Frank Adkins is the proud owner of a stock 1967 Belvedere I 4-door sedan that has a long history in his family.
His grandfather purchased the car brand new in 1967 but unfortunately, his granddad passed away in early 1968 before he was able to thoroughly enjoy the Belvedere.
Jim Sutherland
Frank’s grandmother became the next owner of the car in ‘68 and needed to obtain her driver’s licence before she could use the Belvedere. The salesman who sold the car to her late husband taught Frank’s grandmother how to drive the ’67 Belvedere and she drove it for the next 20 years until 1988 when his grandmother reached the age of 85.
She gave the car to Frank’s father in 1991 and he wanted to use it as a driver until the low-mileage sedan was used up, but Frank intervened when the car needed a brake job and convinced his dad to let him have the car.
The ’67 Plymouth was “just an old car with low miles-nothing special” in his dad’s opinion, but to Frank “it was everything and I’ve been its caretaker ever since”, in his words.
Frank added some information about the interior: “The seats are incorrect for a ’67. When we were using the car regularly for police related events, I removed the original seats, which are nearly perfect. I wrapped them in plastic and hung them from the ceiling in our garage. I installed the seats from a friend’s ’68 Belvedere. Although they match the ’67 interior, the pattern is wrong”.
He explained something else about interior: “Also, the police radio and siren control are visible in the dash photo, and the mileage is original”.
The Plymouth is a base model sedan with a modest Slant Six engine and a limited list of options, including an automatic transmission, AM radio and remote mirror, but it holds a boatload of happy memories for Frank.
Most of Frank’s fond memories with the Plymouth include his grandmother, but he can even recall some fleeting recollections of his granddad’s brief association with the car when Frank was a preschooler.
As mentioned, the ’67 Plymouth was a low-mileage car that spent much of its time in a garage, so it is a well-preserved vehicle.
The 57-year-old sedan continues to enjoy a pampered existence with Frank because his mechanical leanings began when he was a 14-year-old car kid and subsequently evolved into a master automotive technician who became an award-winning automotive instructor, as well as an accomplished writer over the years.
Frank has written for many automotive magazines because of his technical expertise, along with some books that showcase his automotive knowledge, along with his latest book ’Of Life and Automobiles’ that zeroes in on the relationship between owners and their vehicles.
The book’s subject matter prompted MyStarCollectorCar to order the book because our main goal is to find owners who have a strong relationship with their vintage rides and our early prediction is we will be on the same page as Frank.
His vintage Plymouth Belvedere is an excellent example of the strong bond between owner and car for all the right reasons. It should be noted that Frank has also written extensively about how to squeeze the most performance out of an engine, but he has no plans to change his ’67 Plymouth into a raging beast.
Frank is clear–he “refuses to have a car that won’t keep up with traffic”, in his words, but his Plymouth’s reliable factory 225 cubic-inch Slant Six more than answers the bell in the power department for him and is comfortable at freeway speeds with stock highway gears in its factory rear end.
Frank also believes “if you can’t enjoy them, then what is the point?”, a car guy credo that we at MyStarCollectorCar completely understand and endorse in our own world.
The big difference is Frank can take his trip down memory lane in his grandparents’ car any time the spirit moves him. His main future goal for the 1967 Belvedere I is to keep it in the family so future generations can take that same trip.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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