Nowadays, there are still classic muscle fans who would rather have a “standard” Mopar than a winged warrior such as the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Superbird. However, their number seems to be getting smaller by the year and with the limited production of these aero cars, it appears that each and every one of them finally gets the attention they deserved from day one.
Sure, it’s difficult to beat the iconic shape of a late 1960s B-Body Mopar like the Dodge Charger or the Plymouth Road Runner. However, when Dodge attempted to field the former in NASCAR, it quickly found out that the deep front grille was causing serious drag, while the shape of the rear window generated noticeable lift.
The engineers’ first move was to adapt the said bits of the big coupe, which is how we ended up with the 1968 Charger 500. Nevertheless, the performance was still not enough to bring home those trophies. And that’s why the carmaker went all in and came up with the 1969 Charger Daytona.
For 1970, the Dodge passed the NASCAR torch to the Plymouth Superbird which was based on the Road Runner. As for road car production, the 503 Daytonas were joined by 1,935 Superbirds.
Alas, the heftier numbers meant little, since many buyers were unimpressed by the extrme shape dictated by the nose cone, super-sized rear wing and the front wheel air extractors (non-functional on road cars). And that’s why you’ll hear stories of dealers converting these gems back to the regular shape to get them off their lots.
The difficult life of this Vitamin C Superbird
Fortunately, the Superbird we have here, which is dressed in the legendary Vitamin C, a shade Dodge called Go Mango, did get sold in its aero form. Its current owner, who is now 76, bought the vehicle from a used car dealership in 1971, even though this had been damaged. And you may be familiar to the aero car, since we also discussed it back in May, when the owner showed no precise plan to restore the car.
The Plymouth has had its fair share of racing on the street over the years and you can still see the scars caused by that. Now, the owner, who used to serve in the Air Force, also daily drove the thing until 1991 or 1992. Unfotunately, emission regulations determined the man to park the vehicle, which hasn’t run since then.
And YouTuber DezzysSpeedShop, who has been documenting this car since 2019, has fresh details on the Bird. The owner, who is now retired, has finally decided to bring the Superbird back to the road.
And, a few weeks ago, this Plymouth was pulled out of its shed and loaded onto a trailer—as detailed in the third clip below, the plan is to have the car fully restored within the next twelve months. And while we’re on that topic, have you seen this Hellcat-swapped Superbird at SEMA 2022? You’d never guess its modern muscle!
The Plymouth left the factory with a 440 V8 making 375 hp and a four-speed manual. And while it still has a 440, this was pulled from a 1970 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon after the original unit gave up.
According to the enthusiast that has kept the car for five decades, this still has most of the original parts, save for the said engine. And, due to its former street sprinter duty, you’ll notice some traction bars underneath the machine.
The odometer reads a little over 73,000 miles and, if you check out the second video below (8:10 timestamp), you’ll notice that the underbody appears to be solid.
As some of you might’ve guessed by now, the vlogger was looking to take this Superbird home. However, since the owner decided to revive the machine, he needs to keep searching for an unrestored example—this should mean that another neglected Superbird will get the TLC it deserves!
Winged warriors are big-money cars these days
And, in case you’re wondering about the financial side of such an adventure, a good-condition Superbird with the “base” 440 V8 trades hands for an average of $200,000 these days.
And while there are running examples with the iconic 426 HEMI in the $100,000+ range, you can only expect such cars to require a serious investment. Perhaps the most notable example of this comes from collector and vlogger Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage, who recently sold his infamous Superbird HEMI after fixing a ton of issues with the car.