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RED, WHITE AND FLEW BY YOU

TWO 1970 PLYMOUTH SUPERBIRDS PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF AT SCOTTSDALE

There’s always something to be said wind to heel and capture the top spot on
about cars born for racing. Machines the podium.
built without compromise, designed The now iconic look of the Superbird
with the sole purpose of taking home – and its Dodge Daytona sibling – was
the checkered flag and relishing in the the work of engineers from Chrysler’s
celebratory spraying of fine champagne. ballistic missile division, many of which - - -
It’s a wonderful thing; one that allows also helped work on the rockets for THE SUPERBIRD QUICKLY
the marketing brass to tout the marque’s the Apollo program. The Birds were
accomplishments at the dealership and massive, alien-looking things adorned BECAME AN ICON OF ITS ERA.
pursue the famed racing adage “win on with a protruding all-metal nose cone IT COMMANDED AN
Sunday, sell on Monday.”
that extended a full 19 inches off the UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF
It was in this pursuit of victory that left edge of the front fender. The rear was DOMINANCE AROUND NASCAR’S
us with some of the finest and most dominated by a three-foot-tall rear wing,
groundbreaking cars around. In rallying, designed to sit in clean air well above BANKED OVALS, LEADING TO
there was Audi’s revolutionary AWD the roof line and maximize downforce. NEW RULES BEING
Quattro; in touring cars, BMW’s nigh- Coincidentally, the rear wing’s height ESTABLISHED TO SLOW THE
uncatchable E30 M3; and – around also allowed for the trunk to fully open.
the high banks of NASCAR’s ovals in End-to-end the Superbird stretched more “AERO WARRIOR” DOWN.
the 1960s and ’70s – there were the than 18 feet in length – longer than a - - -
Plymouth Superbirds, the winged present-day Cadillac Escalade – and
warriors. Chrysler’s salvo of rocket- boasted a 0.31 drag coefficient, besting
scientist-engineered aerodynamic racers the 261 mph Bugatti Chiron. Mind you,
were special cars designed to push the this was over 50 years ago. The Superbird
limit of NASCAR’s rulebook, bring the
quickly became an icon of its era. It

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