THIS IS A TALE OF REDEMPTION. From acting out and no-good hooliganism, to a calmer, happier, less-fraught life.
Now, most of us know the basics behind Plymouth’s Superbird. NASCAR stock-car racing was a sport born of outrunning the law, but on the track, aerodynamic attention worked hand-in-hand with cranking as much power as you could slip past race officials. (That’s cheatin’. Not nice.) Superbirds won 21 of 48 Grand National races for 1970, with King Richard Petty winning 18. Less well-known is the Superbird’s place in big-league drag racing. Several Sox & Martin Superbirds were campaigned by the Pro Stock pioneers: one ran C/Modified Production, and others in Super Stock/E. “Mr. 5&50” Jack Werst piloted a SS/EA Superbird at the drags, and of course Karl Gould Chrysler-Plymouth’s SS/EA Superbird, driven by Tim Edwards, beat Ray Allen’s dominant LS6 Chevelle convertible at the inaugural Summernationals event for class honors.
But those were pros; the “run what ya brung” street racing scene was a whole ’nother matter. Exhibit A: this 1970 Plymouth Superbird,raced at Big Willie Robinson’s legendary, on-and-off Brotherhood Raceway Park on Terminal Island near the Port of Long Beach. Terminal Island legend Big Willie attempted to quell racial strife between multiple hostile actors by emphasizing a mutual love of cars and speed; with backing from Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and car-nut publisher Otis Chandler, it was about as sanctioned as it could be without the letters N, H, R, and A attached.
