THE 47 YEAR Love Affair
Most car owners use and abuse their cars, then pack them off to the scrapyard when they’re no longer fit for purpose. Then there’s a breed of enthusiasts who treat their cars with affection and respect, but distinct from them stands an extreme minority of owners for whom a car comes to be cherished almost as a member of the family. The fact that Roger Thornton has owned, run and carefully maintained his 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee for no less than 47 years leaves no doubt as to which category he fits into.
The Super Bee name probably doesn’t need any introduction, but most people will recognise it as a version of the Coronet. Introduced in 1968, the Super Bee represented affordable performance. The instant muscle-car formula was simple: take a basic Coronet coupe, bolt a 383ci Magnum V8 into the engine bay, forget about any unnecessary luxuries
