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1970 Plymouth Superbird Apparel and Accessories by Legend Lines

“Plymouth The Superbird version of the Road Runner was an effort to dominate NASCAR racing with Chrysler products in 1970. The Plymouth Superbird only saw one season of racing before it was felt the sloped nose and giant rear wing gave the car an unfair advantage. The season-opener was the Daytona 500 which was won by Pete Hamilton driving a Petty Enterprises Plymouth Road Runner Superbird. While build on the same platform as the Dodge Charger, the Superbird had a nose that was 1-inch longer than the Changer's and had a raised entry angle. The rear wing on the production based cars did little other than turn heads, but for the NASCAR entries, the angle of the wing and the height were carefully tested for each track to provide optimal performance at speeds. In 1968, Richard Petty left the Plymouth NASCAR Racing Team for Ford's. Charlie Grey, director of the Ford stock car program, felt that hiring Petty would send the message that "money rules none". However, the Superbird was designed specifically to lure Petty back to Plymouth for the 1970 season. Petty did reasonably well against strong Ford opposition on the NASCAR tracks that year, winning eight races and placing well in many more. NASCAR's rules implemented for the 1971 season limited the “aero-cars” to an engine displacement of no greater than 305 cu in (5.00 l) or they had to carry much more weight compared to their competitors. While they were still legal to race, the power-to-weight consequences that would come with the smaller engine or the increased weight rendered the cars uncompetitive. This was the start of a trend of rules slowing down NASCAR, because the races were exceeding the technology of tires and safety over 200 mph (320 km/h). Ford, in response, also designed the 1970 Torino King Cobra with an aerodynamic, superbird-style nose, but it was abandoned. Petty's Superbird appears as a key character in the 2006 Pixar film Cars, with Petty as the voice of seven-time champion Strip “The King”. The racing sponsor's branding in the film exactly matches the Superbird's paint as “Dinoco blue".

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