...long time winged car owners

[69 DAYTONA]

...the attraction to winged cars puzzles me...I bought my 1st one 31 years ago and have rarely been without one since...what is it about winged cars that makes them so difficult to part with...they aren't really pretty, they aren't any faster, what is it that makes them so desireable...why are there so many owners that have had their cars for decades

...whats your reason ?

pix...1983

[Aero426]

Larry, I would say for me that the race mystique has always played a big part of my attraction to the cars.   Also, there are few other cars that generate the shock value of a wing car.    I'd put a Ford retractable in the same catagory.  It will always draw a crowd, not that I have to have that, but it's nice to be noticed.    Aside from a wing car and the other Ford aero cars, there really are not a lot of other cars I desire to own.     Sure, there are other conventional cars I'd enjoy,  but not replace the wing car.    The aero cars were a one time shot really never to be repeated.

As far as looks go, the right Daytona or Superbird with the right stance is a thing of beauty to me.  

[RECHRGD]

I'm not a wing car owner and until recently was not a big fan.  The rarity of these cars is the driving force to the value and popularity of them.  Back when they were on the car lots, they (in general) were considered butt ugly and very hard to sell.  Yes, the racing heritage is the force behind the current and future allure to them.   I had the opportunity this year to join a wing car get together at Indy and fell into the historic attraction to them.  They are a great part of American automotive history and are now being recognized for that.  Although I still think my '68 Charger is a better looking car, I sure wouldn't kick a wing car out of my garage, maybe even trade it for one (plus some coin).   Bob

[nascarxx29]

I got hooked my neighbor had a superbird when I was around 12

[held1823]

i guess i'd be considered a wing car heir. i prefer the overall styling of a coronet to that of a regular charger, in large part due to the cool hood and convertible options available on coronet models. its pretty hard to beat an A12 super bee in the "looking fast while sitting still" category, but the wing cars do exactly that. The head-on view of larry's old F6 car above, is automobile nirvana to me. how can you not call that face beautiful? (not larry's, although his porn 'stach is kinda cool.) i grew up around that very car, as it belonged to my childhood barber when brand new. this small town had both the F6 car above and my parents B5 daytona. i was just shy of five years old, and still recall the day they bought the daytona, which has been a member of our family since september of 1969. There was at least one Superbird bought new here, and several "used car" daytonas and superbirds, so seeing a wing car on the streets around town was not at all uncommon.  

i was born and raised in the mopar camp and have had some nice ones in the past, those being a 1968 coronet r/t convertible, 1969 gtx, and 1970 super bee. this town once made car craft magazine's list of top 10 cruising spots in the nation, and some serious muscle roamed the local streets. i certainly had the iron to fit in with the attention getters, yet find it amazing that i would often ask mom for her keys to the daytona, come friday night. THAT, speaks volumes for the allure of a wing car. marriage, two kids, divorce, and career changes have all came and gone, but one constant is my absolute love affair with wing cars.

my own wing car attraction has nothing to do with the rarity or value of the car. i couldnt begin to count the times over the last forty years that someone has tried to buy the car. it amuses me when people comment about a car being left to sit, rather than being sold to someone with an appreciation for what it is. bringing up the monetary value is the quickest way to cast doubt on a true "appreciation" of these cars. most long term owners have held on to the cars with little regard to their value. i could be debt free simply by selling the car, but how could i ever replace something that has been in my life, for nearly all of my life? more than one member of this forum has often mentioned their desire to "find a wing car like the one that dad used to own". what could top being able to walk out to the barn, to accomplish exactly that?

[69 DAYTONA]

...I find myself entranced in the historical facts of these cars unlike any other...can't learn enough about them...I'm always amazed at how many people I know with a winged car that have owned it forever and ever...others may come and go, but the winged cars seem to hang around

...for me, this forum has been sort of like a time machine, old pix, old friends, familiar faces and pix of cars I remember from 20-30 years ago..some things never change

...personally, I do like the looks, Daytona over Superbird

[TiMopar]

I have wanted a Daytona since I was about 12, when I saw the Big Willie American Racing wheels advert, and I didn't even know what it was. For me it has nothing to do with value or rarity, it's just the Shark-like shape. Being in England, they weren't around to buy and have always been worth more money than I had. I have had the opportunity to buy a couple of Birds, and as much as I like them, it just wasn't a Daytona. Not ever likely to own one now, but feel fortunate to have what I have and to have owned Mopars when they were not 'valuable' and too precious to use as intended.

[41husk]

I have been in love with the wing cars since they came out.  I own a nice replica, but still hope some day to be a real XX owner.  I will say being around the few winged car events that I have, the owners are not nose in the air better than non owner people.  I think that is the perception of many people.  Infact, you are some of the most helpful in the hobby and I thank you!  I have learned so much in just the last couple of years.

[FJ5WING]

 the value has nothing to do with why I own a wing car. When I was single digits young a neighbor across the street had a White or light Yellow Daytona because I remember the Black wing and no vinyl top. Then we moved out of the city and I was attending vocational school and would ride past two wing cars parked behind a gas station on the bus ride between tech school and conventional school. I would always dream of driving one of those cars.

Once I began driving and had the money for a car the wing cars were forgotten as my brother had turned me Ford. several years later when I weary of always seeing "other" Mustangs I talked with a Mopar buddy who mentioned that I should get a Superbird if I didnt want to see my cars twin on every corner.(IF only he said Hemi Daytona )
so there you have it, I was now wing car shopping and within a few short months I was rowing a pistol grip and opening up barrels by the six-pac.
I guess the rarity makes it why I desired one but not because I wanted an investment, I was 20 years old and had no idea what an investment was.   kinda happy that Im in for under 10K but this restoration is putting a dent in that bonus.

[Dave Kanofsky]

Does 14 years qualify me as a long time wing car owner?  
If it does, then it was the engineering that pulled me into Wing Cars.  

I agree with Doug, "As far as looks go, the right Daytona or Superbird with the right stance is a thing of beauty to me."  That's why mine always have bigger tires and a little extra lift in the springs.

[hemi68charger]

...they aren't really pretty, they aren't any faster,,,

I agree, they aren't any prettier....... That would be like calling Buddy Baker or Dale Earnhardt cute.......  They are just mean-looking. A Charger by itself, sitting there, whether it be with a 318 or Hemi, looks like it's hauling butt...

Now, but a nose and wing on it!!!  OH Lordy, that's one mean-lookin'-muther...  Plus, my Dad had one new and I remember it....

That's me.

[dreamcatcher]

I guess I am not really a long time owner (just about 4 years).But Christine will never leave while I still draw a breath.Mine of coarse is just a tribute car.But I wanted something I could  drive and enjoy with out too much worry.It is really my first mopar.I like cars that stand alone...like fords boss cars.Dare to be different.So when I wanted to try a mopar..I figured...go for the gusto.And really...I like the lines of the car.I guess it is a love it or hate it body style and I love it.Although I still think the most beautiful car ever built is a 68 charger R/T...but I don't have one   .....yet!

[moparstuart]

As a youth my brother wanted a super bird really bad , In 76 he got his license and had three 70 road runner in his first year of driving .  He looked at a lime green bird to buy but couldnt not arrange for the financing .  He still loved and admiried them his whole life  .  In 84 when i turned 16 the mopar fever had rubbed off on me .  I bought a 70 charger R/T and joined a brand new Mopar club in the kansas city area .  Just so happened the club president had Three super birds and his son also had one .  I would go over to the club presidents house many times after school to just talk and drool over his superbirds .  This gentlemen became my addopted mopar father and was a great mentor to me .  I fell in love with everything about super birds ,  chased the price increases and just never had any cash to buy a real one  .  Saw a picture of a couple created convertible superbirds and knew i would build my own  .
  Have always loved the Super bird more then the daytona  , we were always a plymouth family and have always loved the superbirds more .   In 1995 i bought the real superbird parts to build my car before i even had the car  . It was a long hard haul to get the car done but now its my pride and joy and we take the car everywhere we can afford  . 


     

[nascarxx29]

  Another reason for early wingcar addiction reading mateial and kenner SSP superbird exposure

[pettybird]

For me?  It was just a good 'ol fashioned case of the brainwashin':

[moparstuart]

For me?  It was just a good 'ol fashioned case of the brainwashin':

you poor thing , and your still not right   

[pettybird]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

[learical1]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

[moparstuart]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

they could have lost him at the grand canyon  like me 

[learical1]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

they could have lost him at the grand canyon  like me 

Grand Canyon, Washington DC, either way it's a bunch of empty space trying to look impressive.

[hemi68charger]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

they could have lost him at the grand canyon  like me 

Oh come on Joe Dirte, it all worked out in the end........... You got the girl and hemi..............

[moparstuart]

right!  if only they had just stuck to brainwashing me about cars!

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

they could have lost him at the grand canyon  like me 

Oh come on Joe Dirte, it all worked out in the end........... You got the girl and hemi..............

[WINGR]

 That was some rare Roadrunner he had there, probably one of a kind.

WINGR

[moparstuart]

That was some rare Roadrunner he had there, probably one of a kind.

WINGR

one of one 67 hemi road runner   

[maxwellwedge]

Larry, I would say for me that the race mystique has always played a big part of my attraction to the cars.   Also, there are few other cars that generate the shock value of a wing car.    I'd put a Ford retractable in the same catagory.  It will always draw a crowd, not that I have to have that, but it's nice to be noticed.    Aside from a wing car and the other Ford aero cars, there really are not a lot of other cars I desire to own.     Sure, there are other conventional cars I'd enjoy,  but not replace the wing car.    The aero cars were a one time shot really never to be repeated.

As far as looks go, the right Daytona or Superbird with the right stance is a thing of beauty to me.  

What Doug said!   

[69_500]

For me its just simple. Personally I will have to say that I have not ever seen another car that can hold a candle to the absolute beauty of a 1969 Daytona. They are like art to me. I can just sit and stare at a Daytona for hours upon hours and just every once in a while I"ll notice something new or unique about a particular car.

I like Doug have been brainwashed though since a young age with growing up around these cars. Only unlike Doug I"m still wingless and just have the 500. One of these days though one of these days I'll get my Daytona. And you can bet your bottom dollar that once I get one, there will never be another day that there isn't one in my garage. Once it gets into this Liebrandts family it isn't leaving.

[70Sbird]

I still remember the first Wing car I ever saw. I was about 13 at the time out on my bike during the summer in the mid 70's when a red Daytona with a black tail stripe crossed an intersection near me. I can still see this like it was yesterday in my little hometown. I never saw it again but always remembered how cool I thought it looked, I always wanted one, the rest is history.
I made it into the mid 80's before I could even think about buying one. At the time I had about $3,000, but the wing cars were about $6,000, I would try a "Troy Trade" (Scott Trade back then) and come up with $6,000 and they were $9,000. I always seemed to be at least a couple grand behind the curve. We moved to Charlotte NC in summer of 2001 and the first piece of mail we received in our mailbox was the DSCA newsletter with an ad for a disassembled project Superbird for sale in Georgia. we drove down the following weekend and I brought the car home September 10, 2001. a date I will always remember. I have always liked the Superbirds better than the Daytonas, no real reason, other than I like the look of the Roadrunner, and the blacked out 'eyes"

[RallyeMike]

I just wish I was qualified to respond 

[A383Wing]

I just wish I was qualified to respond 

I just wish I was qualified....

I have always like the looks...could not afford a real one...so we built one...had the parts before the car was found

Bryan

[Mopurr]

14 yrs for us now and took almost 2 yrs to find it.

When I was 6 my brother got a new 69 Charger......I fell in love.......I didn't know wing cars existed until I saw a row of Superbirds at the 82 street machine nationals......I was almost hanging out the window of Brent's Camaro as we were leaving the grounds to keep seeing them

So from then on always kind of wanted one......then Followed Robert & Linda Barnick a couple times to shows and really got the fever.

I don't care what the value is or how rare......it is just the car.....there is something about it......my first love will always be 69 Chargers and they made the Daytona with them.

[F6Bee]

You just will not find the look of a wingcar anywhere else.  The wow factor is pretty clear.  Been looking for probably close to 15-20 yrs, but the dice never rolled right.  Like others have stated, the cars always stayed 5k plus ahead of my finances.

Been lucky to own some nice cars including a few lift off hoods and other 6 packs, but maybe one day that wing car will end up in my driveway.  Looking for a 4 speed Daytona it seems like forever, and I really should of pulled the trigger on one about 10 years ago for about 60k if I remember right.

I remember in the 80's local Buffalo guy had Superbirds in just about every color, think he had 7 at one time.  You aero history guys had to know him.  Think he is down to maybe a couple, drives his Petty blue one to the local shows.

[nascarxx29]

I remember Steve Bataglia my friend bought a petty blue superbird off him.I got its picture and vin wrote down .Car ended up going to Barry Kanick in PA

[pettybird]

Just think.  If your uncle hadn't stuck his arm out of that elevator back in 1980, some other family may have found and adopted you and you could have turned out normal.

Ha!

[Charger_Dart]

I owned my Bird for many great years and I think it was a combination of the uniqueness and the NASCAR heritage that attracted me to the cars. I have never owned a car that I was so passionate about. I dream about owning another one someday.... I did some crazy things with it - how many of you have put your winged car inside a supermarket and trusted the stock boys to not wreck it. You should of seen the faces on the customers shopping when I drove it in and out of the store - LOL

[SBBob]

WOW!  Does this bring back the old memories.  My dad was more than a MOPAR fan he was a Plymouth guy thru and thru.  I knew who Petty was in the 60's.  Although my dad never even owned a V8 Plymouth (he was a MPG - slant six guy) I new all about Plymouth's.  I was hooked big time in 1968 when the BEEP-BEEP horn was invented.  I graduated in 1969 and had to have a Roadrunner.  Our local dealership did not have any 70's left, but the dealer in the next town had 3.  While there I was exposed to a Superbird sitting in the show room for the first time.  I have NEVER forgotten the attraction (LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT) that I felt.  Could not afford it new so ended up with a standard 70 Roadrunner.  No big deal as they were going to make a 71 version I would just get one in the future after collage.  Well we know that never happened and I spent the next 10 years looking at every Wingcar that came up in the Auto Trader.  Found mine in 1982 so I am sure that makes me a long time owner, but cannot count the many many great adventures I have had with the car.  What I like the most is the interaction every time I stop for gas or on display at a local car show.  Living here on the West Coast we get to see many old cars.  I drive for a living and see at least 2 - 60's cars, 10 - 70's cars and lots of 80's cars everyday.  See a lot of Mustangs and Camaros, but never see a Wingcar unless I am going to a car show with a buddy.  Love them of hate them, but they are the neatest, meanest and most awesome ride ever made.

[FJ5WING]

WOW!  Does this bring back the old memories.  My dad was more than a MOPAR fan he was a Plymouth guy thru and thru.  I knew who Petty was in the 60's.  Although my dad never even owned a V8 Plymouth (he was a MPG - slant six guy) I new all about Plymouth's.  I was hooked big time in 1968 when the BEEP-BEEP horn was invented.  I graduated in 1969 and had to have a Roadrunner.  Our local dealership did not have any 70's left, but the dealer in the next town had 3.  While there I was exposed to a Superbird sitting in the show room for the first time.  I have NEVER forgotten the attraction (LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT) that I felt.  Could not afford it new so ended up with a standard 70 Roadrunner.  No big deal as they were going to make a 71 version I would just get one in the future after collage.  Well we know that never happened and I spent the next 10 years looking at every Wingcar that came up in the Auto Trader.  Found mine in 1982 so I am sure that makes me a long time owner, but cannot count the many many great adventures I have had with the car.  What I like the most is the interaction every time I stop for gas or on display at a local car show.  Living here on the West Coast we get to see many old cars.  I drive for a living and see at least 2 - 60's cars, 10 - 70's cars and lots of 80's cars everyday.  See a lot of Mustangs and Camaros, but never see a Wingcar unless I am going to a car show with a buddy.  Love them of hate them, but they are the neatest, meanest and most awesome ride ever made.

what a great post!!!!!

[held1823]

part of what makes a hemi bird like bob's so cool is, there is no outward indication of just how cool it really is.

sort of like a stealth mission, on the least stealth-looking car around.

[6PakBee]

I don't know why.  It's something like the salmon going upriver to spawn, you know you have to but you don't know why.

[SBBob]

A wolf in sheep's clothing - NA! a wolf in wolf's clothing!

[moparstuart]

WOW!  Does this bring back the old memories.  My dad was more than a MOPAR fan he was a Plymouth guy thru and thru.  I knew who Petty was in the 60's.  Although my dad never even owned a V8 Plymouth (he was a MPG - slant six guy) I new all about Plymouth's.  I was hooked big time in 1968 when the BEEP-BEEP horn was invented.  I graduated in 1969 and had to have a Roadrunner.  Our local dealership did not have any 70's left, but the dealer in the next town had 3.  While there I was exposed to a Superbird sitting in the show room for the first time.  I have NEVER forgotten the attraction (LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT) that I felt.  Could not afford it new so ended up with a standard 70 Roadrunner.  No big deal as they were going to make a 71 version I would just get one in the future after collage.  Well we know that never happened and I spent the next 10 years looking at every Wingcar that came up in the Auto Trader.  Found mine in 1982 so I am sure that makes me a long time owner, but cannot count the many many great adventures I have had with the car.  What I like the most is the interaction every time I stop for gas or on display at a local car show.  Living here on the West Coast we get to see many old cars.  I drive for a living and see at least 2 - 60's cars, 10 - 70's cars and lots of 80's cars everyday.  See a lot of Mustangs and Camaros, but never see a Wingcar unless I am going to a car show with a buddy.  Love them of hate them, but they are the neatest, meanest and most awesome ride ever made.

[moparstuart]

part of what makes a hemi bird like bob's so cool is, there is no outward indication of just how cool it really is.

sort of like a stealth mission, on the least stealth-looking car around.

well i would never call a superbird stealthed , but maybe stealthed hemi bagded