This 56-Year-Old Plymouth Just Sold For $368,500 And Still Wears Its Original Paint
A 1970 Plymouth Superbird just sold at Mecum, and there’s a pretty good reason this particular one got so much attention. Much of the car has survived without the usual restoration treatment. That’s a big deal with a car like this, where finding one that hasn’t been taken apart and brought back to showroom condition is a serious achievement. For collectors, original paint tells a much bigger story than a fresh coat of expensive paint ever could. It’s a glimpse of how the car left the factory, and this Superbird has plenty more original equipment to go with it.
Why This Plymouth Superbird Is Such A Rare Find
This is one of 716 V-code Superbirds built for 1970, meaning it left the factory with the 440 Six Barrel V8. Add the four-speed manual and you’re down to roughly 308 cars. Its Tor-Red paint is still original. So is the black vinyl roof. Even the trunk mat, jack and spare tire stuck around. That’s a whole lot of original bits for a car that’s 56 years old. It’s documented in the Superbird Registry too, which gives collectors another reason to pay attention. Plenty of classic Mopars have been restored over the decades, and some have come back better than they ever were new. But there’s something special about one that still wears its factory paint. You can see the years on it, and that’s part of the appeal.
A Matching-Numbers 440 Six Barrel With No Radio
Under the hood sits the original 440-cubic-inch Six Barrel V8, still bolted to its matching-numbers four-speed manual. Here’s the funny part. Mecum’s own listing calls it a 375-hp engine, but the Six Barrel was factory-rated at 390 hp. The 375-hp figure belonged to the regular four-barrel 440, so the auction house shortchanged its own car by 15 horses. Out back, there’s a Dana 60 rear end with 3.54 Sure-Grip gears, plus power steering and power front disc brakes.
And then there’s the radio delete. Whoever ordered a Superbird with the Six Barrel and a four-speed clearly wasn’t worried about music on the way to the drag strip. That tells you everything about the original buyer’s priorities. Plymouth had a very specific reason for building the Superbird. NASCAR homologation rules meant it had to sell road-going versions of its race cars, and Plymouth needed an answer to the increasingly slippery competition. The pointy nose and that ridiculous rear wing helped it slice through the air at speed, and the whole package lured Richard Petty back to Plymouth after a season racing Fords.
Mecum’s $368,500 result, buyer’s premium included, bought the next owner a seriously special piece of that history. The broadcast sheet and a copy of the original window sticker came with it, so the paperwork backs up the story. For anyone who values originality, this is about as close to a time machine as a Mopar gets.
Source: Mecum Auctions
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments