The Plymouth Superbird is certainly no stranger at Mecum festivals, as not only did this Winged Warrior capture its share of attention in racing history, but the street versions also remain some of the most desirable Mopars out there. Richard Petty conquered the ‘70 NASCAR season behind the wheel of a Superbird, scoring 8 wins, but oddly enough he only owned one of the 1,935 or so units built for public consumption. This coming January, the sole 1970 Superbird that The King called his driver will be looking to exchange hands, so if your New Year’s resolution is to acquire a unique auto with some iconic Petty ties, this may be the opportunity of a lifetime. Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 18, as that’s the day this one will cross the block in Kissimmee, Florida. You can read all about it here on the Mecum Auctions website.
Richard acquired this Alpine White Superbird back in 1982, and the car became a regular fixture at the Petty Museum until 2013. The following year, restoration was completed by the Petty garage, with results that could be described as no less than stunning. While most of the outside appears much as it would have back in ‘70, the large black decals on the quarters have gotten a custom touch added below, as the panels now read “Plymouth From Petty”, ensuring that spectators will know there’s something extraordinary going on here. More exterior personalization can be found on the trunk lid, where Richard has hand-signed his name on the left.
What’s not quite so special is the drivetrain, which is the standard 440 Super Commando V8 with a single 4-barrel carburetor. The optional powerplants were the 440 with a trio of 2-barrels on top, or the mighty 426 Hemi, the latter of which just 135 Superbirds are believed to have been equipped with from the factory. It’s unknown why Richard Petty chose a base engine example with an automatic as his personal car, but the 440 was plenty powerful on the streets, offering 375 horsepower in stock form, plus the TorqueFlite had a good reputation for being a rock-solid transmission. Some excellent news is that the driveline is said to be original here.
Much of the interior has been left as it was, with things still appearing to be nicely preserved inside. Many of these cars came with a bench seat and column-shifted automatic, but this one’s got buckets and a console, with another custom touch being Petty’s profile added to the seats and an autographed glove box that reads, “Take care of my car! Richard Petty”. A letter of confirmation is also included which states this is the only production Superbird Richard has ever owned, signed by The King himself, so there’s lots of proof that the buyer is getting the real deal here. I don’t even know how to begin speculating how much this 1970 Plymouth Superbird might fetch at auction, but I’m curious what our readers have to say about this one, plus any ideas where the numbers may top out once the gavel drops in January?
👑 Wow 🏁
“ It’s unknown why Richard Petty chose a base engine example with an automatic as his personal car, but the 440 was plenty powerful on the streets, offering 375 horsepower in stock form, plus the TorqueFlite had a good reputation for being a rock-solid transmission.” I think you answered your own question, Mike. The King was a professional racer-he didn’t need it on the street. Insofar as raising the value of the car with the hottest motor, it probably wouldn’t matter-It belonged to was built for and was personally signed by the man that is synonymous with old school NASCAR. He didn’t need the max motor to get him around nor would it most likely bring that much more on the auction block. Wouldn’t be surprised to see this get $2mil easy from a hard core well-heeled NASCAR fan.
Excellent feature, Mike! Great find-thank you.
He got the 440 because that is what was for sale in 1982. By that time, of the 1920 produced, many had already been trashed. I see some increase in value because it was his, but really not all that much. Maybe if Chrysler had given him a new one in 1970, then for sure. Is there something wrong with the headlamps? Those vacuum operated things can be a bear to fix.
If this was a driver, I can understand why you’d want a 4bbl instead of a six-pack. The 4bbl was easier to drive and more reliable. The six-pack required more maintenance and adjustment to work right. It was a lot of fun to open six barrels wide and hear the motor tach up. However, just for driving around the 4bbl was much easier to ease into when you just needed a little extra to pull onto the highway, etc.
In 1972 I owned a 69 1/2 Six Pack Super Bee and drove it until 1977. There was no more maintenance needed on a Six Pack. None. It was well designed and if you drove it easy it got respectable gas mileage, when you put your foot in it you knew it wasn’t the 4 barrel. If you were constantly working on it, you didn’t know what you were doing.
Having owned a couple of six Pack cars I can add that they are also very economical when running on just the center two bbl carb. I’ve had more issues keeping a 4160 factory Holley 4 bbl carb in adjustment than any of my Six Packs and my cars were daily drivers in the 1980’s.
However this Superbird’s equipped, one thing is for sure. When the gave drops this will no doubt be 2 tons of unobtainium! I don’t even want to guess what this will go for.
$2 Million for sure, if it goes for $1.5 million, somebody stole it!
I noticed the air cleaner lid is also signed!!
I remember I was 15 years old when this car was introduced, I don’t mind the spoiler at the back overall but the car was just too huge. I understand on the race track going round and round and probably did the purpose. even today I would be embarrassed to drive it on the road!
Richard Petty did not conquer the ‘70 NASCAR season behind the wheel of a Superbird. The King was fourth in 1970. Bobby Isaac won the 1970 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers’ Championship in a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi.
On August 17th of this year (2024), a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi sold for $3,360,000.00.
In 1974 my buddy bought a 1970 road runner 🏃 440 6 barrel air Graber torkflght tyranny. It was a real pain keeping it turned for daily driver. To much temptation to hammer down, but it was a blast anyway 😂
When I worked at a dealership a Chrysler factory Rep drove one Same color he took the wing off and put white plastic plugs in the holes. Later when it was for sale our dealership bought it put the wing back on and sold it to a veteran
The King came to my workplace with Adam and Kyle, to commemorate my company sponsoring the Petty trucks in the Craftsman Truck Series. My managers denied for me to bring my Alpine White SuperBird to work because ‘it had nothing to do with the event’.
I was heartbroken because I felt it would have been a GREAT tribute. So, I decided to take the day off so that at least I could be first in line for an autograph,,, and I brought the driver’s side wingstrut with me to get his autograph on it.
When he entered the tent, he stopped in his tracks, and came over to where I stood and asked loudly, “Son, what I wanna know is,, where is the rest of that old Girl??”
I mustered all my strength to keep it together and said “They told me I couldn’t bring it here Sir”,,, he reached out and took it from me and laid it on the table and said: “Well, let’s take care of this,,, and he signed Richard on it, and then he looked up over his sunglasses and said: “You DID want me to write on this??!!’ It was all I could do to choke out ‘Yes Sir’….. I was so proud to get his autograph on my pride and joy.
I am very interested to see what his ‘Bird will bring. I still cherish mine dearly. Even more so since he came here to celebrate our sponsorship and I got to shake hands with all three Pettys that day.
I especially like the license plate – 200 WINS – a number that will never be equaled.