Richard Petty’s Old 1970 Plymouth Superbird Could Sell For $1 Million
A 1970 Plymouth Superbird once owned by NASCAR legend Richard Petty is ready to fly across the auction block.
The white and black hardtop was owned by the King from 1982 – 2013 and was fully restored by his Petty’s Garage outfit in 2014.
Plymouth built the radically aerodynamic Superbird with NASCAR racing in mind in large part to coax Petty into returning to the brand, after he spent most of 1969 driving a Ford. He went on to win eight races and finish fourth in the championship, behind Bobby Isaac in his similar Dodge Daytona.
Rule changes clipped the wings of the Superbird and Daytona for 1971 and relegated them to the history books and a relative handful of each were built for homologation. Just 1,935 Superbirds are estimated to have been sold in the U.S. and a few dozen more in Canada.
Read Also: 5 ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE AUTOMOTIVE PREDICTIONS FOR 2025
The white car coming up for grabs at the Mecum Auctions event in Kissimmee, Fla., on Jan. 18 is the only street legal one Petty ever owned. It still has its original 440-cubic-inch Super Commando V8 and has been restored to perfection, save for the addition of Petty logos on the seat headrests.
It is listed with 28,394 miles on the odometer and is equipped with a three-speed automatic transmission. Petty autographed the glove compartment door with his signature and a note that says “Take Car of My Car!” His autograph can also be found on the truck lid, where it has been preserved under a layer of clearcoat.
Read Also: 1970 PLYMOUTH HEMI CUDA CONVERTIBLE SOLD FOR RECORD $2.5 MILLION
As special as the car is, Superbirds with the Super Commando are typically worth less than those with either the 440 Six-Pack or 426 Hemi V8. Hagerty values a top condition Super Commando car at around $250,000, compared to $380,000 for a Six-Pack and $550,000 for a Hemi.
The Petty connection throws a wrench in the works, of course, and Mecum estimates that the car will sell for $900,000 to $1 million. Anything in that range would be a record for a 440 V8-equipped Superbird and the highest price paid for a Hemi stands at $1,650,000, at least for now.
Read Also: RICHARD PETTY EXPLAINS HOW HE BECAME ‘THE KING’
Three Hemi Superbirds will also be at the auction and should get a lot of attention. Two of them have their original engines and are among the 58 that were optioned with the Hemi V8 and a four-speed manual transmission. The third is one of 77 Hemi Superbirds that were delivered with an automatic transmission.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE AMERICAN CARS AND RACING YOUTUBE CHANNEL
The bids will have to go sky-high to compete with the record for a Daytona, however, after one of the 22 four-speed Hemis was sold last August for $3.3 million.
Read This Next
