There are many owners of classic muscle cars that leave the vehicles at the mercy of the elements for decades, only to face the harsh reality of not being able to rebuilt them in the end. Fortunately, this 1970 Dodge Super Bee seems to be in for a brighter future, as explained by an enthusiasts who has been following the Mopar for two decades.
Despite the vehicle having spent more than twenty years outside (somebody familiar to the machine talks about as many as 40 years of sitting on the bench), the machine still packs its characteristic front bumper. Styled to resemble the wings of a bumble bee, the twin-loop bumper sets the 1970 year apart from the ’69 and the ’68.
And, as it was the case the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, the styling feature that makes these machines treasured collector items nowadays actually drove customers away back in the day.
Interestingly, the Super Bee, which was created as Dodge’s more affordable muscle car and shared the B-Body platform with the more expensive Charger, never returned to a conventional front bumper. That’s because the 1971-only second-gen resembled the corresponding Charger’s full face of chrome.
Despite the affordable nature of the Super Bee, which it shared with its Plymouth Road Runner sibling, these beasts were offered with serious muscle. So, for the Gen I we have here, customers could opt between a 383 (6.3L) Magnum, a 440 (7.2L) Six-Pack and the legendary 426 (7.0L) HEMI.
This 1970 Super Bee comes with an average spec, but that may change
Returning to this particular example, its spec involves the basic 383 and a three-speed auto with a colum shifter. Then again, that’s not too relevant, since the engine is no longer in the car (nor is the rear axle, for that matter). The manual drum brakes? Their performance leaves much to be desired, but we can apply the same logic here: you see, with the owner planing to revive the machine, this will receive more serious hardware.
As mentioned above, this old-slice of Mopar is well documented. As with the other adventures he shares with us, YouTuber Auto Archaeology stays true to his alias, providing photos of the vehicle that date back to 2004.
And while the vlogger doesn’t mention too many details about the owner himself, we do get some encuranging news. It seems that the collector has cleaned up his property meanwhile, moving this Super Bee closer to the shop built on the premises, which has since been upgraded.
The man has also reportedly gathered some mechanical goodies for the 1970 Dodge. And, while we mentioned aero cars above, we’ll tell you that the owner recently completed the restoration of a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, which should free up some resources that could go to this classic. For the record, when such a car in a good state, it should fetch over $50,000.
Meanwhile, the moldy exterior and dusty blue interior of the Super Bee are waiting to become an extra layer in this hopefully happy-ending tale.