"daender" (daender)
03/16/2014 at 13:35 • Filed to: Found off the street, Superbird, Trans Am
2
13|
"daender" (daender)
03/16/2014 at 13:35 • Filed to: Found off the street, Superbird, Trans Am | 2
| 13 |
Okay, so I was moving back into my college apartment and about half a mile from getting there I look over and see a bright orange nose cone with black markings tucked away in a sketchy wrecking yard off to the side of the main road through Columbia, Assembly Street. I was like "Motherf***er, that's a Superbird!" After unloading all my clothes and food into my room I grabbed my roomie and his camera and went back to where I last saw it.
So the place is Campbell's Wrecking Services, 99% of the time all you see driving by are a bunch of semi-chassis wreckers and beat-to-hell vehicles. However, upon visiting there (and offering my body as a flesh shield to my roomie in case we weren't wanted on their property) I noticed there was more to his dusty shop than I thought.
Right out front is the car that caught my attention, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, 440ci Six-Pack (that's three sets of two-barrel carburetors), automatic, in Vitamin-C orange. The workers told me not to touch it or open the hood but they did say it was all original, so I'm guessing it's worth enough to put a college student through an 8-year full-time medical program without scholarships.
You gotta love the graphics on this thing, Roadrunner and Coyote from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies on the wings, nose, and intake cover. I really wanted to hear the famous "beep-beep" horn but fate didn't shine bright enough.
So now a history lesson for those who wonder why a dead American brand built a car that could classify as a ricer (it was slower/heavier/more expensive than the Road Runner). Because racecar. Specially, because NASCAR, when "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." actually meant something to the Big Three and Americans. Richard Petty was persuaded by Chrysler to roll in their machines once again after driving for Ford in the '69 season. However Petty didn't want to drive a plebeian Dodge Charger Daytona, no, he could only do Plymouth (he eventually drove a Charger in the 70s to more championships). So Plymouth set about creating their own slippery aero-car, based off the Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner/GTX chassis and dubbed it the Superbird.
The 'Bird had a lower drag coefficient than the Fords and Mercuries, but it was just a fraction higher than the Daytona's and Petty didn't care, the King had his championship-winning car. Sadly, despite becoming the most iconic NASCAR in history, it sold poorly in dealerships to the point where some dealers removed the nose and wing to convert the Superbirds back into Road Runners so they'd sell. Only 1,935 cars were produced; 135 came with the epic (and unreliable) 426ci "Hemi", 716 with the 440ci Six-Pack, and the remainders were basic 440ci with a four-barrel carburetor.
There're some funny, almost redneck-simplistic, approaches to this car. Let's start with the famous wing, that huge loop gave this car massive down-force at 200mph and enough stability to run the highest of lines closest to the wall to make any Blue Oval driver shit his pants. Why is it so high? Did early-generation aerodynamics determine its location? Nope , they designed it so you could open the trunk without any obstruction. Notice all legitimate Superbirds came with a black vinyl top, that's because the engineers moved the once-recessed rear window into a flush position with the roof line. Rather than clean up the body work, they simply covered it with vinyl and left you a nasty surprise whenever it worn out.
After gawking at the giant orange Mopar missile for a few minutes, I turned my attention to another car in the lot, a 1978 (77?) Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Named after the famous SCCA racing series, in which Pontiac was forced to pay dues to for every car sold after trying to use the Trans Am name without entering the car into the series, the late-70s Bird had ditched the racing heritage for style and looks.
Black paint with a big golden bird on the hood screamed "I am groovy and macho, ladies, come here and give me some love." 6.6 liters, 400ci of smog-choked emissions-control V-8 produced anywhere between 180 to 220 horsepower depending on what options you chose and the year you ordered it in, channeled through either a four-speed manual or the dependable automatic which this car is cursed/blessed with. Unlike Mopar's 'Bird, these are plenty to find and afford with over 93,000 produced in 1978 alone.
Other cars in the lot that I didn't take pictures of were a resto-modded first-gen 340ci-powered Cuda, a modded but clean 1972-74 Challenger, and a whole bunch of early-70s Mopars in need of restoration including a bare-bones 1970 Challenger coupe chassis, a 1971/72 Charger, and a 1970 Roadrunner or something of that body shape.
Photo credits to my roomie since I was too busy gawking.
tca666
> daender
03/16/2014 at 13:42 |
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That's a 440 Six Barrel, Six Pack was Dodge. Six Barrel Plymouth.
BadMotorScooter
> daender
03/16/2014 at 14:05 |
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Very nice find! I've seen one in the wild, several years ago. What was it doing at that shop?
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daender
> BadMotorScooter
03/16/2014 at 14:09 |
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I'm not sure, it's missing the front faux fender scoops and the air cleaner cover was off so maybe it's being cleaned up, fixed in areas requiring help, and rebuilt to run?
LappingLuke
> daender
03/16/2014 at 15:05 |
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Whaaaaaaat that place is practically in my backyard!! I live down the street from the Roost!
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daender
> LappingLuke
03/16/2014 at 15:43 |
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Ha, I knew there was at least one oppo in Cola!
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LappingLuke
> daender
03/16/2014 at 17:05 |
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For nearly 4 years I thought I was alone!
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daender
> LappingLuke
03/16/2014 at 18:02 |
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Are you part of SCCA or NASA? I'm a semi-regular at this region's autocross events.
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LappingLuke
> daender
03/16/2014 at 19:16 |
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I recently joined SCCA but only so I could race the USC chapter's legends car at SCCA events (haven't been able to yet). I don't have a raceable car yet but I'm hoping this summer I can get something I can take to some events later. I am mostly hoping to do track days at CMP more than anything.
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daender
> LappingLuke
03/16/2014 at 19:55 |
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Hilarious, I'm in the USC's chapter as well! There's a meeting tomorrow night!
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daender
> LappingLuke
03/17/2014 at 11:55 |
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Also, tonight's meeting is at Chuck's garage where the Legends car is being stored. Do you know the way there?
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LappingLuke
> daender
03/20/2014 at 00:12 |
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I assume you know Chris B...he and I and two of our other buddies are working on our senior design project together
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LappingLuke
> daender
03/20/2014 at 00:13 |
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I had to skip the meeting but I do know Chuck's garage. We're building our senior design project there. Such a magical place
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daender
> LappingLuke
03/20/2014 at 00:16 |
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Yup, I know him as far back as when he first got his Subi.