In the last two articles, we talked about the history of the Aero Wars in 1969 and 1970 and Chrysler’s dream to create the ultimate winged warrior.
Chrysler’s designers and engineers did the best they could with what they had. Their cars will live in NASCAR history forever. But although performing phenomenally, neither of the two winged warriors achieved dominance in the NASCAR races.
In this article, we’ll talk about what the Daytona and Superbird could have been, given enough time to be perfected.
After 50 years, the ultimate winged warrior – recreated with modern technology – will go on sale at Barrett Jackson’s auction at Scottsdale this Saturday (January, 19th, 2019).
1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird Re-creation
Nicknamed “The White Monster”, this Superbird re-creation mates the preposterous body design of Creative Industries with an even more preposterous mechanical setup.
The base of this Superbird is an Art Morrison Max-G chassis which was specifically engineered for the vehicle. The frame rides on 18-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels from Budnik, wrapped inside of Mickey Thompson tires. The wheels are equipped with 13’’ 4-wheel, 6-piston Wilwood braking system to stop the absurd power coming out of the engine.
Driving those wheels is an all-aluminum Nelson Racing 572 HEMI “Elephant” engine – a 9.4-liter twin-turbo behemoth producing 1337 horsepower on the dyno. It’s fed by an Octane on Demand dual fuel system which can switch between racing fuel and regular 91-octane pump gas with the switch of a button.
Behind it sits a race-prepped 4L80E 4-speed automatic transmission. It’s operated via paddle shifters and a Compushift module. The transmission sends torque down a chromoly driveshaft to a Currie Enterprises custom 9-inch rear end, which includes a 3.55:1 Posi-traction differential and triangulated 4-link Strange axles.
Cooling comes from a dry sump oiling system and two Spal fans drawing air through the huge Ron Davis custom radiator. The interior is air-conditioned by a Vintage Air AC unit.
The Superbird comes with scratch built intake, turbo, and exhaust pipes. Two water-to-air intercoolers which are nicely concealed into the nose cone, which is refitted to go flush with the fenders, cool the engine.
All body panels, rockers, floor pans, tubs, the wing, and the firewall are handcrafted and fitted perfectly all around the vehicle. The body is painted in PPG custom-mixed Envirobased paint with a special clear coat.
This really is an absurd, over the top build that’s equal parts art and engineering. Every single part of this 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird re-creation was replaced and improved with no expense spared.
This is part three of our NASCAR Aero Wars series. Find parts one and two via the links below:
- Part 1 – History Of The NASCAR Aero Wars 1969 – 1970
- Part 2 – The Undying Winged Warriors Of 1969 – 1970
- Part 3 – The Ultimate Winged Warrior – 1970 Superbird Custom Build