THE 440 SUPERBIRD: This Coveted Matching-Numbers Example Is Selling With No Reserve In Houston

Written by impartial automotive journalist David Neyens

Wildly popular from its inception in 1948, the NASCAR inventory-vehicle racing circuit is dwelling to some of the fiercest racing everywhere in the globe. It pits automobile suppliers and their racing teams against one one more in likely the greatest software of the “Win on Sunday, offer on Monday” spirit. By the mid-1960s, Chrysler and Ford Motor Company were being the only real best-degree NASCAR adversaries, and their shared motivation to dominance on the keep track of resulted in some of the fastest and most outrageous racing and highway automobiles at any time manufactured.

Motor progress arrived at a zenith by 1966, with NASCAR imposing a displacement limit on Chrysler’s 426 HEMI engine and a weight factor on Ford’s SOHC 427 cars. Racers and engineers in both equally camps recognized that uncooked horsepower was no for a longer time enough to win, dictating a new emphasis on higher-speed aerodynamics. Plymouth stalwart Richard Petty may well have received 27 of 49 races through the 1968 NASCAR marketing campaign in his HEMI-powered Plymouth Satellite, but the manufacturer’s archrival Ford enticed him to switch camps to a sleeker, function-designed Torino Talladega for 1969.

Whilst the a lot more specialised Dodge Charger 500 from 1969 was a definite improvement for Chrysler teams, a lot more drastic steps had been demanded to prevail more than Ford. Applying the most recent wind-tunnel exam information received at Lockheed Martin’s Georgia wind tunnel and product screening at Wichita State College, Chrysler engineers devised a extra radical solution: the Dodge Charger Daytona. That includes a bullet-design prolonged steel nose cone, chin spoiler, pop-up headlamp and an outrageous but effective rear wing atop tall aircraft-design and style stabilizers, the Daytona sliced by means of the air and, in racing trim, rewrote heritage as the to start with NASCAR competitor to break the 200-mph barrier. Just sufficient of these cars, 503 in all, have been made in time to qualify the wild Mopar to race and, when it debuted late in ’69 at the formidable new Talladega Superspeedway, the Daytona scored its very first NASCAR earn with driver Richard Brickhouse.

Improvement of a Plymouth counterpart to the Daytona kicked off in June 1969, but briefly halted that August before NASCAR introduced a new 1,000-motor vehicle manufacturing need or a range equivalent to half a company’s sellers, whichever was highest, in purchase to race — providing the Superbird a new lease on everyday living. Unknown to quite a few enthusiasts, the Road Runner-based Superbird was rather unique from the Charger-centered Daytona, with no interchangeable system components other than the hood and front fenders from the B-body Coronet. A textured vinyl roof covering hid the revised rear-window seams and the Superbird’s rear wing was even taller than the Daytona’s, with the stabilizers/supports raked additional back again than all those of Chrysler’s car. Encouraged by the Superbird’s prospective for velocity, Petty returned to the Plymouth fold for 1970. When he did not acquire the 1970 NASCAR Grand Countrywide championship, he did score 8 of Plymouth’s 21 victories in 1970.

Practically four situations far more Superbirds were crafted than the Daytona, with Superbird manufacturing achieving 1,935 automobiles — all constructed involving October 23 and December 15, 1969. Provided its hefty pricing, specialised mother nature and wild appears, the Superbird was a sluggish vendor, with quite a few of the outlandish, very specialized cars and trucks generally using numerous several years to lastly leave seller tons. These days, these very attributes make the rare Superbird 1 of the most collectible and unforgettable American substantial-general performance autos at any time created.

As with the Charger Daytona just before it, the Superbird was accessible with a option of the formidable 375-horsepower 440ci V8 engine, the 390-horsepower 6-Barrel 440ci V8 engine or the 425-horsepower 426 Road HEMI engine with a twin 4-barrel carburetor. Only 716 Superbirds remaining the manufacturing facility with the wicked but conveniently maintained V-Code 440ci 6-Barrel V8 motor, which includes this refreshing, 2-yr rotisserie-restored example concluded in 2021. A coveted matching-numbers car or truck, this immensely collectible specimen is rarer even now as a single of just 408 geared up with Chrysler’s renowned TorqueFlite automatic transmission. This outstanding Superbird is finished in B5 Blue paint with black accents and retains all its original system panels with the sole exception of the rear quarter panels. The new, period-suitable white interior contains a no-nonsense front bench seat and column-mounted shift lever. An AM radio, electricity-assisted brakes and electrical power steering produce cruising with ease.

Traditional Mopar professional Dave Clever has inspected this unusual, matching-figures Superbird, and it comes to the Oct 20-22 Houston Auction with a Intelligent Auto Validation Report, restoration receipts and a listing in the MMC Detroit World-wide Registry.

Sign up for us in Texas to see this pristine Superbird, and lots of other impressive Chrysler and Ford autos, cross the auction block with No Reserve. Sign up to bid today to be element of the motion.

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