1970 Plymouth Superbird - Jay Leno's Garage

got some power and but you don't feel like with your Betty when you get in it welcome in episode of Jay Leno's Garage the car was reaching this week 1970 Plymouth Superbird these cars have a fascinating history when they first came out they were kind of cool I guess and then they really couldn't sell them in fact someone converted back into normal street cars by thinking the wing and the front end off and then they became somewhat collectible then they keep being really collectible and then they became icons there's a whole wing car society out there now it's really fascinating to see the whole gestation period of this automobile let's meet the man who owns it this is Jeff Dunham Jeff come on in Jeff very funny comedian my Netflix gotta come a bunch of specials out there and he is a huge car collector we featured a lot of his really neat stuff here he had the gremlins start with the grimille this is the flipside of having gremlins you're right this is the flipside absolutely so thanks for let me make up for that yeah and this is the real one this is the buy real one I mean the one everybody really aspired to this has the Hemi engines sure and the four-speed manual transmission and by the way I've never heard gestation used when talking about cars but that's face that's the gestation period okay have you know us have also wearing the new Leno garage sure oh yeah the denim shirt is gone well yeah we're making these now you can get garage comm yeah if you want to buy one of these but tell us about what why you wanted one did you always want one what no fascination I mean I think I've told you before I got into the car game much later I wasn't it wasn't until I was well into my beyond the years you'd think he'd become interested and I learned about these much later and became fascinated just because the history of it with NASCAR and what happened with this vehicle so 1970 is the only year that they made these cars and because they were basically outlawed the next season because it crushed everybody right I hunted everywhere from one of these things because there's so many knockoffs you know how that goes is people fake them and I went through I think eight eight different ones to try and find this this one but this one was an actual barn find and veterinarian in Ohio Janesville Ohio yeah back in the 70s and early Saturday I guess when his practice was taking off he bought a bunch of muscle cars ones that he thought that would become valuable and sure enough this thing sat there and languished in his barn and he put it on eBay and you know we called him and tried to find make sure this was the right thing we you know did all that we needed to do to make sure it was the right thing and it was it was needing some refurbishing so you know good ol Julius Julius worked on this for a year Julius restorations he's the big demo part guy big Mopar guy yeah and I mean stripped it down complete rotisserie everything done to it now in 1969 in NASCAR they said you had to produce 500 vehicles before you could erase the NASCAR fiber vehicles to be sold in the dealership and then the next year they said no no you have to do you have to produce one for every two dealerships that you have four so back then for Plymouth that would be nineteen hundred and twenty cars so they made nineteen hundred and something cut how many more Hemi 135 only 135 with a Hemi and 58 we're stick okay that's it and so then when you put that Plus you put the bucket seats and then you get this color there were eight different colors this is a really really rare desirable one now I'm trying to remember there was a Dodge version of this too called the Daytona the Daytona and that had a little different roof that the glass I think was flush for the high speed ovals like right in holiday the fenders on this were taken from the Coronet and this I think the front end it's actually 19 inches longer than the regular Road Runner because of that and then like you said you got the wing back there the other thing that cracks me up you know what these scoops were right here I assumed brake cooling well I know the legend says that you know all the other because this thing was just stomping everybody they thought that this was some sort of you know weird ducting or something like that that they'd figured out it's because it was this was this was designed in a wind tunnel this thing was done by the scientist you know I mean they knew what they were doing with all this now with these the first cars to break 200 well then the Dodge Daytona was which is the charger version on side of things and so that was the year before in 69 Plymouth was trying to lure petty back over right that's right he from four before yeah and so this is what they produced and so when he came back in he killed everybody with this thing but the Daytona was the first one to go over 200 miles an hour the season before in 69 but then it back to these scoops right here they did some sort of our aerodynamic thing now what it was is because they had bigger tires and in the cornering the tires would would yeah so they just cut a hole right here so the tire wouldn't hit the fender and then they put a scoop on it and it looks like something secret oh I see because there is no hole here this is just well this is fake this is the one for the deal okay hey JD I wonder do you know do they did that do they do that on the Daytona - I don't know okay I have no idea me neither but the Daytona was the rarest the only both I don't want too many of those right but this is the one everybody knows this is the one it sort of pops up in your mind it's got the Superbird and the beep beep horn and all that kind of and like you oh yeah it does have the road on her horn you ready here we go yeah so um and like you said they did not sell they could not give these things oh no I as I mentioned I remember dealers would take the front end off and convert them back back into regular Road Runners yeah because you really it probably wouldn't fit in most people's garage as a matter of fact I took this home yeah you know my Batmobile one of the 66 and then one for the actual or Nikitin movies and it actually fits in the garage and this does not Wow that's funny you just have to leave it here I guess and they did the vinyl roof you know I love the vinyl roof I don't care what people say you know you have your Toronado over there and you there's no vinyl roof and apparently was a dealer option on the Toronado well once they did any cards were the roof the paint didn't look good enough or didn't they would put a vinyl roof or if they had a hailstorm yeah that's it was cheaper to do a vinyl roof it was to fix the hell I love the vinyl yeah yeah it brings out memories in childhood I think it's fantastic but I got to tell you when we went to Zanesville Ohio and found out dr. Smith had this car for sale he had a certain number that he wanted for it right so I thought I'm gonna it was really weird I happen to be doing a show at The Ohio State Fair right and I I called dr. Smith and I said I'm gonna be there for my show can we bring the tour bus over there and just take a look and he says that flute this is aints vohiyo so we land at the small airport there my tour bus is waiting for me we get in the tour bus and dr. Smith called me before he says you want a police escort I'm like no he goes yeah you need a police escort come on so we show up it is one guy on a motorcycle we got the police escort so we're going to dr. Smith's farm we'd get there and J it was everything short of the high school marching band was there yeah the whole time is like his entire family was there is kids there's grandkids everybody's there they've made signs welcome Jeff it was like this silly I knew I hadn't bought it yet right you were just looking at yeah hey hey wait a minute you gotta buy it yeah so it was that the family was great they were so kind and we took photographs and I pulled out one of my dummies and did a little impromptu thing for him yeah and so then dr. Smith and I got in for a ride and I said so dr. Smith he goes let's talk about money I said well I got to go to the I got to go cuz I have my show to go to and I said we'll talk later he goes well there's not much to talk about it's the press I said oh that's it and if you don't want it nice meeting you thanks for coming oh yeah okay he was doing your teeth yeah exactly so I I thought about it we had it inspected had the guy come out and look at it make sure it's the real thing but in hindsight it's worth more now isn't it yeah I think so so how many miles on the car they were just a little more than 9,000 when we got it and I think they were real miles I don't know if they nothing was undone but who knows Julius thinks there was more on it but I don't know I mean that's believable it's not some of you drive every day and in Ohio you've got winter pretty heavy from October till May or whatever and the rest wasn't bad they don't have salt right ville but it was in the barn forever so yeah it could it could be 9,000 miles but he was the second owner dr. fish for the second owner he said when he bought it it had beer cans in the backseat the guy had trashed it and he just stuck etting barn in there it was but then Julius weren't and I mean it's as original as it can possibly be let's show people what the motor looks like me engine yep pull these pins and there is a latch I can find it then oh yeah yeah and there's the the purple yeah the purple horn with the roadrunner on it yeah so I wonder I got a question for you how many cars before 1970 actually had a like a cartoon character well the roadrunner came out in 68 right so that was a cartoon character I'm trying to think so I know that the Levi's gremlin right that was one of the first times the company got together with a car company and created you know that so now we got the rotor great when they put names on it you know my favorite star that I had someone I work with an NBC and she's a lady middle-aged lady she said she bought her use Explorer and she had you know good upholsterer and I said why what's wrong seat story she goes now the previous owner put his name all over the seats and then it's really annoying I said no well see you want somebody yes she's got one something to take you know fix it I said okay that's what was the guy's name she said Eddie Bauer that's the Eddie Bauer know that I mean that was a model that was you know when you're three sentences into this explaining that you just quit yeah Bill Blass Lincoln and the Pierre cut down that was the big thing but sure another interesting thing is this this is metal this is not fiberglass a big old chunk of metal and when you find them they're always rusted and crapped out and right so but still the only piece of fiberglass on this entire vehicle or the under cover and these are how do those open electric motor I don't even know it let's find out J yeah I bet you it goes like this so if they don't open do you need the key on let's see oh the oh and the buzzer this takes you back the buzzer that makes you want to kill people yeah nothing nothing nothing so it's got to be pneumatic yeah yeah yeah it works on vacuum I guess all right I will try it later when we're running okay but certainly a very nice job we'll get that original style or one of those battery covers with the Optima underneath it probably yeah yeah and what were these ready - these are 425 horsepower yeah but you almost 101 there's from 426 is 425 horsepower zero to 60 in five and a half seconds and I guess the actual Road Runner was a little bit quicker off the line yeah but at high speeds 200 freakin miles an hour yeah that's something yeah and then they were again they were outlawed the next season because they were petty was trumping everybody with this thing so the next season after petty trumped everybody and then seventy one season they changed the requirements so he had to run a 305 or he had to put more weight in the car Oh cuz the power weight ratio was way off on this thing and that's why he beat everyone right right well when petty ran in Daytona he ran I think drum brakes going 200 miles an hour that's frightening but it's all relative you know I was a kid I remember going to the Smithsonian seeing Alan Shepards little capsule that he circled then he went up in space and came down because that was the highest tech thing you look at it now he go I'm not getting in that garbage can you know it's the same thing yeah one of the Apollo capsules is there it literally looks like a bunch of guys built it in their garage right yeah yeah which I guess is kind of what it was yeah hey let's shut the hood again the only thing missing in this car that Julius left off and he left it off on purpose was the sound deadening Matt that was up here yeah and he said he left it off because they loose and they could get loose and fall down their pain in the neck and right right so but otherwise everything is to the nines here and you want to hear the sound anyway bring it down if you scratch it with this little hook I'm gonna make you sign the scratch there you go well let's go around come around the back let's show the rear end and this is probably the most prominent feature of the car the the wing it's so prominent and this is metal is that's fine yeah any of the rumor you know people question why was this thing so high what would the was there some special aerodynamics secret and one of the guys that formerly worked there years later said that the reason that the wing was so high was this so the trunk had opened well that's right you'd hit but that apparently was incorrect oh it is yeah so I guess it really was something halfway to see well if the wing was here it would hit right yeah but I apparently that wasn't really the reason I don't know and you carry a full-size spare look at that yep and it caused a giant trunk keep a few bodies in there yeah mm-hmm and little exhaust very sexy yep now what what is the actual official color of this car is it we say Hemi orange is that was that then it wasn't him you get me a little bit different this is vitamin C okay and it's a little bit more dull and I said earlier they're eight colors there's actually seven colors I said eight because I got it when it was faded yeah Hemi Orange was the color of the block okay it's a brighter orange yeah yeah and those across the stock taillights this is one of those running down the road that people who don't know what they're looking at or like what the hell that is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life yeah yeah and the guys that do know you know it's something special yeah I mean you saw to have to know the story in the history and Richard Petty and and and this is what it took to go 200 miles an hour yeah and you know another reason they banned it was because the 200 miles the technology 200 miles an hour the technology had outpaced the tires the technology of the tires so it was incredibly dangerous to be going that fast with tires it wouldn't handle it right right I mean and these are bias plies where I need a poly glass oh I remember this yeah these would you could spend these tires with a 6-cylinder engine yeah so when we're driving this thing it's kind of crazy even when you're going 70 miles an hour down the freeway it's unbelievable to think that it went 200 miles an hour I mean this is a 70s car it's like it's not tight yeah yeah yeah it's but it's still an iconic piece of history and they got a big Plymouth thing on the side I mean this makes a statement you know you can't oh and when it was when Julius was working on it let me walk over here and show you this right here this piece so when this thing was all in pieces one of the things I loved about it is they really did piece this thing together just to make it this car and when this mat was gone underneath you couldn't see it the original rear window bottom mount part of the frame is still there underneath that mat oh that just covering it up there's covered up yeah yeah because it looks a little weird the way it comes out here yeah and these little pieces I think well let's put it up in the air next door I'll put it up on our Stella Coney lift and show people what the underside looks like what a full restoration looks like done the right way yeah yep yeah come on I'll show you it looks like and then we'll take it for a ride well we've got Jeff's 1970 Superbird up on our of sterile coney lifts here so you can see underneath this what you call rotisserie restoration now I remember it's not supposed to be a pebble beach restoration or everything is shiny it's supposed to look exactly it looked coming from the factory that's that's what Julius does the bench yeah it looks like it came for the factory the over he does the overspray right he does all the marks all the markings on it so it this literally looks like you drove it yeah all truck stickers here and yeah yeah all of that yeah and by the way J I think I'm told you this before when I get a car I don't care how valuable it is how much is worth its supposed to be driven right so I know this thing is worth you know a boatload of the six figures easily wait wait boot numbering six figures so it's a lot of money but I take this thing to lunch I take it to go get coffee we drive around and take it to shows no I think that's really good I think that's really good and plus I got to get miles on it cuz it's basically a brand new motor right yeah so you know I want to break it in okay I'm wondering this anybody notices have more leaves than the standard sedan and the back spring just little things like that I don't know you know it send us a comment if you know if you're an expert on these winged cars I I certainly am NOT I'm learning from Jeff just as you guys are it seems pretty stock Plymouth sedan underneath you got your dual exhaust Mullis here these don't appear to be anything different than the standard you know didn't have special Superbird glass packs or anything like that nature I know whether they did or not but oh well you gotta get you a little bit of sound I'm amazed at how quiet it was actually oh yeah yeah it's a little disappointing huh it's a little disappointing well it's kind of refreshing because that's what they weren't noisy from the factory you have to meet certain standards you know so I mean I kind of like the stock sound make it a little bit louder but but do you can see just beautiful the way Julius has done all of this here yep the guy knows what he's doing he's such a soft-spoken guy to just like it he's just a genius at his work and he loves it that's the best part yeah he really loves it he goes out have to do this well a lot of times when you take your car to someone who's not an expert in that mark you're now paying the guy to learn what you already know yeah he's got to get the books and read all of this rethought so you want somebody who's an expert like for Duesenbergs I go to Randy EEMA he's the Newton burg guy for mopars you go to Julius yeah he does stuff in his sleep yeah I mean all that just the correct paint here I'm the yep and the bolts and all that kind of stuff and he seemed so incredibly fast right back in the day right you know but that day was 40 something years you know it's funny you're driving down the road you're like I'm a badass so good I'm driving and then somebody goes by in a Kia that'll do you know right twice the acceleration of this look like this has the history yeah and it does get the looks when you dry he was really can't really be you can't follow anybody in this car can't be you know Cognito that's right very nicely done well it looks like a brand new gas tank yeah I think so yeah yeah and uh you know everything was perfect when I got this car but when my buddy and I met and I went to pick it up we're driving at home you were here this and he goes what was that I know I don't know what that was and we weren't sure what it was the only mistake Julius made apparently he hadn't tightened these bolts down and we fired an exhaustive and it ended up in somebody's grill I think very cool nicely done well it's time to take this thing for a ride let's see if it lives up to the legend how is your left leg my left leg is okay it's a country step oh it's pretty stiff you know I Drive so much stupid stuff with airplane engines so I don't mind this difficult matter but I don't even notice it I got I got to tell you pull it in your garage long way down there while we're doing the first place we're jacket my leg was tired got there that shows you're out of shape we really are all right side Geoff Superbird here it looks pretty much standard Plymouth through the dashboard nothing different right no no it's great everything I mean the steering wheel the whole lock here with your tack behind the clock which is so funny yeah and again that's what I love I love cars being stock exactly the way they were out of the factory right because it's the smells it's everything the the the there's the textures that they can take that um these little things like the buttons being slightly off-center right you know it's just a couple of you aw guys and lunch out putting this thing together yep yeah it's just kind of crap it's all crap yeah you got the AM radio I like off heat defrost that's thank you eat or off thank you yeah well you know what's great is is okay so we got that but still with the today's modern technology you can still charge your iPhone Wow nicely okay you know what I always I did this so many times as a kid I'd question my own intelligence on a regular basis I would go I don't think that the lighter is working do you know there's you know how you say there's nothing hotter than a pie from like jack-in-the-box right right well this is the hottest metal ever I did that I remember I went one said wait what's that red and when I was 28 but some of them up later than others and across this the famous pistol grip shifter right which I would love to bend in on the meeting for that right where they go we got to make it a pistol well don't forget it's finger the car was designed in the middle to late sixties right what were the hot shows Bonanza Gunsmoke rawhide Gunsmoke Clint Walker Cheyenne I mean there were westerns and this had a pistol grip and wow shifter on it that's pretty great I mean that's I'm thinking I don't know maybe that sounds a long and I love the fact that's still the crap plastic and you know yeah the wooden ones that came by later and pretend to be think it's wood let's start it up no gas just turn the key yeah well you know something I would know that starter noise anyway yep I like to cheat a little thing flights up fast to see though nothing but that's the reverse light oh that's the thing you remember oh that's right Kevin let's see is it work yeah yeah sure look at oh look at you but you know what that's for is well you're never run but you did tell me to get your key out it has to be in all that it's wait honey eggs work we can flip it same thing yeah yeah yeah it's it's the I forgot about that well that the Trans Am that I let you borrow yeah yeah a few weeks ago that was the same way you couldn't get the key out until you put it in the verge well let's see if I can put that pistol grip in first it is a heavy clock but you got power steering right yep so the one that petty drove yeah when he was driving from for Plymouth was what color hello I believe was there a separate Superbird owners manual I don't think so why what would be different well they might tell you you like with the headlights let's see if the headlights come on now should I try it yeah we're not you can't see him now they lift it up yeah I see you sing it they're up okay now now they're down okay so what kind of guy you think bothers things oh I think the same guy that buys remember a couple years ago they had the Chevy Monte Carlo with the Tasmanian Devil on it was a NASCAR really well I mean if you're a NASCAR fan this was and that's what NASCAR was really just crazy huge that's when you I love NASCAR that area because in that era but but you raced a car that looked like the car you could actually buy right I mean you can actually buy one of these a guy bought one of these probably saw Richard Petty go 200 miles an hour we got to take it easy it's a brand new motor and totally got five less than fifty miles on it since you for the Treasury yeah we're not kind of romp on it don't burn out it's none of that she's gonna drive it and put a few miles on it plus in California now we're in the middle of these wildfires almost all the roads up in the hills are closed you know what the warranty was on a heavy when you bought the new one what 90 days but now they're coming out with a demon that's eight hundred and some more spanks yeah and it's got the got some power yeah but you don't feel like with your Betty when you get in it feel like you you gonna put your foot in you'd have even noticed us no that's it Wow that's good oh it's great it pulls very nicely yeah and 75 you're still got a lotta left okay we're doing 75 on Bailey on the throttle imagine isn't it more than double the speed that's what I was saying earlier keep it back to this suspension and everything get 200 miles an hour yeah so you wonder back then the guy that buys this what a woman want to get in this thing I'm Joe is a cool car at the time so it wasn't nobody wanted it well I think when it came out it was one of those cars the people who wanted it couldn't afford it and the people who could afford it didn't want it you know what I mean so you know they just did this that they didn't care or they play didn't care if they sold it and they just did this thing to get back into the malla Gatien to get them into racing that's why they did it before did it with it with the grand Torino and all of that stuff I mean that's when a race car had to mimic a car you can actually buy but what was the word you just used Amala gation homologation Yamini means make it legal you've got to have you've got a it's got to be a car the public combined you have to make so many well Jay not only are you handsome but you're knowledgeable hot they go I gotta get homologated that's great you know writes very nicely it's fun to see what the car was like exactly what I remember in the mid-80s most of these would just be death you know and hot rods you know straight pipes and cut off the fact that they were allowed I mean I mean a rise like a normal flemeth do you put your foot in you feel that heavy he grabbed the pistol grip shifter I mean to get to top the game but you know there is there are cars that are fast their cars it make you feel like you go on back and this you've got the fury rage as a beer in steering so 70 miles an hour this is like under 20 and something else so it's all how you enjoy the ride like I really I really enjoyed driving visit the pledge is heavy but not so heavy is to be intrusive I mean it I love this thing I think and you know it is it's like every time I get it in db5 I feel like I'm in James Bond's car right you know because you smile do you remember the Bond movies you remember the theme song and every time you get something like this I think of Richard Petty so I had Richard Petty on the show he showed up with this blue one right we took it around that the Opel down there and yeah it was fantastic so I mean it brings back it's it's really how the car makes you feel [Music] can you do any and your few driving it you're feeling like that and you're getting on the freeway and and you know the tag is screaming up at 4000m and and you feel like you're really doing something then some of them like a Tercel or a Corolla pulls up next to you and oh yeah beats you and you're like well wait a minute but you know all the fun happens between 40 and maybe a hundred right above 120 now you really you know but no hundred you going to prison but just the track [Music] I'm not sure if he likes it or he's laughing at us that's hilarious my dad say that car attracts hoodlum you know well it was a 65 year old woman that was the weird yeah well there you go and it's nice with the stock muffler I get to you the engine whole but without just hear it clap it up on you know people run straight down really annoying so you send away so you said the warranty 90 day three months you got the right you know they used to advertise this as a man's machine you know stuff like that oh you have the giant poster yeah yeah yeah you could do that today you know we have installed it it's not cami it's not you know you stall with the light the plugs aren't loading up it's nicely tuned and you know something I like the sound right something louder I mean the color catches your your eye and the car attracts you you don't need the noise to get people love so I've had three different theories of what that keep grinding noise isn't a stick that to hear that get in there it's the every one of them doesn't yeah there's a screw in here with a washer watch holding the plastic no that's not it goes away oh it's invalid here listen yeah but it's not that it's down here I guarantee you drive your car you'll have the same thing well Mike does have the same thing I always thought was in the handle well you know ask then let's see what the comments come up oh it's good to stay if they can hear it but it's a key but now you have to join the wings car club I heard you say that earlier yeah you had an exact name for it now I always felt I just called the winged society to come I don't think that's it but there is such a thing right so any winged car yeah happiness I mean there are guys that don't chapter at first tell you you built your car what day of the week and it really don't it's tough that now it's gonna bug it now make it go away but it rides and Dreiser and it's quite practical but for people in here oh yeah easy it's not you're not cramping there no right and you can put five dead bodies in the trunk and it looks like an American car no one's gonna go now well J this is fine well I want to thank Jeff for letting us take this wing wonder for a ride here as I said it's a brand new restoration less than 50 miles so we couldn't really romp on it but this is what it would have been like if you've driven out of the dealership back in 1970 this is probably built to even higher standing then that it runs well Julius did a nice job thank you and I think you got a very happy with this you know when you get about 2,000 miles and I'll come back and we'll good we have some real fun with ya hits at 200 miles an hour okay thank you my J yeah LM got great cars see you guys next week [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 1,388,739

Rating: 4.8899169 out of 5

Keywords: jay leno garage, jeff dunham, plymouth, superbird, MOPAR, Plymouth, Superbird, wing car, Hemi, Richard Petty, 4 speed, rotisserie, restoration, Road Runner, Daytona, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: NDrwGfd1IyI

Length: 33min 21sec (2001 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 31 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Drando_HS]

I have had the pleasure of seeing one of these in person. Red with the vinyl top.

The enormity of this car is often overlooked. THIS THING IS FUCKING HUGE! Longer than a Tahoe. It's like... I think 19 or 17 feet long. It's absolutely incredible.

[u/GiveMeAMuffin]

One thing Mopar always did well was adding character to their vehicles. This Superbird is just cool. Even though they arnt built the best and handle horribly, its just a car I would have a blast cruising around plus that sweet hemi.

[u/NotSeriousAtAll]

There was one in the carport of a small house next to mine when I was growing up. It was under a tarp and I never saw it move. I always wondered what happened to it.

[u/Adamant_Narwhal]

I've seen a couple at mecum auctions, they are huge, wacky, and beautiful. A superbird clone is on my bucket list of cars to make/own, they have such rich history and are just so unique.

[u/TeleKenetek]

Pretty sure the Superbird was the firsr car to hit 200 on a nascar track.

[u/GlobalSouth]

When did Jay Leno ditch the denim shirt?