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1973 Plymouth Sebring Plus


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Looking for some help. I have a chance to buy a 73 Plymouth Sebring Plus for $1,000.00. It has a 400 running motor with auto trans. Body work done but needs paint. Interior in fair condition with bucket seats and console (are bucket seats standard in this model?). Needs both bumpers and grill (can those still be bought?). Is this a good deal? Appreciate any input. Thanks, Greg

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  • 2 weeks later...

"Sebring" was the coupe version of the Satellite, from 1971-'73. Sedans were all designated "Satellite". The "Plus" model was the higher trim level version and I believe was supposed to be "buckets and console" equipped as regular Sebrings most probably would have had a bench seat. Seems like they all had the silver paint on the lower part of the body and the "Plus" emblem had red paint in the insets of the letters.

Price sounds "ballpark", but you might pickup a copy of the Old Cars Price Guide at one of the bookstore chain's magazine rack. The Standard Book of Chrysler lists production for Sebring-PLUS at 43,000 or so units that year, which was a lot more than in '71. By the time you start considering the fact it has a 400 B-block, then that would most probably knock that number down a bunch (especially if it's a factory 400HO 4-bbl version!) as most were probably 318s and 360s, I suspect. Many dealers might have "liked" the A-block cars better as they were easier to work on and the 360 2bbl probably ran almost as good as the 400 2bbl back then.

Nothing wrong, per se, with the cars, but the styling didn't really catch on for that body series of Plymouths back then. Kind of overshadowed by the Chargers, to some degree. If you have seen the red Sebring coupe that's been on the cover of a couple of hot rod magazines earlier this year, it's obvious the lines are much better than we suspected "back then". Not that you should take on a modification program with the car, but they always did look good in certain colors. I suspect the cars were somewhat underappreciated back then too and probably still are today to some extent.

I also suspect the attrition rate on them was somewhat high too. End result, the are somewhat "rare" in any form today. You could do a LOT worse than to keep it most original, even if it is a 2bbl 400 (which probably has 2.93 or 2.71 gears for easy cruising and fuel economy. Some good tires (OEM spec size) and HD shocks will help the handling and ride too. It kind of relates to the Charger as the Challenger relates to the Barracudas back then--same basic mechanicals in a litle bit shorter wheelbase (and a few inches less rear seat leg room) car.

Check out the price guide, check your finances to purchase and refurbish what's left to do, and use your best judgment. From an investment standpoint, it might never be worth what a similar Charger might be, but I doubt you'll loose any money on it either and STILL have the same amount of fun in a car that is not that common today.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

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Guest imported_Bill-W

No - virtually nothing from the body of the sedan will fit a Sebring. However, the 1973 Satellite coupe / Sebring / Sebring Plus is all but identical to the 1974 model. The bumpers are all the same as is the grille. The major differences between the 1973 coupe and the 1974 were the upholstery, steering wheel and seat belts. The 1974 models got the one-piece shoulder/lap belts.

I owned a 1974 Sebring back in the 1970's with a 318. It was a nice car - very reliable and had loads of room for people and luggage.

Bill

Vancouver, BC

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  • 4 weeks later...

The other thing that came online with the 1974s was the radial tire/rear sway bar package, that was used with the W23 Class II 16 Slot (15x6) Road Wheels. That combination was in the Road Runner section of the 1974 Plymouth B-body sales brochure. I also saw one in person at Fenner Tubbs Chrysler-Plymouth in '74--same car that was in the brochure. Pretty nice car! Seems like they had somekind of Goodyear radials on them too, one that preceeded "BigFoot" Polysteel radials on the later cars--SteelGuard?--in GR70-15 sizing. Not a performace tire per se, but back then ALL radials performed better than bias-belted tires.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

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