1969-1/2 Dodge Super Bee
440 Six Pack 4-Speed 4:10 Dana
Owner: Brad Sanders
Location: Burlington, Ontario
Available for sale for the first time in over 20 years is one of the best original 1969 Six Pack Super Bees left in existence today. You never know when the opportunity to pick up such a fine example of arguably the flagship car of the musclecar era will present itself again. This car is being offered for sale by the present owner, not a broker, flipper, or used car salesman...but by the current owner who has painstakingly cared for the car over the last 20 years and knows this car intimately top to bottom and from side to side! NO SURPRISES!!!
I will stress to address all the areas of the car and I welcome any questions. This is a gentleman's auction and it is my expectation that you will treat it as such. Please serious inquires only and lets not play guess the reserve...
Grab your favorite beverage (maybe a Six Pack if you are so inclined???) and let's check out this great Survivor Six Pack Super Bee together. Just to get it out of the way, the car is totally matching numbers throughout and the original drivetrain is intact, engine and tranny and Dana rear axle!!! The original unpainted fender tag is present and a very nice original broadcast sheet also was located under the rear seat springs. The car retains its original 054 radiator, carbs, intake, air cleaner, hood and all five original H-wheels. There are the reproduction G70x15's Firestone Bias Ply tires at all four corners but a glance in the trunk reveals the original Goodyear Redline in very good condition. It may even retain its original air...ok probably not!!!
A quick little story about the rims....when I bought the car out of the Auto Trader, it rode on ET Classics with Bridgestone radials. I really didn't know about the differences between all the factory steel wheels and I purchased a set of H-wheels from a buddy. As the years went by I realized even though my Super Bee had H-wheels they were of the wrong year! How can I say I have the original "to the car" rims you ask??? Well a couple of years ago I got to thinking if the previous owner might still have them. I searched for his contact info and sure enough he still lived at the same location where I had purchased the Bee from so many years before. Guess what? He still had the original rims set aside!!! Needless to say I made arrangements to reunite them with the car...talk about a stroke of good luck!
Anyway back to the Bee, the car still wears all of its factory applied Lynch Rd paint. The boys in the paint shop would be smiling from ear to ear if they seen how well this one has held up over the years. The F6 - Bright Green Metallic paint is just that BRIGHT GREEN with lots of shine! It's nearly impossible to accurately capture the true condition of a cars paint with pictures but I tried to take as many pictures as possible to show how bright green it still is. You can still see the production line flaws that were present on a car of that era. They include some orange peel, paint drips and some quickly (sloppy) lead work on the quarter to roof seams.
When I bought the car I realized it was something special so I strived to maintain it and care for it in the best manner possible. One area of concern to me was a battery overcharge back in the day that resulted in some contents of the old non-sealed type battery to spit up (damn screw on caps!) on the drivers front fender top and inner fender. I wrestled with this issue for quite some time before I decided it just didn't look "right" compared to the rest of the car. I had a small area of the fender top blended in along with painting the complete engine bay to bring it back to like new condition to match the rest of the car. Last year I resprayed the factory fiberglass hood and added new stickers and bezels. The hood itself is in excellent condition and shows no signs of damage or previous repairs. Not too many Blast Off....err Lift Off Hood cars can make this claim!!!
The car has made it though the years remarkably well but has three battle scars worth mentioning. All are about the size of a quarter. Two on the roof and the other is on the rear tail panel. They were on the car when I bought it and I've had people in the dent removal business look at them and they have all said to leave them alone. The metal is too hard on the rear and will break the paint but the one on the roof could be done after dropping the head liner. The other one is in line with the roof brace. I consider them character marks, but I added pictures to show you exactly what I am talking about.
Backtracking a little we have an all original sheetmetal car that retains 95% of its factory F6 - bright Green Metallic exterior paint.
Moving along to the trunk you'll find its only sheetmetal repair. Prior to my ownership a pinhole rust hole developed in the trunk pan and was brass welded shut. I have placed a pen pointing out the location in one of the trunk pictures. Please note there is also some pitting present. The center area of the trunk pan between the frame rails was sanded down and treated to a fresh coat of F6 - Bright Green Metallic paint. The rest of the trunk and its contents are original...the spare tire and rim, the jack assembly and jacking instruction sticker, to the assembly line black crayon G70x15 scrawling on the inner trunk lid.
On with our virtual tour to the undercarriage....you'll find the factory applied undercoating coving up mint frame rails and floor pans. You can still make out allot of the assembly line inspection paint dabs and markings. The original paper tag to identify the 4:10 sure grip equipped Dana rear axle assembly still proudly hangs on!
Let's jump off the ground and check out the business room and its just that all business, no frills but very functionally sound. This Bee was assembled with the standard Charger style rallye gauge package with clock but without the optional tach??? Also missed out on the order form was a check in the radio box so you'll notice the "radio delete plate" or radio block off plate. One thing that was ordered was the cool woodgrained steering wheel to maneuver this ARMSTRONG steering beast around. Remember this car is all business! Just say no to power robbing power steering. This Bee also sports the lighter bench seat interior. It should be mentioned that the interior is all original (including the carpet) with the exception of a small section of material that was replaced in the drivers side seat bottom. You'd have to be really on the ball to be able to spot it but I thought it was worth mentioning nevertheless. The factory chrome HURST shifter with woodgrained ball is in excellent shape as is the rest of the interior. The woodgrained steering wheel was somewhat worn smooth in spots so I had Doug Lapek (The Steering Wheel Guy) restore it a couple of years back. He does exceptional work and I highly recommend him! http://members.shaw.ca/stwheels/index.htm
Moving outside the car for a quick glance over all the glass, brightwork, mouldings, grille, headlight bezels, tail light panel and lenses are all in very nice condition. Very similar to something you'd expect to see on a well cared for car only a couple year's old.
As mentioned earlier the engine is the original, it has had some mild headwork done to it prior to my ownership and has been resprayed the correct shade of Street Hemi Orange. When I purchased the car it had Hedman headers on it which I replaced with manifolds I found them at the Waterdown Swap Meet for $1.00 (yes one dollar). What ever happened to the deals like that, eh??? I changed one of the wiring harnesses at the bulk head, as the wires were showing signs of burned connections and I didn't want to take any chances on a fire.
The car runs fantastically, shifts great and doesn't squeak or rattle. It runs down the road straight and smoothly almost to the point you forget that you are only a heartbeat away from frying the tires at any given moment. This is no poor running show poodle; it performs as well as it looks! Yes this one runs as good as any stock car has the right to...very low 13's with a best of 13.07 at 106 mph.
On any list for the fastest quarter mile cars of the musclecar era, the 1969-1/2 Six Pack Super Bee is quite often among the Top 5 performers. Ma Mopar long known for its unbeatable dragstrip "Package Cars" such as the Max Wedge, Hemi A990, Hemi 1968 Darts and Barracudas developed the A12 Package for the average Joe to abuse the Chevy's and Ford's of the day at will on both the street and the strip. It was basically a kick ass street machine for anyone who could buy a car! A bare bone Lift Off Hood car could be had for $3700 out the door; I can't imagine any better deal, then or now!!!
The A12 package was meant to be all business, from the outrageous fresh air fiberglass lift off hood, to the bulletproof drivetrain (440 Six Pack engine, 18 spline Hemi 4-speed tranny, girlymatic was a no charge option but why would someone want that? and the super tough 4:10 Dana axle assembly). A dual point distributor was used along with a viscous fan and extra cooling capabilities of a 26 inch wide radiator. Rounding out the package were the dragstrip friendly no drag 11 inch drum brakes at all four corners and the 15x 6 HD black painted steel wheels wearing G70X15 Goodyear Relines with chrome lugnuts.
Whatever Chrysler was trying to do it sure seems to ring true even now almost 40 years later. The car looks mean standing still and performs to such an extent that makes it nearly impossible to get that teenage smirk off your face. Hey they were quite simply the right car at the right time.
Ok enough bs-ing about the cool factor and back to my Bee. One thing you sharp eyed fella's will notice in the trunk pictures is the antenna lead cord. Even though the Bee wasn't factory ordered with a radio, one was dealer installed. There is a factory Technical Service Bulletin from back in the day on how the dealer was to install it on the rear passenger quarter panel to eliminate the interference of the engine. This installation was done somewhat crudely on the rear quarter and I have installed a block off plug. I prefer to listen to the sweet sound of all six Holley barrels sucking in the atmosphere as God intended as oppose to trying to hear an AM radio! But the next owner can decide on what suits his needs best in regard to the radio.
By now you'll have noticed this Super Bee is a Coupe. The Coupe bodystyle has always thought to have been a little stiffer than that of the hardtop and just a tad lighter. Even though they made more Lift Off Hood Super Bees than Six Barrel Road Runners, the Coupe Super Bee is the least common of the breed. Go figure!
So what we have is the no bull, all business Musclecar Poster Car, with just a touch of eye candy provided by the simulated quarter panel side scoops, no function but just an extra snarl to go along with the black lift off fiberglass hood. It just finishes off the package just right!
There you have it folks, I could go on and on but I gotta finish somewhere and I have already covered a lot of ground. Please don't hesitate if you have any questions. Please do not make any assumptions. It really has been a great car for me and feels like part of the family. Keep in mind this has become a really tough decision to hand the torch off to the next Bee Keeper, if the car does not reach fair market value I will simply keep the car as this by no means is a must sell.
The car will be at Moparfest on Saturday August 18th 2007 in New Hamburg, Ontario for viewing.
Production Number Quick Facts
3319 - Total Production of Lift Off Hood cars
1907 - Six Pack Super Bees
1487 - Six Pack Super Bee Hardtops(826 4-speed and 661 auto)
420 - Six Pack Super Bee Coupes (153 girlymatics)
267 - Six Pack Super Bee Coupe 4-Speeds
In Summary
Original Numbers Matching Engine & Tranny
Original Fender Tag
Original Broadcast Sheet
Beautiful Original Paint
Original Sheetmetal
MuscleCar Review Feature Car - February 1992
Danbury Mint Car
Original Paint Dabs and Inspection Marks
Sold new in St. Catherines Ontario
On the May 1st 1969 Canadian A12 Shipment List of 50 cars
Car Number 114 on the Lift Off Hood Registry
Same Bee Keeper for over 20 years
4-Speed Bench Seat Car
Stunning F6 - Bright Green Metallic Coupe
Low Mileage 45,000 Survivor!!!
Fender Tag Decode
06141 - Gate and Base Number for a Lynch Rd Car
274213 - Line Sequence Number for a Lynch Rd Car
9 - Model Year, 1969
A - Assembled at Lynch Rd, Michigan
271350 - Serial Number
925 - 383 4bbl Engine with 4-Speed Tranny
999 - 4:10 Sure Grip Dana Axle with 11" Rear Drum Brakes
603 - 4 Speed Tranny
26 - 26" Radiator
A12 - Engine Conversion Package 440 3-2bbl: HD 11" Drum Brakes, 18 spline 4 Speed Tranny, 4:10 Sure Grip Dana, 383 4bbl Engine replaced by 440 Engine with 3-2bbl Holley Carbs on an Edelbrock Alumium Intake, 3 Speed Wipers, 7 Blade Torque Drive Fan, Max Cooling 26" Radiator, Lift Off Fiberglass Hood, Four Hood Pins, 15x6 JJ Black Wheels with Chrome Lugnuts, G70x15 Red Streak Tires. Special Order Car.
8X - Black Bumble Bee Stripe
F6 - Bright Green Metallic Painted Roof
F6 - Bright Green Metallic Painted Body
H2X - Black Bench Seat Interior
X9 - Black Door Frame Paint
WM21 - Super Bee Coupe
E63 - 383 HP Engine
D21 - 4 Speed Tranny
426 - Scheduled Production Date, Saturday April 26th 1969.
921150 - Vehicle Order Number
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