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There have been a few changes over the years to this rare Superbird, and Bob Jennings explains what makes this classic car so special.

In the latest episode of Jennings Wing Cars, Bob Jennings provides the ultimate history lesson on one of the most eye-catching classics ever produced: the 1970 Plymouth Superbird. In his possession is a beautiful Black Ice Superbird, but as he initially asks, “Is this the only black Superbird in the world?” Bob knows it’s a true Superbird because he has the complete build sheet on it, but admits they don’t actually know where the car came from.

Bob starts off by explaining that in 1983, someone abandoned this ’70 Plymouth Superbird on the streets of Los Angeles – Cerritos, California to be exact. It had Texas license plates on it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it came from down South, especially since the Texas Bureau of Motor Vehicles doesn’t make that information available anymore. Bob Jennings was, however, able to trace this Plymouth Superbird down to every owner since. He then reverts to his original question and answers it: “This car was originally a yellow car.” After all, there were no black Superbirds made to begin with.

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The car was initially bought at a police impound auction for about $300 in 1983, and then traveled through several hands until it reached a guy named Tom Ferry. Bob Jennings spoke with Tom, who was in a heavy metal band called Black Ice. It was Tom who painted this Superbird in this lustrous black color, and he also built a fresh air hood for it by hand with the air grabber. Tom later ended up selling the 1970 Superbird to a friend of Bob’s named Larry Roper, who then put it up for sale, and it ended up in the hands of Bob Jennings.

This 1970 Plymouth Superbird was originally a Sunfire Yellow 440 four-barrel, four-speed car, and now it’s a black-on-black with a 440 six-barrel with the four-speed, and bucket seats with around 80,000 miles on the dash. Those weren’t necessarily all “friendly miles” as Bob explains since people like to really push on this car. The car also has the Track Pack Axle Package, which included the Dana rear end with the 354 gear. It did have the chrome exhaust tips, but Bob installed an all-new exhaust on it. After correcting the paint, Bob talks about the other work that he did, including a complete tune-up, rebuilt carbs, and addressing the dozens of electrical issues on it.

The Superbird is a very special, limited-run Plymouth model that made its mark in NASCAR history. The Plymouth Superbird was only legal in NASCAR for one season, and fans may remember it in the form of the #43 Richard Petty car. Based on the Plymouth Road Runner, the Superbird actually got its inspiration from the Dodge Charger Daytona, another short-lived classic muscle car that got put to sleep at the hands of NASCAR’s ever-changing rules.

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That said, few people can actually claim that they’ve seen this winged beauty in traffic or even at their local cars and coffee. That’s due not only to the fact that the Plymouth Superbird was a limited-production model, but because they have become such rare collectibles that any and all models existing today are probably stowed away in garages or prominent collections.

Bob Jennings ends the video by saying that he loves driving it and “is going to drive it everywhere.” In fact, he plans on taking the Black Ice Superbird to the Muscle Car And Corvette Nationals in November in Chicago.

Michelle Marus is an automotive enthusiast who combined her passion for cars and writing into a career. She is a member of the American Muscle Car community and frequents local shows and events with her Camaro. Michelle loves all things cars and hopes to learn even more through her first-hand experiences, as well as her research and writing.