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383 V8 4-speed: 1970 Dodge Super Bee

The Super Bee was to Dodge as the Road Runner was to Plymouth, a lower-priced muscle car with plenty of punch. It was overshadowed in terms of sales compared to its corporate companion and saw only four years of production (1968-71). This 1970 edition with a 383 cubic inch V8 and 4-speed manual transmission is yellow and runs well but the cosmetics are getting tired. Located in Placerville, California, this Mopar is available here on eBay where the bidding has reached $27,600, but the reserve is so far unmet.

While the logo for the Super Bee was cartoon-like (in the same vein as the Road Runner), the Dodge Boys didn’t spend as much time on the name. It stood for a “super” version of the B-platform the auto shared with the Dodge Coronet. Plymouth did a better job of promoting their version of the performance car, too, selling 185,000 of them during the lifespan of the Super Bee, which only saw 56,000 units made by comparison.

The standard powerplant in the Super Bee was the 383 cubic-inch “Magnum” V8 and that’s the engine also in the seller’s car, paired with a 4-speed manual and “Slap Stick” shifter. This one has the 391 “Sure-Grip” positive traction rear-end and we’re told the automobile runs and drives as it should. No mention I made if any work is needed in the mechanical arena.

Top Banana is the color choice as verified by the VIN. We don’t know if the paint is original, but it’s starting to show some age and there is rust creeping in along the bottoms of both rear quarter panels. Fortunately, the rest of the sheet metal and undercarriage look more than passable. In the passenger compartment, the upholstery looks good, but the radio is missing from the dash. Overall, this seems like a driver-quality muscle car you could use for a while before undertaking a restoration is perfection is the goal.

Comments

  1. Avatar photo Darren

    I think we refer to the shifter as Pistol Grip when it’s manual and Slap Stick when it’s an automatic.

    Like 32
    • Avatar photo Manual Force

      I have heard hatchet handle shifter too

      I wonder what other names are in reference?

      Like 1
  2. Avatar photo Jangus

    I’d be concerned as to what the black engine compartment paint job is hiding.
    Looks shabby and shortsighted when some hack paints a Mopar engine bay with black paint.

    Like 14
    • Avatar photo Shuttle Guy Member

      That caught my eye immediately also.

      Like 3
    • Avatar photo Gerald Ramey Jr

      Painting an engine firewall and inner fenders black was a big thing back in the 1980’s. I know lots of guys who did that to Chrysler, Ford, and GM muscle cars. Even models kits from that period, especially ones made by MPC, had paint instructions to paint firewall and inner fenders black. I did that to a lot of my kits. Now, going back and redo/repainting them, I’ve changed it to body color.

      Like 0
  3. Avatar photo Shuttle Guy Member

    Someone save it and save it soon!

    Like 1
  4. Avatar photo Howie

    Only 5 hours to go, mileage 99999?

    Like 1
  5. Avatar photo PRA4SNW

    SOLD for $30,000. Sounds like a good deal, in this day and age.

    Like 3
  6. Avatar photo Rw

    Really Russ a Slap Stick,do you get paid to write this stuff.

    Like 3
    • Avatar photo Chris

      Yup that is what it is really called it. Look it up if you don’t believe it . They had a lot of really cool options back than . It was about performance not about you electronic devices.

      Like 2
  7. Avatar photo Brian W. Pendleton

    Actually back in the day the automatic T handle was called a SLAP STICK !
    Not the Pistol Grip 4 speed handle.

    Like 0

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