There are many things that can make a classic car rare. The production number is obviously the first thing that comes to mind. However, super common nameplates can also become scarce gems with the right options. And often enough, a classic can be rare and expensive just because it has a low-production color combination.
When it comes to Mopars from the golden muscle car era, the High-Impact colors play a key role. Plum Crazy / In-Violet, for instance, is highly desirable without being particularly rare. But the iconic color palette also included hues that were notably less popular and found their way on just a few thousand vehicles. And when we split those numbers over nameplates, we get hundreds or even tens of each.
Of the ten High-Impact paints offered from 1969 through 1971, Bright Green / Rallye Green and Panther Pink / Moulin Rouge are the scarcest. And that’s because they were only available as Spring colors for a few months in 1969. Panther Pink / Moulin Rouge was also a special-order paint in 1970, but it was ordered in small numbers. The short-lived (1971 only) and somewhat controversial Citron Yella / Curious Yellow is also rare.
Then there are super-rare Mopars like this 1969 Super Bee that sports a special-order paint. I know this derelict hardtop looks like it was painted Panther Pink and then refinished in Go Mango, but it’s not what it seems. This Super Bee has a 999 code on its fender tag, and the traces of pink paint you see on the body aren’t from your usual High-Impact Panther Pink.
Showcased at the 2023 Muscle Cars and Corvette Nation als (MCACN), this Mopar is a unicorn that was ordered in a different shade of pink. And we know that because code 999 stands for special-order paint. Okay, so how do we know it’s not Panther Pink that just faded over time? Well, the thing is this Super Bee left the assembly line before Chrysler introduced the said color for the 1970 model year.
Moreover, Panther Pink came with FM3 on the fender tag for the 1970 model year and didn’t get the special-order 999 code until the 1971 model year. And the folks at Mopars5150 aren’t just whistling Dixie about it. They had the car verified by Mopar expert Dave Wise, who’s 100% certain the Super Bee is an authentic special-order rig with a unique color. A true one-of-one gem.
The Super Bee was obviously repainted in the past. The more recent hue looks a lot like EK2 Go Mango, a vibrant shade of orange Chrysler offered in 1969 and 1970. But there’s no denying that the car was initially finished in pink, as seen on the firewall and various areas that haven’t been refinished entirely.
The pink hue is not as vibrant as Panther Pink, which could mean two things. Either it’s a different shade of pink ordered by a customer who wanted a unique color or some sort of test car for the yet-unreleased Pink Panther. I wonder if this Super Bee is the same car that surfaced the Interwebz in 2015, with its owner claiming it to be a prototype. The vehicle had most of its body still covered in orange at the time, but the pink spots were similar.
Either way, this is arguably the only factory-original pink 1969 Dodge Super Bee ever produced. That said, I hope it will get a proper restoration at some point.