Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I've got you all beat. I know that everybody is going to think this story is bs, but it's true.
Back around 1977 I bought the first Hemi Superbird that had been sold to the public for $150. Vitamin C Orange. Keep in mind that this was the mid-seventies and although musclecars were dying out from the new dealerships, they were still plentiful everywhere else. It was common for us to keep our eyes open for any potential projects whenever we went anywhere.
I was driving my '70 Roadrunner and had been in the market for a Dana 60 to replace my 8&3/4. A buddy of mine and I were cruising around Lincoln, Nebraska after work one night when we spotted what we thought was another '70 Roadrunner (it was sporting Roadrunner front sheet metal) sitting behind Lewis Automotive (a machine shop we'd been doing business with). Although it was getting dark, we pulled in and crawled underneath it. - Sure enough - a Dana 60. At this time Dana's were selling for around $150.
The next day I went back to talk with Lewis and find out the story on the car. He told me that the owner had brought it to him 3 years earlier with the Hemi scattered big time (crank, rods, pistons, even one head were trashed) and a factory 440 six pack engine needing to be rebuilt. After the guy had dropped the car off it was vandalized. Someone bashed in the windshield, stole the hemi 4-speed, tires and wheels and had used a crowbar on one of the doors trying to break in. The car owner was so discouraged that he left the car sit.
It took me about 3 months to track him down. When I finally got a hold of him on the phone and asked about the car he immediately began apologizing for having abandoned it. He thought I was calling to make a complaint. I explained to him that I wasn't complaining and offered him $150 for it (the going rate of a Dana 60 then). He was relieved he wasn't in trouble and that someone was not only willing to get rid of the car for him, but also to give him $150 to boot.
I was fairly young - probably 20 and didn't know a whole lot about all the various Mopar models. But, there were strange things about this car. As I was loading it on the trailer I noticed the stainless trim on the windshield posts. Although I wasn't sure why the car had them, I didn't give it much thought because my mind was focused on that Dana. After getting the vehicle back to our family farm I decided it was time to pull all of the extra parts and pieces out of the trunk. - Alternator, oil pan, etc... That's when I noticed that the trunk lid did not open as far as my '70. Then I finally noticed the different back window. I still didn't know what I had. I thought maybe Plymouth had made some Roadrunners similar to the Charger 500s with different back glass. Next, I spotted the brackets inside the trunk where the wing had originally been bolted to. At this point, I was pretty sure it was a bird.
Once more, keep in mind that I was young (probably not the sharpest) and this was the 70s. You could buy a completed roadworthy Superbird for $5000 then. I priced out a replacement Hemi ($2000) and the front end sheet metal (another $2000). The interior had issues because the broken windshield had allowed the weather to get inside for 3 years. Fixing this car back up didn't seem practical.
Another friend of mine who I used to go racing with told a few guys at Thundervalley Raceway in South Dakota that I had the car. They already owned several Hemi cars and were interested. One was a treasurer for the NHOA (National Hemi Owners Association) and another was a secretary for the NHOA. They ran down the serial numbers on the car and as near as they could tell, it was the 8th Superbird made. They went on to say that the first one made had a Hemi and that one of the Chrysler execs had kept it. After that 6 Superbirds with 440s were produced. - And then this one. The first Hemi Superbird sold to the public.
After swapping my 8&3/4 with the Dana I sold it to them for $150. - Exactly what I had paid for it. Oh, one other thing I swapped was the instrument cluster. My Roadrunner had 69,000 miles on the odometer and the 'bird had only 14,000 on it. They both had tic toc tachs. Although I wasn't concerned about the number of miles my car showed, I figured the tach with less miles on it would last longer.
The story doesn't end there. After I'd sold it I decided to find another 'bird for myself. Once again, I was driving around Lincoln, Nebraska when I spotted a yellow '70 Roadrunner with a Superbird wing on the back. I ran the owner down. She was the daughter of the Lancaster Sheriff. The car was a regular Roadrunner that she had bought with the wing already on it. After some finagling I bought the wing from her for $80. I sent it off to West Point, Nebraska - where the Superbird I'd sold went to. I charged them $80, - just glad to help them put the car back together. Six months later I found out how the wing ended up on the yellow car. It turned out that it was the original wing from the Hemi 'bird. A body shop in Ceresco, Nebraska had taken it off after the car had a front end collision. Because the Superbird sheet metal was so expensive, the car was converted into a regular Roadrunner. Another body man (Terry Richards) in David City, Nebraska bought the wing for $20 to give to his brother Tommy (another body man) in Rising City, Nebraska for his yellow Roadrunner. Eventually Tommy bought the Superbird from those guys in West Point and finished the car. - Last I heard it went to Minnesota or Wisconsin. The present owners don't realize that it has only 14,000 on it.
