The consummate explorer Jacques Cousteau famously said “Nature is neither cruel nor kind,” but it hasn’t done this 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee any favors. Located in the heat and moisture-rich rust accelerator known as Jonesboro, Louisiana, this once shiny muscle car sat for “about 35 years,” losing value, structural integrity, and its ability to reflect light. Listed here on eBay, this daunting project awaits an opening bid of $4,500.
The listing includes many pictures including underside shots of metal structure ranging from pitted to destroyed. The seller states, “It will need floor pans, trunk floor, and the drivers rear frame rail will need a little work.” And, as one would expect from a vinyl top car, it “will need the panel behind the back glass.” The Body Tag decoder here at MyMopar confirms this is a WM23 Super Bee painted EB5 Blue Fire Metallic and powered by the E63 383 cid four-barrel V8 making 335 HP. Other options include D32 Heavy Duty 727 Automatic Transmission, N41 Dual Exhaust, V1W Full White Vinyl Top, V6W Longitudinal Stripes, and the V21 Performance Hood Treatment.
Yikes; this shot reminds me of the Far Side comic “How Nature Says ‘Don’t Touch.” Though sporting bucket seats today, this car came with the H2B7 Blue vinyl Bench Seat and EB7 Interior Paint Color Jamaica Blue Metallic. What a sharp ride this would have been! Sadly it may take a long time before its completed value will eclipse the sum total of parts required, but if you don’t mind spending hundreds of hours of labor and buying car parts instead of food, it could be your opportunity to embark on a labor of love.
The seller notes that the car sports a two-barrel carburetor which may suggest a non-original motor, or (if you’re lucky) this carb was installed on the original motor. Manual brakes on a car this large seems crazy today, but I owned a 1966 Coronet (same B Body) with manual brakes and they worked fine and delivered better pedal feel than the numb boosted binders. Are you reaching for your wallet to get the bidding started at $4,500?
If you looked for the BEST running/driving car like this that you could find, I (IMO) feel that you’d come out ahead; unless that is, you are a masochist and would love to throw money down a hole! It will truly be a labor of love & $$$ to take this one as a project :-)
A little putty and a little paint,will make her what she aien’t
…and a little welding, a little brazing, a little J-B Weld…
It’s been said that Mopar stands for “Mostly Old Parts And Rust”. And this car definitely is.
IMHO, anything that says “Super Bee” and has been a verified WM23, and is largely intact, should be saved. I have seen a lot worse rusted muscle brought back. There are people out there with the skill in working with metal to meet this challenge. The 70 Coronet line was so unique, and I really dig this body style. This was a beautiful car when new, and can be again. 4500 is a good place to start!
Title says DNR!
It should say DNF!
Do Not Resuscitate!
ive seen things made from worse, twas a 67 coronet 500 in TT1 Copper Metallic. The thing had no floors, trunk, half of the rear quarters, no trans, brakes rear axle, ect. Now is a guys daily driver, but the guy is super talented with metal working. Only problem is, the interior is only a seat and some sketchy non factory gauges, and heater. I might buy it from him…
Thanks for the write-up, Todd. Now I have to go get a tetanus shot.
Is that a Motorcraft/Autolite carb on it? and at least the whitewalls and front bumper are shiny!
I like the Mr. Thrifty air freshener!
Jeez, that thing looks a lot worse than the blue 69 that showed up in a local junkyard about 10 years ago. This was an RM21 car originally equipped with the 383 and a 4-speed. It got shredded.
That looks pretty solid! Why in God’s name did they shred it??
10 years makes a lot of difference.
Rust, rust and more rust! Is there anything that isn’t rusty??
Sad to see how ridiculous the “hobby” is now…5K for swiss cheese rust on four wheels. PASS!
I remember when you could score a solid drivable old mopar with a couple weekends of OT pay in your back pocket…and I’m glad I did. I will never sell either. Never been in it for money, lonly to enjoy the pure fun of driving a BB mopar.
That’s a Ford two-barrel with an adapter plate. May just be the original engine.
I worked at an auto parts store, had several customers did this conversion as after getting way too many tickets & life got in the way.
The only way I would pay $4,500 for this car is if it was Christine’s brother and could fix itself overnight.
Lots of promise under the hood and another one in reserve parked up back!
Boatman, a Ford 2v for sure, while they are decent little carbs, IMO they seem a bit on the restrictive side – especially if the engine is original to the car. If someone wants to do slower, just grab the Chevette listed here.
Probably added the carb during the gas crunch to save money on gas.
Yep, this car is in the same condition of the Mopars I knew back in the seventies. All Junk…….. Wow where’s the 38k price tag? I thought all these Mopars bring in the big bucks??????
I wouldn’t give you a dime for this heap in fact you’d have to give me the $4500.00 to take it away. All your buying is a vin tag and a clapped out drive line. By the time your done replacing metal this car won’t be this car any more. There is a reason this is for sell, the owner is trying to unload this heap of $h!t on some else.JMHO.
Nicely said by a lot of people with zero skills. Some of us don’t have a ton of money to go buy a restored car. I could take this car, sink $3000 into it and someone like you would be begging to buy it from me for 15k.
$4,500 for a title and matching ID plates.
asking price is too high in my opinion. better options list and more desirable drive-train might…. might bring those $$$
Love the reference to the Far Side, Todd!
I see another Coronet in the back ground in the first photo must be a parts car for this parts car.
ugly!
I was in the market for a new car in 1970. This front end turned me off. I bought a Fury instead.
With that front end it was beyond hope when new?
It’s a love it or hate it thing. I guess you hate it.
Indeed,seen a 70 pink panther aar cuda go for 20 k there a few yrs back,,think it needed every piece of sheetmetal replaced!!! Hope itshows up restored some day!!
Oh come on folks what a great patina shoot some clear on it and call it good.
If he priced it under $2000 he could sell it today, but at $4500 I have a feeling he will own it for a while longer. It would probably cost another $15K to restore it if you did the work yourself.
I usually don’t disagree with most commenters but I think your 15K doing the work yourself is quite low considering the work this car needs and being a Mopar. I did most of the work on our 70 Mach1 figuring 20K and ended up spending 35K. Just my opinion so don’t take it personally.
$15k? Ezeerider… When was the last time you priced a properly applied paint job, weld-in panels, interior kit, motor rebuild and vinyl roof installation. That might get you to the point where the car “runs and drives” but not to any kind of safe standard.
I build my own motors, i do my own paint and body work, I’m proficient in several types of welding, i can replace glass, carpet, headliners, brake work, suspension, and do wiring. About the only things i would need to farm out would be custom seat covers or an automatic transmission. If you farmed out any of this work i could see it costing $30-$40k, but I was talking about doing it all yourself.
True and I understand your point. The only thing I farmed out was the paint and bodywork and I got a screaming deal on that because I knew the body man. It’s the cost of new parts, refurbishing older parts you want to keep original and updating some components for safety in todays driving world. Also it seems Mopar parts are demanding a higher premium than Mustangs and Camaros due to aftermarket supply. I’ll give anyone credit who will take this feature car on and bring it back to driver / show / concourse quality. Good luck to whoever does it.
I agree with JW….if you love this Mopar, have deep pockets and don’t care about loosing $…. you may still want to avoid this one.
As you can see. It aint selling.
Price should be 1000 or less.
Do not laugh at the 2 barrel. Often they delivered better performance than the original 4 bbl
Nice long term project if you can do most of work yourself.
Other wise. Its scrap
These cars are not available on every corner…there worth saving and price is great. I would rather save a 4500 car with my own blood and tears then sit next to a 40000 car at car shows.
Hey I don’t know if this car has been sold yet. I am 15 years old and all ym life ive wnated a superbee to fix up and make look nice. If you havent sold this yet please notify me through via email. Thank you
This car or one like it just appeared here on Barn Finds.
Unlikely, Brett. The listing was from two years ago, but ya never know. Someone would need your email in order to email you though. Kudos to you at age 15 to start thinking about the resto of an old car! I started at 13, had my Dad drive an old 1959 Galaxie home for me to start working on. It was safe to drive by the time I got my license.