Superbird Various Production Totals
Please note, that, no matter how many show signs or internet posts you see, or how many "experts" comment on the exact number of Superbirds built, NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY BECAUSE THE RECORDS ARE INCOMPLETE!!! All we can do, is make educated guesses based upon surviving documents, and use statistical analysis to estimate how many of these unusual cars were built. If you want your display information to be accurate, use the word "approximately" when stating X number of cars were built with this engine/transmission/color combination.
Start with the conclusion. Here is what I have arrived at. Further explanation below.
“There are no exact numbers, only reasonably accurate speculation.There were less than 2000 total Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 100 Hemi Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 700 6 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 1200 4 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.That is all we can say with certainty. All else is speculation.”
Ken R. Noffsinger and Greg Kwiatkowski have come into possession of a large number of internal documents and have been good enough to post them to the web. One of those documents is a regional/sub-regional, USA, shipping list for Superbirds. It gives the intended approximate destinations for 1850 Superbirds. This document is dated prior to the completion of all Superbirds so it doesn't offer evidence of a maximum production number. It does, however, offer evidence for a minimum number of 1850.
There has been some speculation that 75 Superbirds were sent to Canada when new. That would bring the total to 1925 which is a number that comes up again later.
1920
This is number of entries in the NASCAR Serial number list. As we all know there are many discrepancies in this list.
1923
A Hot Rod Magazine interview with Gary Romberg brought forth the following information.
"Q: With federal front bumper regulation growing tighter every year, was there anyconsideration given to putting proper bumpers on the noses of the G-Series wing cars?""A: It all depended on NASCAR. If NASCAR hadn't killed the program via rules changes, you can bet we would have come up with whatever crash protection the feds required as long as it kept us on the race track. You have to remember, under the 1970 rules, we only had to offer one production version of the wing car for every two dealerships in the country. That's why there were 1,923 SuperBirds built, there were 3,846 Plymouth dealers nation wide. As for certain states, which could enforce their own vehicle safety codes if they saw fit, if whatever front bumper we came up with...or didn't, wasn't acceptable to those states, we would have accepted that and not sold wing cars in those states."
"Q: With federal front bumper regulation growing tighter every year, was there anyconsideration given to putting proper bumpers on the noses of the G-Series wing cars?""A: It all depended on NASCAR. If NASCAR hadn't killed the program via rules changes, you can bet we would have come up with whatever crash protection the feds required as long as it kept us on the race track. You have to remember, under the 1970 rules, we only had to offer one production version of the wing car for every two dealerships in the country. That's why there were 1,923 SuperBirds built, there were 3,846 Plymouth dealers nation wide. As for certain states, which could enforce their own vehicle safety codes if they saw fit, if whatever front bumper we came up with...or didn't, wasn't acceptable to those states, we would have accepted that and not sold wing cars in those states."
1925
This is the total number of VINs encompassed by the runs of VINs assigned to Superbirds. This number does not include any of the known cars that fall between the runs. This is where the 1850 USA cars plus 75 Canadian cars comes into the picture again.
1935
This is the number most often quoted. It comes from Chrysler Historical. I accept that it is possible that the quantity 1935 may be the actual total of Superbirds produced by Chrysler/Plymouth. The Chrysler Historical data goes on to break out how many Superbirds received the 426 Hemi engine, how many received the 440 6 Barrel engine and how many received the 440 Super Commando engine (aka HP). These numbers can not be relied upon as they are dramatically contradicted by the NASCAR list.
Please scroll to the bottom of this list to see a detailed comparison between the Chrysler Historical numbers and the NASCAR list numbers.
1942
This is my personal best guess. It is intuition only. It is based upon the NASCAR list, the apparent errors in the list, the missing VINs in runs of VINs, the cars that fall between runs of VINs, etc.
1978
This is a number that showed up decades ago. I first saw it in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I don't know who put forth the number but it is, coincidentally, the total of the 1935 Chrysler Historical number and the hypothetical 43 999/Corporate Blue/Petty Blue cars that some, including myself, have speculated were built.
2000
There is no current evidence that 2000 or more Superbirds were built in any configuration or for any purpose. This is the safe, fall back number that I use when people ask about total production. But I don't say 2000 were built. I say: "WE CAN SAY, WITH ALMOST ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, THAT LESS THAN 2000 SUPERBIRDS WERE BUILT BY CHRYSLER/PLYMOUTH." This is a default "Less Than" number not a number with documentation to confirm it.
2500
This is the number of VONs assigned to the Superbird project as defined by "NASCAR MASTER #1" document. J97000 through J99499, or 2500 units, are defined in the "Special Order No." box. We all know that Plymouth did not use all the assigned VONs.
2543
This 2543 number is the total of known VONs assigned to the Superbird program and the hypothetical 43 additional VONs created for the 999/Corporate Blue/Petty Blue cars. When the decision was made to add this previously not listed paint color to the list of available colors, for some reason, these cars were given a unique set of VON/SON J numbers starting with J99500. We have compelling evidence that at least 40 of these unique color cars were produced as J99539 has been documented.
Chrysler Historical numbers vs. the NASCAR List numbers
SUPERBIRD PRODUCTION NUMBERSChrysler Historical Numbers1935 Total135 Hemi716 6 Barrel1084 4 BarrelNASCAR List Numbers1920 Total (There are known cars not on this list)93 Hemi665 6 Barrel1162 4 Barrel
OK, let’s start with the Hemi numbers.The NASCAR list shows 93 Hemi cars. If 135 Hemi cars were actually produced then two significant issues arise:1) 42 Hemi Superbirds didn’t show up on the NASCAR list which pushes the Total production numbers from 1935 (Chrysler Historical) to 1920 plus 42 or 1962 (NASCAR Total plus missing Hemi cars) total cars. One or all of these numbers must be incorrect.2) 42 Superbirds would represent a full 31 percent of all Hemi Superbird production. For this percentage of cars to not show up on the NASCAR list AND not show up on any other club registry or data base is “statistically impossible”. It simply could not have happened.Over the years 2 or 3 Hemi Superbirds have shown up that are not on the NASCAR list. This is in keeping with the acceptable margin of error of 2 to 3 percent that the entire list is subject to.
Now, the 6 Barrel numbers:The NASCAR list shows 665 6 Barrel cars. If 716 6 Barrel cars were actually produced then the same issues arise:That would mean 51 6 Barrel cars did not make the list bringing the total production to 1920 plus 51 or 1971 total cars. The percentage error isn’t as high as with the Hemi cars but the production totals are way off.Now, the 4 Barrel cars:If Chrysler Historical shows only 1084 4 Barrel cars being built then the NASCAR list shows an addition 76 cars not recorded by Chrysler bringing the total production to 1935 plus 76 or 2011 total Superbirds produced.At this point, one must acknowledge that SOME of these numbers MUST be incorrect (if not all of them). Yes, there are a number of clerical errors in the NASCAR list. But even those, in the most extreme interpretation, can not account for all of the anomalies.Also, it should be emphasized that we will NEVER know down to the last car 100% accurate numbers because the records themselves are incomplete and contain known errors.
So, what does one say when asked about production numbers?“There are no exact numbers, only reasonably accurate speculation.There were less than 2000 total Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 100 Hemi Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 700 6 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 1200 4 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.That is all we can say with certainty. All else is speculation.”
OK, let’s start with the Hemi numbers.The NASCAR list shows 93 Hemi cars. If 135 Hemi cars were actually produced then two significant issues arise:1) 42 Hemi Superbirds didn’t show up on the NASCAR list which pushes the Total production numbers from 1935 (Chrysler Historical) to 1920 plus 42 or 1962 (NASCAR Total plus missing Hemi cars) total cars. One or all of these numbers must be incorrect.2) 42 Superbirds would represent a full 31 percent of all Hemi Superbird production. For this percentage of cars to not show up on the NASCAR list AND not show up on any other club registry or data base is “statistically impossible”. It simply could not have happened.Over the years 2 or 3 Hemi Superbirds have shown up that are not on the NASCAR list. This is in keeping with the acceptable margin of error of 2 to 3 percent that the entire list is subject to.
Now, the 6 Barrel numbers:The NASCAR list shows 665 6 Barrel cars. If 716 6 Barrel cars were actually produced then the same issues arise:That would mean 51 6 Barrel cars did not make the list bringing the total production to 1920 plus 51 or 1971 total cars. The percentage error isn’t as high as with the Hemi cars but the production totals are way off.Now, the 4 Barrel cars:If Chrysler Historical shows only 1084 4 Barrel cars being built then the NASCAR list shows an addition 76 cars not recorded by Chrysler bringing the total production to 1935 plus 76 or 2011 total Superbirds produced.At this point, one must acknowledge that SOME of these numbers MUST be incorrect (if not all of them). Yes, there are a number of clerical errors in the NASCAR list. But even those, in the most extreme interpretation, can not account for all of the anomalies.Also, it should be emphasized that we will NEVER know down to the last car 100% accurate numbers because the records themselves are incomplete and contain known errors.
So, what does one say when asked about production numbers?“There are no exact numbers, only reasonably accurate speculation.There were less than 2000 total Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 100 Hemi Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 700 6 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.There were less than 1200 4 Barrel Superbirds made for sale to the public.That is all we can say with certainty. All else is speculation.”