and bought an all original 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which I still own.

A local used car "no money down" dealership had a 1974 Satellite on the lot, and once while driving by, my father pointed out the hood scoop and said "hey, thats an old Dekalb county cop car!". I finally convinced him to stop, and we took it for a test drive. Wow! that thing pulled strong! They were asking $800. My father, while he like it a lot, needed time to think about., A week or so later, he decided to take it but it had just sold!!

Two or three months pass, and low an behold the old Plymouth is back, only this time is not on the front line, its way in back near the office. The car had been repo'ed! ..and possibly for good reason. It no longer ran. It was, of course, for sale and this time, for $500. We looked it over and my father decided to gamble on it, hoping it had jumped time.

At home, after a tear down, we discovered that the time problem had nothing to do with the chain, rather it was as issue with the camshaft.. it had broke in two places!

We fooled around with it for a couple years. We even installed a 440/4bbl and I drove it good bit my last year of high school, but because other things were going on in our lives, the police car sat for several years. Eventually, faced with too many projects and the realization that I'd never fix the police car the way it needed to be fixed, I sold it to Mark Mroz. I met Mark at Carlisle 2003 in the exhibit building. He was there with his restored C-body police cruiser and over several months I convinced him that he ought to take the police car and restore it.