1970 Plymouth HEMI Superbird Looks Like a Million-Dollar Mopar, but There's a Catch

One year later, Plymouth jumped on the aero car bandwagon with the Superbird. Based on the Road Runner and almost identical to the Daytona, the Superbird was primarily created to lure NASCAR ace Richard Petty back to Plymouth. "The King" had joined Ford in 1969 after nine consecutive seasons with Mopar.

Plymouth was also forced to offer a street-legal Superbird to homologate the design for NASCAR duty and ended up making 1,935 cars. Many of them sat on dealer lots for months and even years, and the story goes that some were converted back to Road Runners to be sold. Yup, the Superbird wasn't exactly popular at the time. But as the years passed, both "winged warriors" morphed into highly desirable and expensive collectibles. To the point where they fetch $400,000 to more than $1 million.

While the Daytona came with a selection of two engines, the 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) Magnum and the 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI, the Superbird got an extra third mill. Specifically, it got a four-barrel version of the 440 rated at 375 horsepower. This V8 acted as a base engine, while the 390-horsepower six-barrel and the 425 HEMI were optional.

The latter is obviously the most desirable version today, especially since only 135 Superbirds got it from the factory. That number splits into 58 cars equipped with the four-speed manual and 77 vehicles fitted with the three-speed automatic. How much are they worth? Well, a numbers-matching HEMI drivetrain pushes the sticker close to $1 million. When backed by a frame-off restoration or an unrestored and unmolested condition, the Superbird HEMI moves into seven-figure territory.

As of June 2023, the most expensive 'Bird ever auctioned changed hands for a whopping $1.65 million. It's a fully restored automatic model finished in Tor Red and equipped with a few desirable options. And it looks identical to the Superbird you see here.

Owned by Mike Kinney, it sports the same Tor Red finish and black vinyl top and rocks a 426 HEMI V8 under the hood. The interior is also black, but unlike the record-selling example I mentioned above, this one features bucket seats. It also has a four-speed transmission instead of a 727 Torqueflite. But that's not an issue because bucket-seat, manual HEMI cars are actually more desirable. This configuration is among the rarest of HEMI Superbirds, with only around 30 cars built like this.

So are we looking at what could be the most valuable 1970 Superbird out there? Unfortunately, the answer is no! Because this "winged warrior" is not an authentic Superbird. It may seem hard to believe, but it's a Road Runner conversion.

But you know what? I'm not at all disappointed. While it may not be a million-dollar gem, this Superbird is a great way to enjoy a classic that's way too expensive to own nowadays. And the owner doesn't even try to pass it on as a real Superbird. In his own words, it's a Superbird 2.0 because it has a few extras and was built "the way we think they should have back in the day."

In some ways, owning a replica is a better deal because you can drive it without worrying about ruining a million-dollar classic. And I'm pretty sure this Superbird falls into this category. Check it out in the video below.