Hemi. Four speed. Superbird. Three sets of words that don’t appear together very often. To be exact, exactly 58 1970 Plymouth Superbirds were produced with this particular combination. I don’t know how many are left, but I’ll bet there aren’t that many that look this good. Normally we don’t cover restored cars here at Barn Finds, but some of them are just way too nice to ignore. This particular winged wonder will be auctioned off in early August and you can read about it here on Mecum.com. There’s no estimate given, but I suspect we will be well into seven figures for this car when all is said and done.
I guess Superbirds and their Dodge Daytona brethren are an acquired taste. I remember having the opportunity to buy a really nice green and white Daytona from a used car lot when I was in high school. They wanted $2,500 for it at the time, which was about what I had in my Triumph. I never thought twice about trying to work on a trade. It’s not that I don’t like them, but I really didn’t want to stand out quite that much! The restoration of this car was finished in 2002, and the car promptly got downgraded to a “Silver” award at the 2002 Mopar national show because it was “better than new” in places. If you have to lose first prize, that’s a darned good reason to lose it for!
Naturally, the interior looks as perfect as the rest of the car. Seriously, you don’t see many interiors like this. Ever. Now, I’m not a MoPar expert, so I can’t tell you whether or not it’s correct or not.
The Hemi engine was rated at 425 horsepower, almost one horsepower per cubic inch. I suspect that was somewhat pessimistic.
Sure, I know every one of you would like to have this in your garage. But would you still feel that way if you couldn’t sell it? Let’s be completely ridiculous for a moment–what if you had to daily driver this car? Would you want all the attention it would get? What do you think?
” Let’s be completely ridiculous for a moment–what if you had to daily driver this car? Would you want all the attention it would get? What do you think?”
To be honest, I think I’d be too blinded by the reflection from the mirror of my silly grin to notice any attention. I’m not a Mopar guy, but what car guy would turn down a gift of this? On the other hand, if I had to pay seven figures for it…..
Wouldn’t happen, even if I had it. There is a whole list I’d buy first.
In 1977 I was twenty years old and it was my first car. It was driven all year long in the mountains of Colorado, sunshine or blizzards. The hemi was a pain to tune-up but shifting from first to second at 53 MPH, second to third in the high seventies puts that motor into perspective. The previous owner installed a Crane cam and I was never beat out on the highway at top end. Nobody wanted those cars in 1980 when it was sold.
Is your real name Joe Dirt? LOL That is a cool story.
At the time they came out, yes I’m that old, I thought they were ridiculous and I still do! They were only sold to the public for one reason and that was so that the car could compete in NASCAR races. Back then there was a requirement that cars that were in NASCAR competition also had to be available to the public. I requirement have long since passed.
While the running gear of the car is solid and well configured that long nose sticking out the front is ridiculous for a car that you try to drive in traffic.
If you’ve got some old Hemmings check out what sellers were asking for them when they were ten year old used cars.
Yep, I remember looking at them in Hemmings around ’83 – ’84. You could get a decent one for $10 – $12K.
IDK, I think the bottom kind of fell out on these. Aside from David Spade buying a restored “Joe Dirt” example for $900g’s, at auction, they don’t seem to bring as much as say, a few years ago. Could it be the spoiled brats are running low on disposable cash? They couldn’t give these away when new. ( note, already dropped $1,500 bucks here)
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/79/d6/ed/79d6edb74b2e5959221f82336b16469f–plymouth-superbird-classic-auto.jpg
Cheaper yet!!! ( bottom one)
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d6/24/f0/d624f0c5e66980b278fb8baf622a77b0.jpg
After they are probably about the same price because the previous one was in Canada and if you factored in the exchange rate it would greatly reduce the price of the one in Canada.
I thought all of these came with Hemi engines, I didn’t realize any of them came with 446 6 packs!
Actually, as a proud Canuck I must point out that the Canadian dollar was between 95 and 99 cents in 1970… so not much of a difference there.
Neat ad! That dealer is still up and running!
This car was not meant to be a daily driver. It was sold so Chrysler could meet the nascar rules and then race them. They were all but impossible to sell when new. Many sat on dealer lots and some new car dealers ended up personally buying them. As late as the early 80’s they were still reasonably priced. Personally I think the Hemi craze that drove up the prices on anything Hemi related is over and the price on them has peaked. There is a limit to what people can and will pay for anything.
Absolutely if “I could afford it” and if I was put it a situation that it had to be my “daily” with out a doubt I would!! But correct I believe the bottom is falling out of this market and it will not bring as much as 7 figures. That being said it’s still way outta my price range! Lol
Most of these were 440’s. They did not sell well when new, we used to laugh at them a lot and I remember them sitting on the dealers showrooms from one model year to the next. I also remember people taking the wings off. Other than there exhorbant price, I still find them boring.
Maryland wouldn’t allow these to be sold. Doug Griffith Chrysler Plymouth was a high performance dealer, and they got many requests, but the dmv at md outlawed the cars, for the wing and nose, not the engine.
In the early 70’s, my neighborhood buddy’s dad had one of these. It was always in the garage with a couple of bed sheets over it. Never ever saw it on the street or even running. It was the coolest thing on the planet with that wing. My buddy seemed indifferent about the car. Weird…
Your buddy problem had the same as what I have about the “Beautiful Scenery around Here” as I see it EVERY day so probably DON’T appreciate it like I should & I’d almost put money on it that your Buddy had the same thought process all those years ago?
Yes they were slow movers at dealer lots, but people did buy them for “everyday?” Use.. here is an example of the discounts used to move them.. I would take the GTX…
If I could fire up the “Way Back Machine,” I would take any or all of them.
Amen to that! $15 grand cash could probably buy the whole list !! All 4 speeds except the GTX. Gotta Go!!!!! …..see if I can turn my hot tub into a time machine!!!!!
There is a guy about 30 miles from me that has one he bought new….still his daily driver, has like 230,000 miles on it…..440 car….drives it ever day…..I heard it was his only car…….kind of a Joe Dirt guy….but has turned down big offers even though he is not a rich man….his dream car and kept it and uses it…..neat…
The nose and wing were added for aerodynamic benefit not style. The 440 was preferred engine for street use. The Hemi was a handful to drive slowly and in stop and go traffic.
At the end of the model year the Plymouth dealer in the city where I lived had three sitting on his lot. He offered me my pick for $3500. One was a hemi-four speed.
I was only 5 in 1970, but if I was older, I’d have bought one ! Most definitely the hemi. I’m right on the lake east of Cleveland, you remember what dealership ??
My father ordered his 69 bird from Halpert in Willoughby Ohio…….
Moss Chrysler-Plymouth in Defiance, Ohio.
Defiance, Ohio? Is that near Columbus?
These cars were everywhere in Northeastern Ohio. When I got out of the Navy in Sept. ’69, I got my old high school job at the Sunoco station on a popular corner in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, just to have immediate income. The owner of the Pure station across the street owned a winged wonder(Plymouth-Dodge?) and multiple (4-5) Hemi Cars always there. They were all that orange color. It was a sight to see them all lined up every day it wasn’t snowing. Don’t know what ever happened to them, since I moved on. Five years later, I’m back in Pensacola, FL, and loving the warm weather & sun shine 10 months out of the year, instead of 2 months in Ohio. Been here ever since.
Surprised it’s not on Craigslist.
In 69, I was 13 years old and saw one at a dealership. I just loved the look that was so weird for me, and wished I had one…..Still do.
When I was in high school, a friend’s brother had a Nova, about a ’62, that had a V-8 and the back jacked up ridiculously high. What really set it apart from other hot rods of the day (1976), was that it had a Superbird wing on it. It would make me laugh every time I saw it!
This is one of my “Lottery Win” cars. That would be the only way I’d ever get one. LOL
Check with Galen Govier on how many are left of these beauties with those aforementioned 3 magic words.
Make sure you have cash when you reach out to Galen.
Ugly, like most of that Mopar stuff. I know of 2 that had 318s put in them just to sell them.. Both those cars were a year old and still on the lot. There are only 2 Mopars I would want—66 Satellite, 2 door post with a Hemi four speed and of course one of these. –with a Hemi, four speed. I will soon buy the Satellite–It will go with my 65 Ford Custom, 427, four speed, but I doubt if I will ever get a Superbird.
The first time I saw one of these Awesome machines was at a drive-in in the early 70’s, my father had a 69 Road Runner and when I saw the bird on the wing, I was out of hand. I still remember getting shushed as I explained what I saw on the way to the bathroom ! The superbird will always hold a special place in my heart, even though I’ll never own one, sadly……….
As nice and unique as the car is, for seven figures I could buy a fleet of cool cars and have a blast with a different one every few days. Looking carefully at all the pictures, it is better than new, Chrysler never was that detail oriented. Also during the hp wars the numbers were usually fudged down a bit to pacify the insurance companies and parents.
“Chrysler never was that detail oriented”
And these cars were rushed through assembly – that’s why each ‘Bird has a vinyl top (saved the labor of lead-filling & smoothing the roof seams for paint). Quite a few were shipped to dealerships still needing (final) assembly.
You hear all sorts of stories about how cheap these were initially. The main reason they didn’t sell was not the styling. Did you ever look into what it would cost to insure one of these for a driver under 25 years of age? (Especially a 4 speed car) You can’t count that high!
I was born in 1946, so in 1970 -the start of that stupid insurance scam, I always had a 4 speed.. I lived on a farm and my mother seem to own a lot of cars over the years–all four speeds. There was always a way around it. Morley
A friend of mine bought a ’68 Dodge Coronet 440 2dr hardtop 383 HP, 4 spd with bench seats in 1971. It was insured as a Dodge v8 with manual transmission when it was closer to a Roadrunner or a Dodge R\T or Superbee. It was a sleeper in the true sense of the word..
I owned a hemi superbird from 2007 til 2016. 4 speed. FJ5 limelight paint. Buckets with buddy seat. Am 8 track. Rim blow wheel.
Original paint and interior. 11000 miles. Only driven 15 miles since 1976…and I put the 15 miles on it.
It was too rare and valuable to drive thus I sold it. And it probably will never be seen by the general public again. In private collection and he has no interest in showing it.
The wing cars definitely gets alot of attention.
Any willingness to share what you paid and sold it for? Just curious. If not, I respect that.
I saw my first Superbird in the dealer’s showroom,
in Visalia,CA.I remember that it didn’t have the rear wing on it.
I like the White/Black colors on this one.
Here’s my superbird story. As a kid in the 70’s , my grade school teacher use to drive her boyfriends hemi orange one to school. Really stood out in the teachers parking lot. Ran into her years later and asked her what ever happened to it. Sold to someone in US for big money for the time. Guess it was too hard to drive in the snow in winter time!
A friend in college paid $1500 for a yellow 440 6 pack Superbird in 1976. It made me envious, but I was just a poor college student. But that was when you could buy 65/66 289 Mustang convertibles for $300.
Another friend from high school drove a ragged out 440 Daytona.
I always preferred the look of the Superbird nose over the Daytona.
Come on. Who, as a kid in the late 60s, early 70s didn’t draw cars like this?
Although I have stoped and looked every time one of these cars came in my line of sight, I always thought they were really ugly cars….the nose never seemed to fit right.
I know where you can still buy some 65/66 289 mustangs for $300 saw one Saturday. “Needs work” lots of work!! I wish I could see one of these for $1500 nowadays.