Читать книгу 1970 Plymouth Superbird - Geoff Stunkard - Страница 10
ОглавлениеA “flock” of Superbirds at a Mopar show in St. Louis. Sold under option A13, these cars were all built with standard equipment upgrades and deletes, becoming unique collector cars today. (Photo Courtesy Quartermilestones.com)
The Plymouth Superbird being built as a production model could only have happened during the era in which it was actually created. The amount of money, time, and frustration expended is almost shocking, but it reveals once again that Chrysler was all in when it came to special vehicle programs related to racing, as well as overcoming the problems associated with them. In this chapter, I discuss both the basic development of the Superbird as a potential production car and the challenges that creating more than 1,900 examples on the production line presented.
The exact date that initial development on Plymouth’s wing actually began is unknown. It is probable that rough-drawn designs were played with a little before the company even talked with Richard Petty in June 1969. Although subcontractor Creative Industries of Detroit did not build the cars, in the end it was Chrysler engineers and stylists in that firm’s offices who played a primary role in getting the project from theory to functionality. Frank Moriarty laid the initial groundwork for understanding this project in his books Supercars (out of print) and Top Speed.
It was this redesign of the 1970 Coronet’s front sheet metal that helped Plymouth finalize plans for the Superbird, which used the Dodge fenders and a modified version of the hood.
John Herlitz, manager of Plymouth’s intermediate design studio, later recalled that his introduction to this program occurred when the race group contacted him to come to Creative and look at a proposal for a winged Plymouth, which was initially noted as the Belvedere-Daytona. Herlitz was already an unflattering critic of the radical treatment given to the Charger Daytona. He noted immediately that changes were necessary from this initial concept to make the ideas more palatable to the general buying public.
For example, it had been hoped that Dodge Charger fenders could in some way be adapted to the Belvedere-Daytona. Because of the Plymouth’s bodylines, Herlitz immediately recognized that blending those two styles was impossible. However, Dodge had just redesigned the 1970 front clip for the Coronet line; it was slightly more rounded than before but similar to upcoming front sheet metal changes for the 1970 Belvedere line. Using those fenders and their associated hood was the first step to adding a streamlined nose to the Road Runner.
Despite initial hopes to the contrary, the Daytona nose (the beak) was going to need restyling after all. It would have to be slightly wider than the Charger Daytona version. Although most parameters from the Daytona’s nose design could be left intact, the stylists did not like the amount of droop on the Daytona version and asked that the front edge be brought up approximately 2 inches in the interest of appearance. This change increased the amount of drag at race speeds, but no argument could be made because so many cars needed to be sold to the public.
To adapt the Coronet’s hood to the nose required adding a special front fill panel as well as a redesigned front valance (under the grille area). The steel lower front spoiler that was used on the Daytona as well as a pair of injection-molded plastic rear-facing front fender scoops over the wheel housings were already optimized for cooling. The factory paperwork simply called them air scoops. However, the aero stylists quietly noted that they were for race-speed air extraction due to nose downforce. It was often rumored that they were for tire clearance or brake cooling. Herlitz designed black graphics for the headlamp doors; additional aero improvements came from wide, chrome edge-trim attached to the windshield A-pillars.
The added fill section for the hood, lower spoiler, and new hood latch tray specific to all Superbirds is shown here. (Photo Courtesy ricksparts.net)
These multi-angled sections were nose support pieces mounted behind the front fender on each side of the car. (Photo Courtesy ricksparts.net)
Here is the completed nose, showing the hood extension, standard-equipment J45 pin layout, and steel lower spoiler. (Photo Courtesy Quartermilestones.com)
To make the headlights work, they used the vacuum canister Charger-type cover operation. However, the real issue was related to upcoming Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) on the functionality of concealed headlamps in the event of equipment problems (believed to be Sec 571.112 – S4.1-4.2 of the FMVSS code). Chrysler employee and drag racer John Tedder told me that this was a specific reason for the completion of the cars before the new year. In addition, another problem crept up when the state of Maryland refused to title the cars under any circumstances because they didn’t have a visible front bumper. A rumor persists that the company actually had to buy back these cars.
The Road Runner was never offered in a fastback form. Moreover, to prevent costs from spiraling further upward, no changes could be made to the C-pillar location or the “Dutchman panel” used between the rear window opening and the trunk lip sheet metal as on the Charger 500 and Daytona. As a result, aerodynamicist Dick Lajoie and others did extensive testing on possible window reworkings using the rented Wichita State University’s 3/8-scale wind tunnel and eventually settled on a rear area metal plug and lightly restyled rear window glass. This change was not as good as true fastbacking would have been. It also made a black vinyl top mandatory on all Superbirds to hide this change.
Herlitz also wanted the rear wing restyled. As a result, the uprights were wider, canted farther inboard, and swept more rearward than the Daytona version. In this case, there was actually added aero benefit to the redesign because the increased shape made the car more stable in racing traffic.
By approximately the end of July, the costs of these changes were finally evaluated. Publically, Dodge had estimated a loss of $1,500 on each of the 500 Daytonas built, which had a base price of $3,993. Although the actual Plymouths’ costs were never released, it would be safe to say that it cost the company at least the same amount, even if the base cost of a Superbird with a standard 440 4-barrel engine had been pushed to $4,298. In fact, despite the commitment in time and money already expended, Plymouth pulled the plug on the entire project in early August, reportedly due to the then-projected costs associated with production. However, the cancellation was rescinded two weeks later. The show would indeed go on, and without a moment to spare.
Out back, an aero-styled plug was added to the car atop the standard Road Runner stamping, requiring that all Superbirds receive a vinyl top. (Photo Courtesy Quartermilestones.com)
This Superbird, currently under restoration by Dale Mathews, shows how the backlight was mounted against the original window opening, precluding the need to cut out the OEM stamping.
This is a regular 1970 Road Runner backlight with optional vinyl top, showing the original styling cues that required a special body-paint corner trim molding to match after the plug was added. (Photo Courtesy Quartermilestones.com)
Creative Industries’s people worked closely with Chrysler to quickly mock-up the finalized parts, get initial samples done, and begin subcontracting the work. Although they had leased a substantial facility on 10 Mile Road, changing almost 2,000 cars to the degree that the Superbird required was out of the question, especially in the time allowed. Chrysler’s Lynch Road plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, became the location for all initial Superbird construction, with final assembly completed at an associated pre-production pilot facility on nearby Clairpointe Street. The facility was normally used to check tooling and fitment issues for each upcoming model year. All 1970 pilot work was long completed by October 1969 and the 1971 pilot model process did not begin until spring 1970. The plant was large enough to do the job, factory-owned, and it was nearby. That settled the issue.
For its part, Creative Industries was responsible for creating or procuring all the specific components that would be used on the Superbird. The wing, small add-ons, front spoiler, and fully constructed nose assemblies came through them. It was a huge undertaking based on how quickly the cars would be going into production. Thankfully, all internal components from the Daytona nose were adapted unaltered to the Superbird version. The nose structure on both cars was always steel with the headlamp doors being the only fiberglass components.
Factory paperwork in the Frank Badalson and David Patik collections shows that the first documentation summary for Plymouth NASCAR Program tools and special equipment was announced via interoffice correspondence on August 18. It cryptically alluded to success only if the program was reactivated by August 20. This denoted component materials, initial supply dates, and tooling times (most by early September, with some as late as October 8).
