Birthday Bonanza

Dave Hills’ 1968 Plymouth Satellite is probably one of the more standard B-bodies you might find at the Mopar EuroNats show… it’s also one of the nicest, cleanest ones too, as Paul Bussey discovered…

- Paul Bussey

Dave Hills grew up with the sound of V8engines reverberating in his ears and the whiff of five-star octane and tyre smoke in his nose. He’s the nephew of well-known drag racer Nobby Hills of ‘Houndog’ fame. Dave was well acquainted with pit-lane and paddock protocol by the time he was knee-high to a grasshopper and was destined to become a performance-minded petrolhead with a penchant for Detroit Iron:

“My first American car was a 1977 6.6-litre Trans-Am,” he recalls. “That was followed by a Dodge 100 pick-up truck, then three 1977 and 1979 Trans-Ams, a Mark V Lincoln Continental, which was a big old boat − you hit a bump and were still bouncing a mile down the road! Then there was a K5 Chevrolet Blazer, a Knight Rider Trans-Am and a Chevrolet Silverado. After the Silverado was sold I didn’t have any American cars for nine years, due to the intervention of kids, family and a mortgage.”

Just prior to Christmas 2015, the time felt right for Dave to reacquaint himself with another American classic and so he started surfing the ’net and spotted his 1968 Plymouth Satellite on eBay, which had been advertised for five or six months. “I followed the auction for a while and guessed that the car hadn’t sold, as money is generally tight in the build-up to Christmas and new year,” says Dave. “I then contacted the owner, Trevor, who was based in Essex and ultimately purchased the car.”