Coolest Muscle Car Ever

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 47 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #104 in Autos, #9,191 overall

1970 Road Runner Superbird

In 1970, Plymouth lured Richard Petty back to racing for Plymouth in NASCAR races by building the 1970 Road Runner Superbird. In the Disney Movie "Cars", Richard Petty plays "The King", a Road Runner Super Bird. The Superbird was based upon the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona because when Richard Petty saw it, he wanted something similar. Both Dodge and Plymouth produced just enough of these cars to qualify to race them in stock car racing. It has been estimated a production Superbird could achieve speeds greater than 150 MPH.

It was originally rumored that in 1971 NASCAR outlawed both the Road Runner Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona from racing. It appears the truth was NASCAR changed the rules about engine sizes that could be used, to keep speeds down, resulting in Plymouth dropping the Superbird since it would not be as competitive with such a small engine.

In my opinion, the 1970 Road Runner Superbird is the coolest Muscle car ever built.

Quick Facts about the 1970 Road Runner Superbird 

also known as the "Winged Warrior" or the "Aero Warrior"

1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird

Production Count: 1920, one for each dealership as required by NASCAR.
Top Speed: Production models can achieve greater than 150 MPH.
Length: 226.5 inches, yes, over 18 feet long.
Wheelbase: 117 inches.
List Price: $4,298 (1970).
Current Price: More than $100,000 if in very good condition.
Engines:426 Hemi (475 bhp), 440 Super Commando, 440 Six Barrel
Won 21 races in its first season
Drag Coefficient .28(better than most cars)

First Stock Car to average a 200 MPH lap.
Racing versions could exceed over 220 MPH.
Won 8 races in 1971 and placed very high in the others.
Was recognized as the fastest stock car in the world.

Muscle Car History from HowStuffWorks.com 

History of Muscle Cars
The How Stuff Works site has a information on the history of the muscle car era.
Muscle Car Inventory
How Stuff Works also has a lot of information on many of the muscle cars produced, available from the link above.

Superbirds Photos Published on Flickr 

I've always liked the Road Runner and having the Road Runner holding a racing helmet as your logo, very nice. The Superbird is one of the first cars that were designed by engineers who used wind tunnels to identify the most aerodynamic designs.

Superbird. by Morven

Tailfin detail of a Plymouth Road Runner Superbird.

Plymouth Road Runner SuperBird by exxodus

CIMG0883.JPG by yel02

curated content from Flickr

Superbird Art with Legos 

I love building stuff, especially with Legos. The picture is of my three different Road Runner Superbird Lego designs.

Road Runner Superbird Resources 

There are many wonderful sites and resources online about the Road Runner Superbird and other muscle cars.
Wikipedia
Wekipedia has a nice section on this car and its history.
Aero Warriors
The Aero Warriors site primarily concerns itself with two of the most unusual automobiles ever produced and sold by United States auto makers, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner SuperBird.

Check their videos section for movies from past races.
All MOPAR
The Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona stories.

Superbirds on the Track 

It is pretty cool to see how many people were racing Superbirds.

Dodge Ford NASCAR 1970

www.carfilms.com Early NASCAR with dodge super birds, daytona, ford galaxie,cyclone

curated content from YouTube

The lead character in the movie Cars races against "The King" a Road Runner Superbird. 

Richard Petty obtained his nickname of "King Richard" in 1967 for his outstanding performance that year.

Richard Petty also does the voice for "The King" in the Cars movie. I also have a suspicion that the ending of the movie is related to the Greatest NASCAR finish ever, which involved Richard Petty and can be found on my Richard Petty SquidWho page.

Cars (Full Screen Edition)

Amazon Price: $19.49 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Cars (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

The Coolest Muscle Car I Have Owned So Far 

1969 Camaro

I had the pleasure of owning a 1969 Camaro for 10 years. It was the car I was suppose to have in High School, but I did not get it until six years after graduation. The 1969 Camaro is the coolest Camaro with a meaner looking body style than a '67, '68, '70 and so on. There is a rumor that a new Camaro is going to be build to compete with the new Mustangs. I saw an image of one, with its retro styling in a car magazine recently.

Muscle Car Shows 

Muscle Car Television
Produces Muscle Car, Horse Power, Power Block and a few other shows. Check their web site for availability in your areas as well as show information.

The August 24th Muscle Car episode mentioned the Year One Goldberg Superbird Project, which is attempting to build an 800 HP Superbird to reach 200MPH then send it to auciton.

Where to Find Your Superbird or Favorite Muscle Car 

Specific Sites Exist to Help Locate Rare Vehicles

LemonFree.com
The "new way" to shop and research autos online. Take a quick look at the prices across the country for the muscle car you are looking for or if you are selling one, list it for free. The Road Runner Superbird prices on this site seem much more reasonable than those I see show up on ebay auctions. Even better, sign up for an alert if the vehicle you are looking for suddenly becomes available. A very nice feature.
Ebay Motors
Be sure to keep an eye out for Superbirds showing up on eBay motors.
Muscle Car Finders .Com
MuscleCarFinders.com is a nationwide muscle car company that works hard to put American muscle cars back on the road. Cars don't belong in museums, they were meant to be driven. So we find them, fix them, and sell them to a good home.
Investment Motor Cars
Investment Motor Cars was created to bring the highest quality of collector cars to the general public. We are always buying cool cars for cash!

1969 Dodge Charger Daytona 

See how similar it is to a Superbird?

The Road Runner Superbird is actually more aerodynamic than a Charger Daytona, this is because Plymouth made the nose longer, adding an additional nineteen inches of length.

1969 Dodge Daytona by Mike Yaworski

Goodwood Breakfast Club - 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona by exfordy

curated content from Flickr

More Superbird Racing 

Richard Petty's famous #43 Superbird shown in this video.

70 raicin

70 superbirds

curated content from YouTube

Other Notable Muscle Cars 

There were many great muscle cars produced in the late 60's and early 70's. Below are just a few of the models I liked.

1969 Camaro by creative.paradox

1969 Camaro

Barracuda by creative.paradox

Barracuda

Maroon Mustang by rust.bucket

1966 Chevrolet Corvette by dave_7

1966 Chevrolet Corvette

Dodge Charger by dave_7

Dodge Charger done up as the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard

curated content from Flickr

New Millenium Muscle Photos 

Ford has seen high sales of its new Mustang and now the new Challenger and Charger are available once again. The new Camaro may be a little late, but as seen in the Transformers movie, should be out next year.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible by jasonb42882

Chevy just announced that production of this car is being pushed back due to eco...

Dodge Challenger SRT8 by dodge challenger1

Challenger

Silver Ford Mustang by MGSpiller

Mustang

Dodge Charger (Daytona Edition) by Kevin.Ward

Taken at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show

curated content from Flickr

Best U.S. Muscle Car Manufacturer? 

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Suberbird Products on eBay 

Keep an eye out for auctions for Road Runner Superbird items. Occasionally you will see a Road Runner Superbird car posted and the auction will quickly go above $100,000.

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eBay

Variety of Superbird products on Amazon 

1970 Plymouth Superbird diecast model car 1:18 scale die cast by Ertl - Bright Green 39408

Cheaper that a full scale model.

Amazon Price: $34.99 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

1970 Superbird Kit (w/Nose Blackout & Bird, Wing, Plymouth & Tailbird Decals) - WHITE

Get new decals, if you happen to already have a superbird.

Amazon Price: $299.00 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Great Car Movies on Amazon 

Check out Great Car Movies

Legendary Muscle Cars

Amazon Price: $35.99 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

My Classic Car: Legendary Muscle Cars

Amazon Price: $53.99 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

My Classic Car: Chevy Muscle Cars

Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Muscle Car Books 

Art of the Muscle Car

Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Muscle: America's Legendary Performance Cars

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/25/2009) Buy Now

Other Great Car Lenses 

The racing version of the Superbird qualifies as a car that could get you into the 200 MPH club.

Please Provide Reader Feedback 

Drop off a note of which muscle car is your favorite.

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Muscle Car T-Shirts from CafePress 

Display your favorite muscle car by wearing it on a T-Shirt

"Conclusion" or "Waiting for my next Muscle car" 

Since my '69 Camaro scared my kids when they were little, they thought it was too noisy, and because I could not picture myself handing over the keys to one of them, I sold my Camaro. Maybe when they are teenagers we will build a muscle car for them to use.

I hope those of you who love muscle cars, have been able to get one, hopefully your favorite one. If you have time, share your favorite muscle car by building a lens. It's easy!

Visit my Lensography for a look at other lenses I have contributed to the Squidoo community.

Thanks,
--Todd

by Edmands

Todd is a Systems Engineer with a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering/Information Assurance and an undergraduate degree in Geography. When time perm... (more)

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