1968 super bee8/30/2023 The Six Pack could keep up with a Hemi up to 70 mph and came with a Hemi-grade suspension that turned the Super Bee into a decent handler. The 440 Six Pack cost $463, about $500 less than a Hemi. The all-business look was completed with standard black steel wheels, unadorned except for chrome lug nuts. The lift-off hood was made of fiberglass, had a matte black finish, four NASCAR tie-down pins, and a large air scoop molded right in with “Six Pack” written on the sides. The Super Bee Six Pack came with one of the wilder hoods in muscledom. Torqueflite automatic was optional, but disc brakes, air conditioning, and cruise control were not allowed. A Hurst four-speed manual transmission was standard. Hemi valve springs, a hotter cam, magnafluxed connecting rods, and other improvements helped boost output to 390 bhp. Only the center carb was used for normal driving, but slamming on the fun pedal opened all six carbs for a combined 1,375 cfm rush. MOPAR engineers took the existing 440 cid V8 and replaced the single Carter four-barrel carb with three Holley two-barrel carbs on an Edelbrock Hi-Riser manifold, creating the Dodge 440 Six Pack (Plymouth called it the 440+6). The Ramcharger system featured two large hood scoops, an underhood air plenum and a switch to select between warm and cold air.īut the big news for 1969 was a new optional engine in the Super Bee. Also new was a new Ramcharger cold-air induction system, which was standard on Hemi cars. The Super Bee also received a single wider rear bumble bee stripe and a Dodge “Scat Pack” badge on the grille and trunk, plus front fender engine callouts. 1969 Dodge Super BeeĬomments: A two-door hardtop joined the existing pillared coupe for 1969. Production: 2D Pillared Coupe w/ 383: 7,717. Inside, the Super Bee had door-to-door carpeting, pleated vinyl seats and door panels, and a standard bench seat. The wheel lips and the rear body panel were accented with thin bright moldings. The grille was finished in black matte and the hood had a decorative power bulge. The low price didn’t mean low profile, and the Super Bee had bumble bee racing strips circling the tail, and a big Super Bee emblem hovering on the rear fenders. The low price meant minimizing amenities, and although the Super Bee borrowed the Rallye gauge package from the Charger to edge out the Road Runner, a tachometer was still $38 extra.Ī heavy-duty suspension, brakes, four-speed manual transmission with Hurst Competition Plus shifter, and red-line wide oval tires were standard. The 426 Hemi was the only other engine option, but at nearly $1,000 more, it clashed with the budget nature of the Super Bee and only 125 were ordered. The standard engine was the 335 bhp four barrel 383 cid V8 that borrowed cylinder heads, camshaft, and induction system from the Magnum 440 V8. Curb weight was nearly identical, and both used the same engines, so performance was almost identical. The biggest difference between the tow was the Super Bee’s inch-longer wheelbase. The $3,027 base price was $131 more than the Road Runner, which used the same basic chassis. Based on the redesigned Dodge B-Body Coronet pillared coupe, Dodge looked to its Scat Pack symbol and released its new model in the spring of 1968 as the Super Bee. Already upset that Dodge had coined the “road runner” name in a 1967 Coronet ad, Dodge responded by launching its own budget muscle car. 1968 Dodge Super Beeĭodge watched as Plymouth launched their budget muscle car, the Road Runner, in the fall of 1967 as a 1968 model. Although a capable budget muscle car, it never was as successful as the Road Runner, which truly must have hurt. The result was the Dodge Super Bee, a direct competitor to Plymouth’s Road Runner. While a bit of back and forth was common with other manufacturers competing under the same umbrella company, 1968 was the first time that Plymouth and Dodge were allowed to duke it out for the top-selling model. As a result, the focus of both the Plymouth Road Runner and Dodge Super Bee projects was to target the affordable, mid-size segment. While their full-size muscle cars, like the Plymouth GTX, were selling well, they wanted to target a market that had largely been forgotten by many of MOPAR’s competitors. Cars like the 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and Pontiac GTO were tearing up the strip. Introduction: During the late 1960s, it is no secret that MOPAR was under a lot of pressure from the competition.
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