No Longer Orbiting: 1971 Plymouth Satellite at the Junkyard

Along with Chrysler Corporation's other B-body coupes, sedans, and station wagons, Plymouth's Satellite was completely redesigned for 1971. The aggressive new two door B-body Roadrunner, GTX, and Satellite have always been especially cherished by Mopar and classic car enthusiasts alike and the family-moving versions gained a niche following in recent years. However, the four door sedans of this era are largely unloved — unless you're a fan of a certain Georgia cop who drove a later Dodge version in a certain early eighties television series.  

I came across this '71 Satellite in a Columbia, South Carolina wrecking yard. It appears to be a Custom model, which was the mid-range trim level between the base and Custom Brougham sedans. 

This Satellite is wearing what appears to be its original paint, which has been perhaps attractively ravaged by mother nature, leaving the car riddled with surface rust spots. Even though this car has its fair share of patina, I could not find a single area on the body that was rusted through, including in the floor pan. Inside, this particular Satellite features B2 Blue vinyl bench seats. The upper door frames are finished in the darker shade of B7 Blue according to the broadcast sheet, which was mostly intact and pinned behind the rear seat cushion springs. The car's exterior paint code was unfortunately on one of the absent pieces of the fragile broadcast sheet, but I believe it to be B2 or B5 Blue. 

The ever-popular 318 V8 (or 5.2 liter if you're not speaking in freedom units) powered this Satellite when it was new in March 1971, according to the door tag. That year, the 318 produced 230 horsepower. 

The blue midsized sedan had been languishing in the yard for almost a month by the time I was able to photograph it and it was still mostly complete, probably because this car is a four door. 

Chrysler Corporation would get its money's worth out of this body style by continuing to make it through the 1978 model year under different names.

To see all of the photos I took of this 1971 Satellite, visit my Flickr - FordTorino73. 

Find me on Instagram @griffinsavoy and subscribe on YouTube, where I've uploaded a video of this car. 

Branham's Precious Metals

Some say your high school years are the best years of your life, and others say your college years are. That debate will probably never come to a conclusion. Having a haven of old American iron less than ten miles from your high school's gates changes everything, however. 

Branham's Precious Metals lies just inside the Fairfield-Richland county border in rural South Carolina. A 1931 Chevrolet coupe towers over the small property and brands it as publicly accessible, according to this article from The State. After reading the article, I was itching to walk through acres of rusted out relics. 

Mr. Roger Branham gave me permission to walk through as he wrenched on a Datsun 720 pickup truck out front. Upon entering, I quickly ran into a yard hand who told me that University of South Carolina students often frequent Branham's to take graduation photos, surprisingly. To them perhaps, the vehicles of Branham's are simply backgrounds. To an auto enthusiast, these paths are lined with potential — potential weekend warriors, road trippers, race cars, or rat rods. Luckily for car fanatics, this potential can be capitalized upon. Everything is for sale. This is a seemingly rare occurrence when it comes to older junkyards. 

Another special feature of Branham's Precious Metals is that the yard is somewhat artistic. There are vintage signs everywhere, vintage bicycles, and small displays of car grilles, lights, pulleys, and bumpers among other contraptions. 

While some who venture through Branham's Precious Metals may only see its contents as hunks of metal that are permanently out of commission, the next generation of car nuts sees promise. Their first project may be languishing in the weeds or even stacked on top of a bus in an old junkyard, waiting for a second chance at life. 

Branham's Precious Metals is located at 2007 US-21, Ridgeway, SC 29130. See all of my photos from Branham's Precious Metals on Flickr here. Subscribe on YouTube here. Follow me on Instagram @Dburger62. 

HOT ROD Power Tour 2018 Day 5 - Darlington Raceway

Back in June, I was finally able to check HOT ROD Power Tour off my bucket list — sort of. HOT ROD Power Tour is the world's largest traveling car show. Approximately 6,000 hot rods drive over one thousand miles over the course of one week while making daily stops along the way. Participants have the option of registering for each annual event as a "long hauler" (long haulers drive the entire tour) or registering for a single day to join the tour at any of the stops. Spectators can usually come free of charge apart from parking fees at some of the venues. Each year's HOT ROD Power Tour always begins where the previous year's tour ended. 

This year's tour kicked off at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky and concluded at ZMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. In other words, the hot rodders were cruising solely in the very hot and very humid southeastern United States. The tour came through South Carolina (where I live) and made a stop at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's oldest major track. I arrived around noon. Upon parking my car, I immediately noticed Pilot Transport's trucks and happily remembered that I would get to see Roadkill vehicles and another famous magazine project car in person for the first time. The legendary Muscle Truck, General Mayhem, and Project X were on display for all to see at all of the 2018 Power Tour stops. Long hauler cars were just starting to trickle into the facility as I waited outside the oval to get on a small block Chevy powered shuttle and be taken to the infield of the track. 

After I got off the shuttle, I began to realize the beauty of HOT ROD Power Tour. There were hot rods in every direction. Chevys, Fords, Mopars, modern muscle, classic muscle, rat rods - everything. The whole spectacle was like a hot rod-themed city. I then walked around the infield to look at some of the early arrivals, like this Jeep rat rod and other beautiful cars.

Shortly after I finished looking around the infield, I stood along the main pathway that cars were using to enter the venue and began to photograph them. In retrospect, I wish I had spent more time walking around the grounds and getting up close and personal with the cars and their owners as opposed to shooting cars coming in. Without this experience however, I wouldn't have finally realized that I need even more practice with shooting (and panning) moving objects — the cars look like they're standing still even though they're actually moving. I need to work on not entirely freezing motion. 

I was able to see a lot of cars that I had previously only known through social media enter the track, like the Hot Rod Magazine Week to Wicked Chevy Apache stepside, the Whatever Hot Rods AMC Hornets, and Max Amick's LS swapped "Gutless Wagon" Chevy II Nova wagon.

I photographed these cars for a good hour or two before I forced myself to go into the garage area of the track where the vendors were. I only had a few hours left and I wanted to see (and photograph) everything there was to offer at the venue. Various automotive companies like Mothers Polishes, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Continental Tire, Pilot Transport, and Edelbrock have booths set up where participants or spectators can view or buy their merchandise. There's also a main stage in this area where awards are given out. 

As I was walking through the vendor booths, suddenly, a bellowing voice over the P.A. system asked for people to clear a pathway through the lot. Chevrolet Performance, the presenting sponsor of HOT ROD Power Tour, was (slowly) coming through with a caravan of official Chevrolet owned and built vehicles, both new and old. A few of them were SEMA Show builds, including the mobile detailing kit-containing '53 Chevy Suburban, the LS3 powered '88 Monte Carlo SS (my personal favorite), the '78 K10, and the '67 C10 built for the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet trucks. Chevrolet Performance also brought out the Corvette ZR1 pace car from this year's Indianapolis 500 race and had its own booth amongst the others. 

As I left the vendor area, I took a look at Jimi Day's 1969 AMC AMX with LS3 power. This unusual pro-touring build cleans up well. 

This 1975 Camaro also caught my eye. The "street machine" trend from the '70s has enjoyed a recent resurgence with the help of social media — panel paint, velour interiors, fat rear tires, and jacked up rear ends are more popular than ever before. 

Following my trip into the vendor area, I ventured back into the fields of parked cars to take more photos and talk to some of the owners. Initially, the plumbing in the engine bay of this G-body Grand Prix stood out. I then learned that GM F-body power lives under the hood, in the form of a turbocharged and electronically fuel injected 3800 Buick V6, unlike the carbureted 231 Buick V6s that were factory installed in G-bodies. The known-to-be durable 3800 had been running like a top since its installation, even with the added boost. 

Before I knew it, the sun had begun to set. I took the last hour of my visit to walk on the race track, see Rutledge Wood's "Fundra" Toyota Tundra, and ogle the Big Fish Garage GMC Jimmy, another SEMA Show build. I finally got a bite to eat just as participants started to leave the venue and head to their hotels for the night. I took a few more photos as I wrapped up my trip and hitched a ride back to the spectator parking lot on the shuttle — after forgetting where it picked up. 

All in all, I had an amazing time at the Darlington stop of the 2018 HOT ROD Power Tour. I got to see hot rods everywhere at a historic venue, talk to people about their beloved cars, and get a look at the latest performance products to come out of the automotive industry. They say that "everyone knows each other" in this industry and apart from the SEMA Show maybe, there's no better place to realize this than Power Tour. Everyone was checking out cars, meeting up with old friends, or making new ones — and that's what it's all about. 

Recall that at the top of this post, I mentioned that I only "sort of" checked HRPT off my bucket list. Despite my enjoyment of the Darlington stop, I really didn't get the whole Power Tour experience. A large, if not larger part of the experience is actually driving the routes between stops, filling up at the makeshift car shows that gas station lots turn into during Power Tour, and actually cruising with other old cars. Perhaps I'll get to experience that aspect of the tour someday, but going to a Power Tour stop for my first time ever was an experience that I'll never forget. 

Thanks for reading!

Find me on Instagram (@Dburger62) and YouTube - Dburger62.