Lighthorseman
Well-Known Member
- Local time
- 3:44 PM
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 174
- Reaction score
- 221
- Location
- Prince Edward Island
Hello everyone - After a too-long hiatus for family and career, I am finally back in the Mopar game with my new acquisition...and here's the backstory.
I got my first Mopar when I was 17. It was a '79 Dodge Aspen RT. Eventually, it ended up with a tunnel ram, 2 fours, a good sized cam and centrelines. Sadly, I got this one BEFORE I had ever even heard of the B Body Mopars.
On cruise night, I'd pull in beside SuperBees and RoadRunners, and wish I had purchased one of THOSE. For a while, my dream car was a '69 SuperBee, 440 6 Pack 4 speed.
Then I saw a picture of a SuperBird. Okay, that was IT! One look was all I neded to know what my vision of the ultimate Mopar was. I remember thinking that it was a shame they never made those in convertibles...and it wasn't too long before I had the epiphany.
I was in my work truck, and it was a nice day. The radio was on, and Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream" started playing. He was singing about the sun beating down, and driving with the radio playing. My mind wandered, as it does too often, and the vision of a SuperBird convertible tooling down the road...with ME at the wheel took over.
I had just always assumed that there was no real way to make a Superbird convertible, because the parts had not been made for 20 years.
That was about 20 (at least) years ago. That automotive ideal has never left, and has never been replaced by another. The convertible SuperBird has been my automotive holy grail for that long. Then the internet and all the wealth of information attached to it came to be. As I got closer to being able to look seriously for a fun summer car, I found out that while it would be a lot of work, there ARE sources out there to make such a dream a reality.
And so, the first step. I have been looking for years, and have finally found a 1970 Satellite that I hope to turn into a convertible SuperBird.
The previous owner had too many irons in the fire and had to liquidate toys to stave off bankruptcy. It has all original sheet metal, and is lemon twist yellow with a 383 column-shifted automatic transmission with 43,150 miles on it. The car has factory air, as well as power steering, brakes, windows and top. It is originally a California car, and as such, is completely rust-free and solid.
Because I interrupted his restoration, I have some final assembly to do, but virtually everything I need came with it.
Here's the car coming off the carhauler.
I got my first Mopar when I was 17. It was a '79 Dodge Aspen RT. Eventually, it ended up with a tunnel ram, 2 fours, a good sized cam and centrelines. Sadly, I got this one BEFORE I had ever even heard of the B Body Mopars.
On cruise night, I'd pull in beside SuperBees and RoadRunners, and wish I had purchased one of THOSE. For a while, my dream car was a '69 SuperBee, 440 6 Pack 4 speed.
Then I saw a picture of a SuperBird. Okay, that was IT! One look was all I neded to know what my vision of the ultimate Mopar was. I remember thinking that it was a shame they never made those in convertibles...and it wasn't too long before I had the epiphany.
I was in my work truck, and it was a nice day. The radio was on, and Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream" started playing. He was singing about the sun beating down, and driving with the radio playing. My mind wandered, as it does too often, and the vision of a SuperBird convertible tooling down the road...with ME at the wheel took over.
I had just always assumed that there was no real way to make a Superbird convertible, because the parts had not been made for 20 years.
That was about 20 (at least) years ago. That automotive ideal has never left, and has never been replaced by another. The convertible SuperBird has been my automotive holy grail for that long. Then the internet and all the wealth of information attached to it came to be. As I got closer to being able to look seriously for a fun summer car, I found out that while it would be a lot of work, there ARE sources out there to make such a dream a reality.
And so, the first step. I have been looking for years, and have finally found a 1970 Satellite that I hope to turn into a convertible SuperBird.
The previous owner had too many irons in the fire and had to liquidate toys to stave off bankruptcy. It has all original sheet metal, and is lemon twist yellow with a 383 column-shifted automatic transmission with 43,150 miles on it. The car has factory air, as well as power steering, brakes, windows and top. It is originally a California car, and as such, is completely rust-free and solid.
Because I interrupted his restoration, I have some final assembly to do, but virtually everything I need came with it.
Here's the car coming off the carhauler.
