MPC 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee

[1972coronet]

yup 1-of 2

That tells you how long it's been since I first read about these virtual anomalies ; I read about that bronze car back in 1990 in Mopar Action ! At that time , the school-of-thought was that 3 were built : 1 USA-spec , 1 Canadian-spec , and 1 Export-spec . Apparently , one of those ended up being a rumour or an assumption .

[High octane]

No red in this grille.................................

[gtx6970]

I knew I had seen that red grill accent before....even though I was told it never existed....strange, unless it may be a Hemi only deal.....the Ace....

Trust me, its wrong. I stand my my earlier comment. No 1970 Coronet grills  had red in them from the factory

Edited April 25, 2017 by gtx6970

[AC Norton]

Trust me, its wrong. I stand my my earlier comment. No 1970 Coronet grills  had red in them from the factory

ok, but did you know that some 1970 dealer brochure pics showed some that way......strange, I owned a 69 340 Swinger and 68 Road runner,  so I'm no expert on 70 Coronets on trim and accent .....however it's a mystery as to why the dealer cat's show some like the car in the picture here.....very strange.......the Ace...

[Mr mopar]

I'm going to get to the bottom of this .so I ask the guy's a GYC  to find out !

[GMP440]

Go on Moparts.com.  They will tell you if there was red surrounds on the grill.

[1972coronet]

The grille surround is red on the convertible R/T . Notice that that car also has the chromed lower-centrepiece ( the filler between the bumpers and the hood's leading edge ) .

The grille surround on the other car is all blackout  ( Super Bee ) . Notice that its lower-centrepiece is body coloured .

Coincidence ?

Running production change ?

Service Replacement Part ?

Supplier ?

Plant-to-plant variation ?

I , too , have seen the red in the grilles  . From what I am able to recall , those were on an R/T  . Unfortunately , I have no photographic evidence / proof .

[gtx6970]

ok, but did you know that some 1970 dealer brochure pics showed some that way......strange, I owned a 69 340 Swinger and 68 Road runner,  so I'm no expert on 70 Coronets on trim and accent .....however it's a mystery as to why the dealer cat's show some like the car in the picture here.....very strange.......the Ace...

dealer brochure . They typically used pilot or pre-production cars for pictures. 

A good example look at the 1970 challenger brochure.  It shows one with a body colored shaker hood  bubble......also Not avail on the production car.

Edited April 25, 2017 by gtx6970

[RT6PK]

Bill, I am going to have to beg to differ with you. I am no expert, however the '70 Coronet R/T / Superbee has been my #1 favorite car since I saw my first one at the age of ten or so. I own a 1 of 97 '70 Coronet R/T Six Pack - Four Speed - Dana car. I have examined countless examples of these cars for years and talked to more enthusiasts of these cars that I can count. I have seen several cars with the red grill trim, (although they are rare). I remember a particular rusted out piece of junk '70 Coronet 500 in my neighborhood as early as 1980 or so. This car was a tired old daily driver/beater. Not a restoration. It definitely had the red trim. I remember how sweet I thought it looked against the B5 blue paint. The consensus among '70 Coronet guys is that some cars had it, and some cars didn't; and it has nothing to do with the car having a Hemi, or being a Coronet 500, R/T, or Super Bee. It was probably an earlier production thing that got changed once production got under way; but they definitely made them and put them on cars, (albeit not many). The same goes for the center section of the bumper. All were chrome, but some had a stamped cover over the chrome that was painted body color. Again, it was a random thing that was not model specific. Regarding the Hemi convertible in this thread... usually when guys restore a car of that caliber, they make sure that ALL of the details are correct.

Edited April 26, 2017 by RT6PK

[AC Norton]

Bill, I am going to have to beg to differ with you. I am no expert, however the '70 Coronet R/T / Superbee has been my #1 favorite car since I saw my first one at the age of ten or so. I own a 1 of 97 '70 Coronet R/T Six Pack - Four Speed - Dana car. I have examined countless examples of these cars for years and talked to more enthusiasts of these cars that I can count. I have seen several cars with the red grill trim, (although they are rare). I remember a particular rusted out piece of junk '70 Coronet 500 in my neighborhood as early as 1980 or so. This car was a tired old daily driver/beater. Not a restoration. It definitely had the red trim. I remember how sweet I thought it looked against the B5 blue paint. The consensus among '70 Coronet guys is that some cars had it, and some cars didn't; and it has nothing to do with the car having a Hemi, or being a Coronet 500, R/T, or Super Bee. It was probably an earlier production thing that got changed once production got under way; but they definitely made them and put them on cars, (albeit not many). The same goes for the center section of the bumper. All were chrome, but some had a stamped cover over the chrome that was painted body color. Again, it was a random thing that was not model specific. Regarding the Hemi convertible in this thread... usually when guys have an restore a car of that caliber, they make sure that ALL of the details are correct.

.......with some of the cars I remember seeing back in the day, and the detail of restorations on a caliber of this CV as you mention, I totally agree.....I asked a local friend about this last evening, He mentioned that his cousins car, a 70 Coronet 500 with a 383 automatic had the grill striping, and that car was bought new by him.....anyhow, that's all I can add from my original thoughts....the Ace.....

[1972coronet]

440 Six Pack convertible : https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/mus/2013/07/1970-Dodge-Coronet/3727101.html

 

[Rotorbolt73]

I remember taking a 70 Coronet funny car body (it was molded in dark blue) and combining it with the chassis, interior etc from an MPC Charger back in 1970-71 or so. 

 

I've done that. I would buy the 70 coronet bodies people would sell from the pro street issue and use the interior and chassis from the old "general lee" 69 charger kit. Fits pretty good. Kinda' like restoring it back to MPC specs. As it is in its current AMT "stock" issue, It takes some work to get the late 80's 68/69 roadrunner chassis parts to fit. Trimming the glass is a must for sure. I call it the "kitbash in a box" kit.

[Southern Fried]

Sorry if this is the wrong Forum to ask this. Couldn't find one that was relevant.

Is the AMT kit, and the "Nostalgia Art" MPC kit the same?

Reason, I had the AMT kit in both stock and Pro Street. Builds kinda' "fizzled". Lost /Pirated many of the parts over the years. Don't build many MOPARS, but I remember seeing a few real ones here in "Bama. I would like to build it stock, but the stock AMT kit seems elusive, while the MPC kit is common.

Thanks!

[Casey]

Yes, same kits, different packaging. The stock MPC version has been reissued twice within the last eight years or so, and both will have much better decals and tires than the '90s AMT release.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by Casey

[1972coronet]

That 1970 Super Bee is a "factory-kitbash" consisting of the original , c.1969 MPC annual tooling ( everything except the engine compartment and chassis / suspension , tyres / wheels , and 440 engine / 4 speed transmission ) and c.1989 AMT Road Runner / GTX chassis , 440 / 4-speed , etc. , etc. , as mentioned above . 

I don't believe that the original AMT corporation ever made any 1968-1970 Dodge or Plymouth B-bodies ; those were MPC and Jo-Han kits .

[Peavus]

 Mpc got the promo contract for Dodge from 68-70.                               Johan 69- 70 got promo contract from Plymouth. Johan made 68 fury promo but no B bodies that year