Photo: Abimelec Arellano on Instagram
Based on the B-body Coronet, the Super Bee was a coupe that Dodge sold in the United States from 1968 through 1970. Since the 1971 Coronet was offered only in sedan and wagon guises, the Super Bee was twinned with the B-body Charger as a result. Around that time, a very different Super Bee was introduced in Mexico on the A-body vehicle architecture.
Offered between 1970 and 1976, the first generation served as a replacement for the Plymouth Barracuda. The peeps at Chrysler de Mexico couldn’t make a case for the third-generation Barracuda over high production costs. Originally powered by a 318 with 270 ponies on deck, the Mexican offshoot subsequently gained the front grille of the Demon.
1974 was the final year of the four-barrel 318, replaced by the more powerful 360 for 1975. Also fitted with a four-barrel carburetor, the larger engine used to make 300 horsepower. Considering that the 1975 Chevrolet Corvette made 165 horsepower in L48 spec and 205 horsepower with the L82 option, we can all agree the Malaise Era was in full swing stateside.
Essentially a Dodge/Plymouth crossover (the right kind of those, not a jacked-up wagon), the Valiant-branded Super Bee is a rare car and a bonafide collectible in the United States of America. The most powerful Mopar of the Malaise Era also happens to be the inspiration of Abimelec Arellano’s latest rendering, which envisions a restomodded muscle car with a Hellcat transplant, a Demon-like hood, and sweet-looking HRE wheels.
The factory hood-mounted tachometer is gone in favor of a digital unit that shows the revolutions per minute, gear, oil pressure, and water temperature. Fitted with super-sticky tires, the design study sweetens the deal with yellow-painted brake calipers, wheel-arch flares painted in the body color, a carbon-fiber lip spoiler, very small mirrors, and a duo of exhaust outlets.
The question is, yay or nay? Should someone turn this rendering into the real deal at the expense of an otherwise rare piece of Mopar history?
1974 was the final year of the four-barrel 318, replaced by the more powerful 360 for 1975. Also fitted with a four-barrel carburetor, the larger engine used to make 300 horsepower. Considering that the 1975 Chevrolet Corvette made 165 horsepower in L48 spec and 205 horsepower with the L82 option, we can all agree the Malaise Era was in full swing stateside.
Essentially a Dodge/Plymouth crossover (the right kind of those, not a jacked-up wagon), the Valiant-branded Super Bee is a rare car and a bonafide collectible in the United States of America. The most powerful Mopar of the Malaise Era also happens to be the inspiration of Abimelec Arellano’s latest rendering, which envisions a restomodded muscle car with a Hellcat transplant, a Demon-like hood, and sweet-looking HRE wheels.
The factory hood-mounted tachometer is gone in favor of a digital unit that shows the revolutions per minute, gear, oil pressure, and water temperature. Fitted with super-sticky tires, the design study sweetens the deal with yellow-painted brake calipers, wheel-arch flares painted in the body color, a carbon-fiber lip spoiler, very small mirrors, and a duo of exhaust outlets.
The question is, yay or nay? Should someone turn this rendering into the real deal at the expense of an otherwise rare piece of Mopar history?
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