The Chrysler Option Code That Turned Ordinary B-Bodies Into Factory Drag Cars

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Sunday, 26 Jul 2026 10:00 0 3 autotech

The Chrysler Option Code That Turned Ordinary B-Bodies Into Factory Drag Cars

If classic muscle car factory option engine codes were a category on Jeopardy!, gearheads would run the board. They’d get killed on stuff like the 17th Century British Monarchs or Taylor Swift Lyrics, but if the $800 clue was “1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda,” they’d buzz in with, “What is R-code, Alex.” And yes, we are well aware that long-time beloved host Alex Trebec has passed, but we just can’t vibe with Ken Jennings. Car guys can decode a VIN and decipher a fender tag probably even better than they can read the owner’s manual, and because of that knowledge have already guessed what this piece is about. For the rest of you, here is a Chrysler option code that transformed Dodge and Plymouth B-body muscle cars into real deal factory drag cars.

Table of Contents

Mopar’s Underrated Icon Was A Code, Not A Car

1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 hood up

Mecum

V-Code 440 Six Pack/6BBL Was The Poor Man’s Hemi

1970 Plymouth Road Runner Six Pack air cleaner

Except for the 426ci Hemi V-8, Dodge and Plymouth had different names for virtually everything that was the same thing. When it came to paint codes, purple was Plum Crazy at Dodge and In-Violet over at Plymouth, while the RB series big-block engines were Super Commandos for Plymouth and Magnums in Dodge City. With the 440 Six Pack, that’s what Dodge called them, but Plymouth named them Six-Barrels, 6BBLs, and 440+6s, but under the hood, they were simply Six Packs. The genius of this tri-deuce engine was that it was much cheaper to produce than the dual-quad 426 Street Hemi and delivered similar, if not better, performance. In 1969, upgrading to the 426 Street Hemi added $848 to the price of a Super Bee, while a 440 Six Pack option only bumped things up by $463. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $7,743 for a Hemi versus $4,227 for the Six Pack. For a frugal speed freak, that was an easy choice to make.

Legit Hemi Killer

The Chrysler 426 Street Hemi is regarded as the baddest V-8 of the Golden Age, but the V-code 440 Six Pack was just as wicked and maybe even a little more evil. Period test drives revealed the fastest quarter-mile time for a 426 was 13.1 seconds, achieved by a 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda while a bone-stock 1969 Road Runner A12 turned in a 13.09-second ET. Of course, that astounding time was achieved by drag racing legend Ronnie Sox, so almost nobody else would have been able to pull it off. Sox then took the air cleaner off the Road Runner and ripped a 12.91 @ 111.80 MPH run, which is a time no stock Hemi car has ever recorded beating. Again, Sox is a pro, so we’ll look to the 1970 issue of Hot Rod magazine in which they pitted these two cars against each other for ten races, that saw the ‘Cuda averaging 13.54 seconds with the Road Runner a bit slower at 13.61 seconds. Still, this wasn’t a B-body to Body comparison, so it’s possible the Six Pack really was a Hemi killer.

Plymouth Road Runner 440 Six Barrel Hog

1969 Plymouth Road Runner A12 3/4 side view

The Plymouth Road Runner was introduced in 1968 as an inexpensive performance car and, halfway through the ’69 model year, got the 440 Six-Barrel budget big-block option to make it the cheap bastards’ street champion. Because the Road Runner was so affordable, starting at just $2,945 in 1969, upgrading the standard 383ci V-8 to a 440 6BBL was well within the budget. The Road Runner with the 440 6BBL A12 package came in at $3,407, which was attractive enough to thrifty speed junkies that 1,412 of them pulled the trigger on one in ’69. The Road Runner would gobble up most of the 440 Six Pack/6BBLs with 4,189 units between 1969 and 1971, the most of, not just B-body cars, but all Mopars. BTW, there were 716 Superbirds with 440 6BBLs in 1970 that are not included in the Road Runner’s final talley, but we’re not dealing with that one here as it was a homologation special and not a regular production B-body.

Dodge Super Bee Was Made For Hauling Six Packs

The cheap thrills of the Road Runner was such a smash success that Dodge demanded their own version, which became the Coronet-based Super Bee, that they unleashed in 1968 mid-model year. Besides some sheet metal differences, the Super Bee was 70 pounds heavier, had an extra inch of wheelbase, and was almost four inches longer overall. That extra bulk cost the Super Bee in quickness, with a 13.60 quarter-mile time, which is about a tenth of a second slower than the Road Runner A12, but a highly tuned Bee with fat racing slicks did a pass at 12.46-seconds that beats Ronnie Sox’s air cleaner-less Plymouth run. 1,907 Super Bee A12s were sold in ’69, which is one way it beats the Road Runner, but over the course of its existence, the 3274 Six Packs it moved from 1969-1971, earning second place to its B-body cousin.

Rare V-Code Chargers and Coronets

1970 Dodge Charger Six-Pack R/T 3/4 front view

While the 440 Six Pack hit the streets in 1969, neither the Dodge Cornet nor Charger would have access to it until 1970, and even then, hardly any of them were optioned with the mighty V-code V-8. There were just 210 Coronet Six Pack R/Ts produced in ’70, but that seems positively common compared to the scant 116 Charger Six Pack R/Ts that left the factory that year. The Charger Six Pack R/T was good for a 13.7-second quarter-mile run, while the Coronet Six Pack R/T, which was a bit lighter but also slightly quicker turning in a 12.65-second ET. With the Charger R/T, the Six Pack acceleration speed was only a tenth of a second slower than a Hemi-equipped car, while the Coronet R/T 440 Six Pack ran dead even with it’s 426-enabled counterpart. It’s kind of shocking at how few people took advantage of these budget ass-kickers back then and, as you’ll soon find out how stunningly affordable these rare Mopars are now.

Gentleman GTX Meets Joe Six Pack

1970 Plymouth GTX 440 6BBL 3/4 front view

Introduced in 1967, the Plymouth GTX was marketed as the “Gentleman’s Muscle Car,” because it was a near-luxury ride that was loaded with features. It is the car that inspired the stripped-down Road Runner because muscle cars were supposed to be affordable and here was this upscale street machine with every bell and whistle Plymouth had to offer. In 1970, the refined GTX got down and dirty when the 440 6BBL finally became an option, making for a killer contradictory Mopar. All those added comforts that made the GTX a luxe ride also bloated it and, with a 440 6BBL, it was a second slower than the slimmed-down Road Runner, hitting the quarter-mile in 13.70 seconds. With the Super Drag Pak upgrade, the GTX 6BBL was in the mid-to-low 13s, but then again, so was every other Mopar with that performance upgrade. A total of 813 GTXs got Six-Barrelled, with 678 in 1970 and 135 in 1971, making for another rare classic Mopar collectible.

Second-Gen B-Body V-Codes

1971 Dodge Charger Six Pack R/T 3/4 front view

A lot of stuff went down in 1971, and realistically, it was the last good year for American Muscle, but also the beginning of the end for the classic age. This was the last year for the 426 Street Hemi as well as the 440 Six Pack which was down five ponies to 385 horsepower. The Coronet R/T was discontinued, and the Super Bee became a trim for the third-gen Dodge Charger. All B-Bodies were radically restyled with the “fuselage” body style that was kind of off-putting back in the day, but now looks thoroughly badass. The 440 Six Pack distribution was mighty lean in its swan song with 99 Super Bees, 135 GTXs, 178 Charger R/Ts, and 246 Road Runners. That loss of horsepower and possibly more weight with the new design had the Dodges out of the 13s, with the Charger R/T doing a quarter-mile in 14.3 seconds and the identical Super Bee somehow a skosh faster at 14.2 seconds. The Plymouths were still 13-second cars as the GTX was running the quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds and the Road Runner holding court with a 13.7-second ET.

1972 Plymouth Road Runner GTX 440+6 3/4 front view

We mentioned that 1971 was the final year for the 440 Six Pack, but that’s not entirely true, as a few were miraculously produced in 1972, becoming true V-code Holy Grail cars. The Six Pack was listed in early ’72 Dodge and Plymouth catalogs, but this was the beginning of the Malaise Era where emissions mandates and consumer demands for better fuel economy had the automakers ripping the horsepower from their rides. Chrysler decided to pull the plug on the 440 Six Pack before the ’72s started shipping, but at least three are known to exist with bona fide V-codes on the VIN. The GTX became a trim for the Road Runner in ’72 and there is a single Road Runner GTX 440+6 car in existence. At least two ’72 Charger Rallyes escaped the factory before Chrysler’s cancellation with a Six Pack under the hood. None of these cars have ever come up for auction, but they are known to be real, and are potentially million-dollar Mopars waiting to happen.

Price Of An Ice Cold Six Pack

1970 Dodge Super Bee 440 Six Pack 3/4 front view

Model	Units	Concours Condition Value
1969 Road Runner	1,412	$115,000
1970 Road Runner	2,531	$118,000
1970 Plymouth GTX	678	$121,000
1971 Super Bee	99	$134,000
1971 Charger R/T	178	$138,000
1970 Super Bee	1,268	$151,000
1970 Coronet R/T	210	$160,000
1970 Charger R/T	116	$164,000
1971 Road Runner	246	$166,000
1969 Super Bee	1,907	$168,000
1971 GTX	135	$177,000

All Mopar B-bodies are built on the same platform, and while they each have their own unique personalities, they are pretty much the same cars. There are, however, not created equally when it comes to the values of 440 Six Pack models, and rarity is not a major determining factor in their worth. Going off of the Hagerty Concours condition value, we can see that the scarce 1970 Coronet and Charger Six Packs are kind of middle of the pack, while the ultra-rare ’71 Super Bee is slumming it compared to the abundant ’69 Super Bee, which is one of the most valuable. Then, there’s the relatively elusive ’70 GTX, which is one of the least valuable on the list and the slightly rarer ’71 GTX topping the list for all B-Body Six Packs. Granted, all of these 440 Six Pack cars are six-figure rides, which used to be Hemi-only territory, so the V-codes are surging, but given their rarity, they are probably undervalued.

Gavel-Dropping V-Code Go-Getters

1970 Dodge Coronet R/T – $71,500
1971 Plymouth GTX – $99,000
1970 Plymouth Road Runner – $121,000
1970 Plymouth GTX – $121,000
1971 Dodge Super Bee – $148,500
1971 Plymouth Road Runner – $165,000
1969 Plymouth Road Runner A12 – $165,000
1970 Dodge Super Bee – $187,000
1971 Dodge Charger R/T – $242,000
1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 – $264,000
1970 Dodge Charger R/T – $297,000

We scoured Mecum and Bring a Trailer to find the most expensive B-body V-codes ever sold, and are happy to report that, for the most part, they have all outpaced their Hagerty top condition values. There are a couple of shockers here, the first being that $71,000 sale for a ’70 Coronet R/T, but it’s the only hardtop we could find listed, and it has a replacement Six Pack, which would explain its low price. Next is the sub-six-figure ’71 GTX, which has the highest Hagerty value of all the B-body Six Packs, and there’s really no explanation because it is an exquisite numbers-matching car. On the other end of the surprise spectrum, that black ’70 Charger R/T pictured above is the highest-selling B-body Six Pack, crossing the block at nearly $300,000, which is Hemi money. Just in case you’re wondering, the top-seller for a ’70 Charger Hemi R/T is $352,000, so good on the Six Pack for getting up there and representing the V-code.