![]() ![]() It was the first American car to be designed using a wind tunnel and computer analysis and slapped the racing community into stunned submission. In 1969, Dodge entered the Charger Daytona (‘Charger 500’ named after the number of production cars). The stipulation was that any car that raced in the series, a street model had to be available for public consumption with specific minimum numbers of 1,920 units. Ford dominated NASCAR for years and the proceeds were coming off the dealership floor, so Plymouth wanted more of the action and winning NASCAR races was a good recipe. Of course none of this would be viable had it not been for NASCAR. When the day came and I turned on the ignition and heard its rumble, it was awesome! It was the first time it moved under its own power in almost ten years.” “It took two-and-a-half years to resuscitate it, including a new build sheet. gasket, engine and exhaust), dismantled the nose cone, cleaned and repainted the interior, re-fabricated everywhere that rust had devoured, removed the complete interior, fixed broken parts in the doors and under the dash.” The list continued for another ten minutes. I cleaned and detailed the entire bottom and engine compartment (i.e. I rebuilt the whole braking system since it had seized, the tires were rotten, the paint had cracked and peeled. Nothing worked electronically – most of it was burnt or fried. Though the car was original mechanically, there had been some bad maintenance issues over the years, like shorting out the dash and faulty wiring. “When I needed parts, I tried to use used parts if I could. Derek either repaired or rebuilt every inch of the car to get it roadworthy and since it was a survivor car, he was emphatic to keep it looking authentic. So me and my friend, Garth Titley, loaded her up on a trailer and brought her home to my garage where I just stared at her for hours.” It really was love at first sight. The owner knew how rare such an iconic vehicle could fetch and though we bartered the price down, it still wasn’t cheap, even though it was battered and bruised, it had all its original numbers. It needed a lot of TLC, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I ventured down to Kingston and had a good examination of the car and it seemed pretty good overall. “What I know of the car ownership goes back to 2005 with owners in New York, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Kingston. After further investigation, it turned out that the car was now in Kingston, Ontario and was sold previously to settle an Estate deal. ![]() Others were just as curious, but concluded it was an urban myth. The friend admitted he heard about it a year ago. “A Road Runner Superbird?” came an anxious response. Derek could feel heart palpitations and sweat in places that shouldn’t sweat. The friend retorted no, not that model, a Road Runner one. At this point, Derek was skeptical and pointed dubiously to the model. On noticing a plastic model of a Daytona Charger on a shelf, the friend mentioned that he knew where one was for sale. One evening Derek had a friend over for dinner. They could still be had for a decent price.” After a few years of searching in vain, recoiling at ‘junk’ Chargers that were being offered for ludicrous sums, I thought of submitting to a clone of a Superbird from a regular Satellite or Road Runner. Price was certainly an issue, so looking for something reasonable was a challenge, even for a Daytona clone or a real Hemi car. The story of how I actually found the Superbird began when I considered restoring one more car, so in my mind it had to be something special. “My favourite car is the 1970 Challenger (I have had 19 Challengers) and have been obsessed with Mopar cars since I was a kid. It just needed some cosmetic nip and tuck and some new enhancements to regain its former glory. Nevertheless, it was an original with only 45,000 miles ticked on. I waited all my life for a chance to own a car like this and I wasn’t going to miss such an opportunity.”Īs the story goes, the Superbird lay outside a Florida home for ten years like some discarded trash bin with only a polyethylene cover blanketing it from bird droppings, blistering sun degradation and the odd hurricane. “It was pretty much the ultimate ‘barn find’ for a Mopar guy like me. But to Derek’s eyes, finding such a car was a dream. If ever there was a Mopar car that was loved or hated for both its performance and unconventional looks, it has to be the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird with its eccentrically-high rear wing and its shark-snout front grille. ![]()
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