Page 35 - Experience Magazine Fall 2022

Wildly popular from its inception in 1948, the NASCAR testing at Wichita State University, Chrysler engineers
stock-car racing circuit is home to some of the fiercest devised a more radical solution: the Dodge Charger
racing anywhere in the world. It pits automobile Daytona. Featuring a bullet-style extended steel nose
manufacturers and their racing teams against one cone, chin spoiler, pop-up headlamp and an outrageous
another in likely the ultimate application of the “Win but effective rear wing atop tall aircraft-style stabilizers,
on Sunday, sell on Monday” spirit. By the mid-1960s, the Daytona sliced through the air and, in racing trim,
Chrysler and Ford Motor Company were the only rewrote history as the first NASCAR competitor to break
real top-level NASCAR adversaries, and their shared the 200-mph barrier. Just enough of these cars, 503 in
commitment to dominance on the track resulted in all, were produced in time to qualify the wild Mopar to
some of the fastest and most outrageous racing and road race and, when it debuted late in ’69 at the formidable
cars ever produced. new Talladega Superspeedway, the Daytona scored its
first NASCAR win with driver Richard Brickhouse.
Engine development reached a zenith by 1966, with
NASCAR imposing a displacement limit on Chrysler’s Development of a Plymouth counterpart to the Daytona
426 HEMI engine and a weight factor on Ford’s SOHC kicked off in June 1969, but temporarily halted that
427 cars. Racers and engineers in both camps realized August before NASCAR announced a new 1,000-car
that raw horsepower was no longer sufficient to win, production requirement or a number equal to half a
dictating a new emphasis on high-speed aerodynamics. company’s dealers, whichever was highest, in order
Plymouth stalwart Richard Petty may have won 27 of 49 to race — giving the Superbird a new lease on life.
races during the 1968 NASCAR campaign in his HEMI- Unknown to many enthusiasts, the Road Runner-based
powered Plymouth Satellite, but the manufacturer’s Superbird was quite different from the Charger-based
archrival Ford enticed him to switch camps to a sleeker, Daytona, with no interchangeable body parts other than
purpose-built Torino Talladega for 1969. the hood and front fenders from the B-body Coronet. A
textured vinyl roof covering hid the revised rear-window
While the more specialized Dodge Charger 500 from
1969 was a definite improvement for Chrysler teams, seams and the Superbird’s rear wing was even taller
more drastic measures were required to prevail over than the Daytona’s, with the stabilizers/supports raked
Ford. Using the latest wind-tunnel test data gained at further back than those of Chrysler’s car. Encouraged by
Lockheed Martin’s Georgia wind tunnel and model the Superbird’s potential for speed, Petty returned to the
Plymouth fold for 1970. While he did not win the 1970
NASCAR Grand National championship, he did score
eight of Plymouth’s 21 victories in 1970.
Nearly four times more Superbirds were built than the
Daytona, with Superbird production reaching 1,935 cars
— all constructed between October 23 and December
15, 1969. Given its hefty pricing, specialized nature
and wild looks, the Superbird was a slow seller, with
many of the outlandish, extremely specialized cars often
taking several years to finally leave dealer lots. Today,
those very characteristics make the rare Superbird one of
the most collectible and unforgettable American high-
performance cars ever built.

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ONLY 716 SUPERBIRDS LEFT THE FACTORY WITH THE WICKED
YET EASILY MAINTAINED V-CODE 440CI SIX-BARREL V8 ENGINE,
INCLUDING THIS FRESH, 2-YEAR ROTISSERIE-RESTORED EXAMPLE
COMPLETED IN 2021.
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V OR THE COMPLETE DOCKET 35