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1969 Mr. Norm's Dodge Super Bee Comes Back to Life After 45 Years in a Barn

We've been buying cars from dealerships for more than 100 years now. But the customer-dealer relationship has changed a lot since then. Now it's no longer a thing, but back in the 1960s and 1970s dealerships were not just selling cars. They were also rolling out exclusive performance packages.
1969 Dodge Super Bee 6 photos
Photo: Auto Archaeology/YouTube
1969 Dodge Super Bee1969 Dodge Super Bee1969 Dodge Super Bee1969 Dodge Super Bee1969 Dodge Super Bee
Baldwin-Motion and Don Yenko, for instance, are responsible for some of the most radical first-gen Chevrolet Camaros, including the COPO 427 and ZL-1. But Grand Spaulding Dodge, set up by Norm Kraus, is just as iconic. The Chicago-based dealership not only created a long list of high-performance machines but also sold more beefed-up Mopars than anyone else.

As a result, Dodges carrying the famous "Mr. Norm's" sticker are highly sought-after nowadays, commanding bigger-than-usual stickers. This 1969 Super Bee sold through Grand Spaulding Dodge spent most of its life in a garage and it's been put back on the road recently as a mostly unrestored survivor. And that's just wonderful.

Sold new at Mr. Norm's famous dealership, this Super Bee spent about seven years on the road before it was put away in 1976. Sadly, it hasn't left the garage until 2021, meaning that it sat for a whopping 45 years. But there's good news too. Earlier this year, the Super Bee was saved, cleaned up, and repaired.

According to YouTube's "Auto Archaeology," which documented the story, the car was put back on the road in just six months. Now that's a great way to show love to a classic muscle car.

The Super Bee was dragged out of the garage with lots of surface rust and a 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) V8 engine that no longer ran. But it still had its original green paint, as well as the white Super Bee stripe enveloping the rear end. Impressively enough, it still featured a numbers-matching mill.

The car isn't 100% original since it now uses a warranty, no-VIN gearbox and one of the rear fenders has been repainted at some point, but it's still a cool time capsule. And while the new owner opted to rebuild the 383 V8, he did not touch the exterior. So now the Super Bee is a completely road-worthy classic that employs a survivor look.

Sure, a full restoration would have been nice, but the patina on this car looks too good to throw away. Many people pay good money to get something similar through artificial weathering.

Check it all out in the video below. There's footage of the car as it was dragged out of the garage, followed by a video showing it run after it's been put back on its "feet."

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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