RED, WHITE AND FLEW BY YOU: Two 1970 Plymouth Superbirds Prepare for Takeoff at Scottsdale
January 20, 2021
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
Written by Eric Becker
These two beautifully restored 1970 Plymouth Superbirds – one in Tor Red and the other in Alpine White – will be offered at the 2021 Scottsdale Auction with No Reserve.
There’s always something to be said about cars born for racing. Machines built without compromise, designed with the sole purpose of taking home the checkered flag and relishing in the celebratory spraying of fine champagne_._ It’s a wonderful thing; one that allows the marketing brass to tout the marque’s accomplishments at the dealership and pursue the famed racing adage “win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”
It was in this pursuit of victory that left us with some of the finest and most groundbreaking cars around. In rallying, there was Audi’s revolutionary AWD Quattro; in touring cars, BMW’s nigh-uncatchable E30 M3; and – around the high banks of NASCAR’s ovals in the 1960s and ’70s – there were the Plymouth Superbirds, the winged warriors. Chrysler’s salvo of rocket-scientist-engineered aerodynamic racers were special cars designed to push the limit of NASCAR’s rulebook, bring the wind to heel and capture the top spot on the podium.
The now iconic look of the Superbird – and its Dodge Daytona sibling – was the work of engineers from Chrysler’s ballistic missile division, many of which also helped work on the rockets for the Apollo program. The Birds were massive, alien-looking things adorned with a protruding all-metal nose cone that extended a full 19 inches off the edge of the front fender. The rear was dominated by a three-foot-tall rear wing, designed to sit in clean air well above the roof line and maximize downforce. Coincidentally, the rear wing’s height also allowed for the trunk to fully open.
End-to-end the Superbird stretched more than 18 feet in length – longer than a present-day Cadillac Escalade – and boasted a 0.31 drag coefficient, besting the 261 mph Bugatti Chiron. Mind you, this was over 50 years ago. The Superbird quickly became an icon of its era. It commanded an unprecedented level of dominance around NASCAR’s banked ovals, leading to new rules being established to slow the “Aero Warrior” down. Luckily, 1,935 highly collectible road cars were built thanks to those homologation requirements.
Offered with No Reserve at the 2021 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction, March 20-27, are two exquisite examples of Plymouth’s winged racers hailing from a prominent collection of Superbirds. Professionally restored to the highest-quality standards, these two 1970 Plymouth Superbirds each received full rotisserie restorations. The cars are featured in the NASCAR Superbird list as car #171 (for the EV2 Tor Red Superbird) and car #510, the Alpine White example, which is just one of just 716 V-code Superbirds produced.
Car #171 features a date-code-correct 440ci 375hp V8 engine, while its Alpine White relative features a matching-numbers 440ci 390hp V8 fed by a Six-Barrel carburetor. Each Superbird channels power to the rear wheels via a heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission and rides on 15-inch Rally wheels wrapped in Goodyear GT-F60-15 Polyglas tires.
The Tor Red example features a black vinyl interior complete with bucket seats, while the Alpine White car is equipped with a matching white vinyl interior, bucket seats and Rally dashboard. The beautiful red and white finishes are brilliantly offset by black vinyl roofs, and both cars are decorated in the famed Road Runner Superbird graphics.
Additionally, the Tor Red Superbird is well-documented and features two original Broadcast Sheets, as well as an accompanying photo album. The Alpine White example is fully equipped with power brakes and power steering.
The Plymouth Superbird stands as one of the most legendary cars of all time. Like the Saturn V rocket, the purely functional aesthetic has withstood the test of time and developed its own beauty. Come March 2021, two of these icons will cross the Barrett-Jackson block. And, for two lucky bidders, these Superbirds will rocket them to the stars.
For up-to-date information on these and other vehicles headed to the 2021 Scottsdale Auction, check out the Special Preview (with more vehicles being added daily) HERE.