1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird

In 1970 the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird was one of many muscle cars that served a dual purpose along with other muscle cars like, Dodge Charger R/T, Ford Torino GT, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler GT and Plymouth’s basic Road Runner. They were not only prime candidates for the ultimate in street rod muscle, their characteristics were noted by NASCAR to be worthy of using on super speedways. Car manufacturers took this interest very seriously. NASCAR meant big advertising for the manufacturers, what could be better endorsement for companies than having big named drivers such as Richard Petty , Buddy Baker, Norm Nelson or Cale Yarborough win the Daytona 500 in a car designed and made by your company.

With big named drivers of NASCAR endorsing muscle cars like Plymouth Superbird it gave the company incentive to get the project into high gear. In 1969, Richard Petty, who until then had raced and driven numerous Plymouth’s to victory, did the unexpected and moved over to the Ford racing team. Petty was not happy with the new 1968 Plymouth Road Runner body style, he felt it was not aerodynamically friendly compared to the Ford equivalent. Buddy Baker made a good showing with his ‘69 Charger Daytona, with unheard speeds of 200 mph. Plymouth was determined to win Petty back and was willing to do anything necessary to accomplish this. After Dodge discontinued the Charger Daytona in 1969, Plymouth applied the aerodynamic technology to the Road Runner in 1970, in respect, winning Richard Petty back to their team.

With some similarities between the ’69 Charger Daytona and the ’70 Superbird, the only true similarities are the front fenders and the windshield, which like the Charger Daytona were borrowed from the 1970 coronet. Their nosecones and tall rear wings looked identical, but were not interchangeable. The nose cone on the Superbird points downward with the grille on the underside, as on the Daytona it’s in the front center of the nose cone. The headlights and turn signals are different as well. The rear wing is more swept back on the Superbird, but adjustable like the Daytona.

Although Plymouth made many more of the Superbirds than Dodge’s Daytona, that doesn’t say Plymouth had better luck with the public buying these long nosed tall winged unsightly (as perceived by public opinion) aero cars. As did the Daytona, the Superbird sat on dealers’ lots as far ahead as 1972, until most dealers removed the nose cones and tall spoilers and installed standard Road Runner equipment to move them off their lots. Even with the sales problems then, today the sale prices range from $100K to $300K and up, making them one of the most sought after Mopar’s today.

Engines: 426 Hemi – 425bhp@5000 rpm&490 lb-ft torque @ 4000 rpm, 440 V8 – 375 bhp @4600 rpm & 480 lb-ft torque @ 3200 rpm. Total production of 1920 – 1162 with a 440 4bbl, 665 with a 440 Six pack, and 93 with 426 Hemi’s.

american muscle cars

Mopar Muscle Cars, Dodge Charger Daytona, Dodge Charger 500

The muscle car era created some of the most legendary and wildest muscle cars ever. These muscle cars were desired by the average car enthusiasts all the way up to the professional drivers of NASCAR. In order for Dodge to remain competitive in the world of racing, especially against the competition such as the Ford Torino and Mercury Cyclone, Mopar engineers had to create a racing machine that would compete on the oval track.

Despite the attempts Dodge made, the standard production 1968 Charger didn’t seem to have the aerodynamic stability required to surpass the competition on the high bank ovals with speeds up to 190 mph. In 1969 Mopar engineers designed the Charger 500 that looked like the standard street version Charger R/T. To help reduce the aero drag, Mopar’s engineers used the flush mounted grill of the Coronet to fill in the air space. This change would help the Charger’s aerodynamics. NASCAR had stipulated that any car built for racing had to be available for sale to the general public and a minimum of 500 models had to be available. 503 copies of the Charger 500 were produced to abide by the NASCAR regulation. The only choice of engines was the standard 440 Magnum or the 426 Hemi.

Regardless of all the new changes, the Charger continued to fall short of the Ford Torino and Mercury Cyclone. The Charger 500’s managed to capture 18 NASCAR victories, but Ford’s aero warriors still led the way with 30 victories. Mopar engineers were not about to stand for this shortfall, they continued to modify and test new designs in the wind tunnel until they created one of the most sought after Chargers, the 1969 Charger Daytona.

Instead of the flush nosed front end, Mopar engineers came up with a pointed nose that added 18 inches to the front of the car giving the Charger Daytona the down force needed, and a rear wing that was 23 inches tall to keep the rear from lifting at the high speeds of the high bank oval track. Also added to the front fenders were facing scoops above the front tires to give it an even more of an aerodynamic advantage. It was also believed that these scoops would relieve the high pressure that would build up in the fender well at high speeds.

The wings of all Daytona’s were painted the same color of the individual car’s stripe which was either black, red, or white bumble stripes that had “Daytona” in the middle of the stripe. The winged Chargers proved to be so fast and dominating that NASCAR introduced a new regulation that all “aero” cars for the 1971 season be limited to a 305cid down from the previous 426cid.