Sometime before the dawn of the Internet Age, every town in American told its own story about an abandoned Chrysler Wing Car deteriorating in a barn, field, or garage somewhere nearby. Just when you think they have all been found and treated to rotisserie restorations, something like this 1970 Plymouth Superbird in London, Kentucky pops up. Twenty-three bids here on eBay have driven the value north of $85,000, and it will need a complete restoration, though the original numbers-matching V-code (440 six-pack) engine has been rebuilt.
The giant wing, recognizable from great distances, accounts for the epic nature of stories relating to these cars. Many rare muscle cars can be difficult to identify except upon close inspection, but a wing of this magnitude (homologated for their functionality in NASCAR) can be identified from a country mile.
If the enormo-wing isn’t flashy enough, the Limelight Green paint guarantees you’re noticed in traffic. No one will accuse the new owner of his or her appreciation for stealth. This Superbird is the automotive equivalent of a neck tattoo and a fluorescent green Mohawk. A factory four-speed with Pistol-Grip shifter transmits power to the original Dana rear axle and its 3.54:1 gears.
The correct (but not original) triple two-barrel “Six Pack” setup utilizes the economical center carb in modest operation. Then, when you get angry and summon the two secondary carburetors with your right foot, a whole new world of thrust kicks in and threatens to acquaint you with the nearest bridge abutment. New fuel and brake lines, fuel tank, and exhaust round out the mechanical refurbishment. Bidding on similar cars has been known to take an express train to Crazyville. Tell us your local Wing Car legend below!
Great write up Todd! ‘threatens to acquaint you with the nearest bridge abutment’ LOL. I might have told this before, I have a hoarder friend with a white one. Another friend that is related to him says you can’t even see it buried in his garage. To bad, I like the cars.
Thanks leiniedude! In my hometown a local Doctor had one in a garage barely wider than the car. We used to look up the driveway every time we drove by in case the garage door was open and we could sneak a look.
You are welcome Todd, in rural Wisonsin we never got to see the stuff from across the pond much. But I will say, my farmer buddys still have some very rare muscle cars in there sheds. I am blessed to still be able to party with them and look at there rigs. Bench racing and county roads. Take care, Mike.
Holy carp, this was one of the monsters of all-time monsters along with the Buick GS
So there are stories where dealers removed the wing etc because they weren’t selling. Is this true? I wonder if a car like that could be verified by the vin.
Yes they did convert many to regular Road Runner status and yes you can tell using a number of different methods.
My friend’s Dad was a Detroit area dealer and he had a bunch of them sitting on his lot for more than a year. Yes, he cut off the wings; he had to move the inventory. As cool as it is, I can’t imagine who would want to use this as a daily. Talk about frightening the neighbors.
How did the dealer cover up the wholes left by the wing?
urban legend about converting them back to road runners
Mopars Mopars Mopars I say…….Must spend the $$$ for old MOPARS says the Mopar freaks……..LOL!
Kry baby kry……
That was a funny write-up. Thanks, Todd. When I was a kid in about 1978, my mom took me to the local mall and I remember walking through the parking lot on the way in and counted 3 ‘birds, a yellow one and 2 green ones and not parked together! I thought they were common. Wrong. And as for Keith….make it stop.
I saw on it Belgrade, Yugoslavia back in ’71. To an 11 year old fresh from New Guinea, this orange space ship was amazing. The 3 deep crowd of locals thought so too.
I saw one in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2000 on the way back from dinner. I waved and he beep-beeped at me.
There are a lot of classics hidden in Europe. I was in Munich in 2010 and saw a 68 Mustang GT500, A GSX, and a 70 GTO parked in the bottom level of a municipal garage. I imagine a lot of them went over with servicemen that decided not to ship them home.
Thanks Crazyhawk! I love these cars! Three in one lot – that’s something else!
I can see that happening. Back then, these were relatively affordable.
I remember while shopping for a Vette in the early 80’s, looking through Hemmings Motor News (was that the one with the brown cover?), I could have gotten one of these for the same price as an early C3. It was tempting.
No one wanted them when they were new, or in the 80s. It took another almost 30 years (and the advent of the TV car auction) to make these and every other muscle car worth more than gold.
Just once I’d like to be able to go to crazyville. Ain’t gonna happen.
” It has been garage kept most of its life”…There’s something seriously wrong with that garage.
When I was a kid an older teen used to drive one to school. It was beat to death and did not run well. It was the subject of a lot of scorn, and he soon got rid of it.
Your story reminded me of “Joe Deertay”.
So true “setup utilizes the economical center carb in modest operation.” On my six pack setup I could be cruising around and get fairly good mileage. When I put my foot into it I could swear that I could see the gas gauge move.
By far the best thing about a six pack is the air cleaner, it just looked so cool.
What’s with no mention the black nose cone? and the vinyl roof? looks like a roa
drunner to superbird conversion…..
they needed the vinyl roof to cover up panels added to the rear glass area. of the roof which was shaped differently for areodynamics, the glass not the roof.
Every superbird had a final top except the first one or two as the body work to but the corner back window in was cost prohibitive so a final top hid all of the sins.
Stephen, ALL Superbirds had a vinyl roof. This would be the ultimate combo for me if I could only afford one now. Sub lime Green, six pack, 4 speed. WOW and I could restore it. to the doubters about the condition of this car in a garage for many years mine was repainted ( botched ) by a vo-tech class when it was 4 years old had large riveted patches on the quarters. it was then wrecked on a snowy test drive and put in a garage with 24K mi. I got to do a correct body restoration. Here is a photo (of a photo) of me almost thirty years ago.
I know but I like saying “six pack” better than “six barrel”.
When I was a kid back in the 70’s, one of my friend’s dad had one. It was parked in the garage with a car cover over it. I never ever saw it outside the garage for years. I was endlessly fascinated with the car and its crazy wing. My friend could not have been more disinterested in it. He knew nothing about it and didn’t care. I had another friend nearby that had a pinball machine and a pool table in their rec room. For some reason he always wanted to play at my house and never his. Then another buddy of mine had access to their apartment complex pool but hated swimming. I couldn’t use the pool without him. There wasn’t a lot of entertainment options in the 70’s for kids and I end up with friends that had access to cool stuff, but chose to play buzzkill with their fun starved buddy. I’ll have to look these friends up and see what kind of dull life they have lead.
My winged car story took place in the mid 80’s. I was working for an asphalt company in S. Wis. and we were sent to a farm in the middle of nowhere to do a driveway. While sitting around during one of the many equipment breakdowns, I see, in a lean to, a car with a cover, and what looked like a covered wing. I had to look, and sure enough, it was a blue Superbird, in perfect condition. Never know where those will turn up.
I lived on the southside of Dublin, Ireland as a kid and I remember seeing one of these winged wonders driving up O’Connell street one day (the main street in the center of Dublin) and to say it was a jaw-dropping sight is an understatement. It seemed everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at it in amazement. Compared to the Minis, Fiats and Rovers of the time is was a very large car and with that towering wing everything else looked like a Matchbox car in comparison. At the time I had a job delivering paper goods (from a small company located just a few doors down from the Guinness plant on James street) throughout the city and hoped to see it somewhere where I could have a closer look at it but I never saw it again. I do remember feeling great pride as an American that my country built that amazing car.
OK, my wing car story is from Nashville, TN. I attended high school there and at age 16 was already obsessed with Superbirds, drawing them on my notebook and talking about them with anybody who would listen. My friend Philip said there was one in his neighborhood that never moved. We drove to a residential neighborhood in South Nashville in the spring of 1981 and there sits an orange Superbird in a fenced in back yard, no kidding. Cragar S/S style wheels and the headlights in the up position. I drove by there several times a week for months, and he was right, it never moved. I knocked on their front door a few times but they never answered. It disappeared, but I kept driving by and one day the garage was open and I saw it in there. Finally it was gone for good from that location, my best guess was around 1984 and I never saw it again. Attached is the photo I took of it in 1981.
OK, I don’t know why the photo is sideways! The picture I uploaded to Barnfinds is not…
I remember that car, it was near Haywood Lane in Tusculum
It sure was Jeepster, that’s exactly the car I was referring to. Between Delvin Drive and Ocala Drive. Can you share any more information about this car, even if it is just your memories?
Same story here, someone told me about it so took a motorcycle ride twice to look. Second time it was gone. A short time later there was a listing in wheels-n-deals, 1970 Superbird, orange, with cragars, no engine/trans for $4500. 1984 or early 1985.
Oh wow, that just about had to be the car you saw in Wheels And Deals. That was a long time ago! I’m glad you remembered all of this and thanks for sharing, brought back some fun memories. Even if it was missing the engine and trans, I have to believe that car survived because the body was in good shape overall, complete, and no obvious signs of being wrecked. I’d love to know where it is now!
Jeepster, here’s another photo of that car. Wish it was better quality and not black and white. I feel like I have more pictures of it somewhere. This one shows the Cragar style wheels. I wonder if the engine and transmission was still in it at this point, as the front end doesn’t look higher as if the weight of the motor was gone? Maybe after it went inside the garage is when they were pulled. Who knows at this point?
Yes that is true but not that easy .My superbird sat on a dealers lot for well over a year before being bought. In order to make thos car look like a standard road runner the dealer would first need to remove the nose then replace both front fenders because the bird uses dodge coronet in the front , also the hood would need to be replaced since this hood has extension welded on to the front to fit the nose. The wing can easily be removed . The rear window is also different than a typical roadrunner too .
I have seen a few with the wing still on, & the nose cone replaced with conventional front end. But NEVER THE REVERSE.
They should never have offered 14″ wheels on such a huge car.
Tall 225-70-15’s like on the t/a should have been standard.
Did any come with manual 4 wheel drums & manual steering? yowsir!
They already had clearance problems. That is the reason for they bumps on the front fenders. 15 inch wheels would have added to the problem.
Hey Joe Dirt. Your car is waiting. Come and get it.
Too late, David Spade bought a ’69 Dodge Daytona( with 6,000 miles) for $900 grand.
In the current bland world of silver, white and black SUV’s, when I see one of these driving down the road it looks like something from another dimension. I like the boldness of the design much more now than I ever did back in the day. I had a “Six Pak” 340 Duster back then and loved the sound and fury of the combo.
My winged-warrior story is very close to home. My brother bought one in 1971, white over black 440 pistol grip with black vinyl top. He was arrested driving to Lake of the Ozarks in the Missouri for being clocked at 140. After several rear-end accidents (not his but from rubber-necker’s), he decided it was time for the winged-warrior to go and traded it for a 340 Dart Swinger. You know what they say about hindsight.
Had a lemon twist yellow one I bought in 1986…it was a beast 440 6pk pistol grip 4spd 3:91 gears…#2 condition…sold it back to the guy I bought it from…said he wanted it for his boy…then the price of them exploded! Wish I had it back!
There is still a couple here in the North 15 inch snow tires and out of the trailer park they come
That car is probably the value of that trailer park.
Man, where the heck was this taken?
I remember seeing one parked in front of a house in my hometown of Phoenixville PA as a teenager. I waited outside for 2 hrs waiting for the guy to leave. The wing was just crazy high.
Hey SMS you are not crazy. My father bought one brand new. It has the 440 Super Comando with a single 4bl carb. I have the car now n it has 61,000 original miles on it. Yes when I put the pedal to the metal. I can actually see the gas gauge needle move. It has buried the 150 mph speedometer plenty of times. These cars are amazing n I Love my Lime Light green one to death.
Funny both of mine were this pretty green color…..one down in Quinlan Tx we tried to buy for years and right there in Irving,Tx was a highway escort out fit that had one in their inventory with the flags and light’s on top of it. Then there was that orange Daytona stashed in the cedar trees on the owners property….Oh well I kinda got over that need……
What is with the black nose ?
Great stories from all the guys.
But something is not right here.
Seller is not giving the full story
Nice car, but not for me at that price.
That being said, I appreciate finely-done engine bays, but have always wondered why they would use ’emergency’ battery post clamps rather than replacing with complete-molded cables.
I know, picky, picky…but hey….details count!
Todd: You definitely have a slightly warped sense of humor, always look forward to your posts. Fantastic prose regarding the most iconic muscle car of all time. Yep, I’m kinda’ biased, and definitely a MOPAR fanatic.
Many years ago, I was announcing the Monster MOPARS event held near Saint Louis, MO. There were over 30 wings cars at the event, and I actually had the opportunity to drive a 440 4-speed, Vitamin C Orange, ‘Bird. Needless to say, it was rather hard to finish announcing the rest of the weekend with my eyes glazed over, having difficulty breathing, sweating profusely, etc.
Fast forward to the summer of 2017, when we located a freshly completed tribute. Tor-Red, black interior, 426 HEMI with twin four barrels, 4-speed, console, and bucket seats. Every component had been replaced, including wiring, suspension, interior, new paint, etc. Yep, have definitely checked off a major bucket list item, grin.
While I appreciate some purists will cringe since it is not numbers matching, Mary & I have an absolute blast with our “Baby Bird” (her pet name for the car, go figure). Candidly, the stratospheric price of an original Superbird with this configuration is definitely well beyond our reach.
As noted by other commenters, these puppies REALLY draw a crowd. The scariest part is when I get pulled over so that the police officer can take pictures. Yep, that has happened numerous times, LOL.
Thanks, Mike. Sweet ‘bird (love the red!), and one you can enjoy. That’s what it’s all about!
I’ve never seen one “in the wild,” but I once saw a Coronet convertible that they had grafted on the nose and wing.
Wills Chrysler Plymouth in Pleasant Hills, Pa managed to get several of these and proudly parked them next to busy Route 51, where they were covered in road salt. When I lived in Columbus, Ohio the manager of a Rinks store drove one. Every day. The 1973 oil embargo created a lot of castaways. Apartment parking lots were littered with muscle cars.
Back in the 80s there were 2 or 3 in front of a house at the intersection of US 19 and the West Virginia Turnpike in Beckley. I would see them on my annual trip to Myrtle Beach.
Wish I had a 100000 to throw at some half rusted piece. But probably wouldn’t buy one of these. Wow where is the real world. I must be dreaming
It’s great to read all of the personal stories about these.
Once you see one, you never forget it.
Always liked these cars. never understood why they didnt sell back when new, especially when racing was so popular. Race on sunday sell on monday? Back in 2000 there was one for sale at local swap meet. It was green with white interior, 440 I think single 4 barrel?, cant remember which trans it had. Had the magnum style wheels not the rallyes. This was just before the boom happened, they were only asking 18k. DOH! My dad almost bought it but couldnt pull trigger. They pop up once in a great while at various local shows in various colors here in WI. Theres a yellow one with older paint, possibly original with aluminum slots on it farmer owns it. The one that gets the most attention at shows is the documented former race car still in race form, especially when he fires it up and you hear the hemi breathe!