Walk Around: 70 Superbird

The 1970 Plymouth Superbird’s 24-inch wing and stretched nose weren’t styling choices, they were wind-tunnel mandates built to win NASCAR races at over 200 mph. Fewer than 2,000 were sold to the public, only 135 got the 426 Hemi, and Richard Petty drove one to 18 victories in its only production season. Here’s the full walk-around on what made it work.

A 24-inch rear wing and a 20-inch nose extension look almost cartoonish parked in a driveway, which is exactly the point: nothing about the 1970 Plymouth Superbird was designed for a driveway. It was designed for one thing, beating Ford and the competition at 200 miles an hour on NASCAR superspeedways, and every strange proportion on this car exists because a wind tunnel said it had to. Plymouth built fewer than 2,000 of them for public sale, and the racing season that followed changed stock car aerodynamics forever before NASCAR quietly made sure it could never happen again. What was actually under that long nose, and how many of these cars really made it out the door?

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Built to Beat NASCAR’s New Rules

The Superbird was Plymouth’s answer to Dodge’s own Charger Daytona from the 1969 season, built on the Road Runner platform but reworked dramatically for aerodynamics: a 20-inch nose extension, a smoothed-over rear window, and that towering 24-inch rear wing, all sitting on a 116-inch wheelbase and stretching 221 inches overall. The generally accepted production figure is 1,935 Superbirds built and shipped to U.S. dealers, with a small additional batch sent to Canada, though Chrysler’s own internal planning documents and later published figures have put the number as high as 2,783, a discrepancy that still gets argued over in Mopar circles.

The Hemi Was the Rarest Option of All

Buyers could order a Superbird with the 426 Hemi rated at 425 horsepower, a 440 Six Barrel with three two-barrel carburetors at 390 horsepower, or a single four-barrel 440 at 375 horsepower, but only 135 cars left the factory with the Hemi, making it by far the rarest of the three. On track, the car delivered exactly what it was built for: Richard Petty piloted the #43 Superbird past 200 miles per hour and to 18 victories during the 1970 season. Rising insurance costs, tightening emissions rules, and NASCAR’s own rule changes effectively banning the aero cars meant 1970 was the Superbird’s only production year, which is a big part of why one still stops people cold today. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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