Built in thousands or tens of thousands of units, many muscle cars from the golden era aren’t rare by production numbers. But because many were wrecked and left to rot away in backyards, most nameplates are becoming increasingly harder to find nowadays. The B-body Mopars are among the scarcest.
Chrysler introduced the B-body platform in 1962 when it launched its first midsize cars. It originally underpinned the Dodge Dart and Polara and the Plymouth Fury, Savoy, and Belvedere. The platform eventually extended to include most of Chrysler’s iconic muscle cars. I’m talking about the Dodge Coronet, Charger, Super Bee and the Plymouth Satellite, Road Runner, and GTX. The one-year-only Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird were also built on these bones.
Granted, many of these cars aren’t extremely rare overall, but specific versions are very difficult to find nowadays in unrestored and unmolested condition. And they’re pretty expensive, too, fetching six-figure sums when they pop up for sale. The HEMI-fitted examples are the most valuable, but 440 “Six Pack” units are nothing to sneeze at.
As a Mopar fan, I always get excited when rare Dodges and Plymouths come out of long-term storage in one piece. The footage you see here is not about muscle cars kept in barns, but it’s just as stirring because it involves a farm field packed with B-body cars.
Sure, these Mopars are in bad shape, and some suffer from severe rust issues, but all of them have been rescued from barns or from going to the crusher. And they will get a second chance at life through restoration or as part donors. That’s tremendous news when the stash in question also includes a few super-rare gems.
The footage starts with a 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T and a 1969 Super Bee. They look rough, but both left the factory with 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) “Six Pack” engines. The Challenger is quite scarce. Not only is it one of less than 4,000 big-block RT models built in 1971, but it’s also one of only 250 fitted with the 390-horsepower RB engine. The HEMI is the only version that’s scarcer. As for the Super Bee, it’s a fully-fledged A12 model. The bundle was introduced in 1969 and included the M-code six-barrel 440 V8, a Dana 60 axle with 4:10 gears, a heavy-duty gearbox, and a lift-off hood with a massive scoop in the center. Dodge sold a whopping 27,800 Super Bees in 1969, but only 1,907 were ordered with the A12 package.
Moreover, these Mopars were also converted to oval track duty in their early days and still sport roll cages and other modifications inside the cabin. It would be downright awesome to see them restored to their racing days, but I wouldn’t mind them being returned to stock condition.
The field is also home to a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. While not quite as rare as the 1971 Challenger R/T, this Mopar is becoming increasingly harder to find and more expensive to buy. The same goes for the pair of late 1960s Coronet R/Ts parked here. One of them is a one-of-few triple black car.
You’ll also see a 1970 Super Bee finished in white with a red stripe, a rare color combo, and a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. The latter is one of 1,387 units made. And unless it has a 318-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) V8 automatic under the hood, it’s one of less than 150 cars regardless of engine. Not surprisingly, this one has already been sourced for parts.
If you’re a fan of the Plymouth Road Runner, you’ll see quite a few of them here. Most are somewhat mundane, but the owner also has a 1970 440 “Six Pack” model, a rare convertible, and even a 1970 car finished in pink. Called Panther Pink by Dodge and Moulin Rouge by Plymouth, this hue is rare on any Mopar simply because it was a Spring Color in 1970 and a Special Order paint in 1971. This car is most likely unique.