I've seen a blue one, but I didn't think it was an original.

I can tell you for a fact that they were available in Orange and White.
I've been
in a white one still on the dealer showroom, and I've been in an Orange one
that was about a year old.

Chris Bailey, but I've never seen him post to usenet.

Nope.

Surely you won't need an expert to prove that wrong.  That's just silly.

Well, "Petty Blue" wasn't officially a mopar color anyway, so NONE of
them left the factory that color :-)

But seriously, they were available in the same colors as all the other
Mopar B-bodies of the day. I don't know if they actually built examples
in ALL the colors (bronze? Doubtful.) but they certainly built them in
B5 blue (correctly called "Medium Blue Fire Metallic," but often called
"Petty" blue. However its really darker than Petty's trademark blue,
which is closer to Chrysler B3 "Corporation" Blue) and many other colors
as well. Since they were outrageous cars, they often got some of the
"High Impact" muscle car colors like "Tor Red," "Vitamin C Orange,"
"Lemon Twist," and "Limelight."

For more on them, try http://wwnboa.org/

Thanks to all who replied.  I've got the information that I need.  I think
it's really something that a limited production car that dealers had trouble
selling almost 40 years ago can generate the response I got here and in the
other NG I posted in.  Are you listening Mother Mopar?

Ken

"Petty Blue" was a specific color of blue whose formula was locked in
Petty Enterprises safe.  It was NOT used on any production Chrysler
product of that era--period.  ONLY on Petty Enterprises race cars.

As for factory-available colors, I believe that all factory B-body
colors were available on the Superbirds.  Only thing was that they ALL
had black vinyl roofs, as I recall.  You can go to the Winged Warriors
website for possible verification of that fact and the color issue too.

The Superbird was based on the normal Plymouth B-body platform, with the
wing items (AND related inner supports under the quarter panels) and the
front snout were basically bolt-on items.  The front fenders were
modified from production stock, though, other than the top "vents" on
them (really for tire clearance with the lowered ride height they ran on
the track).

One thing you could NOT get on a Superbird was factory a/c.  IF you see
"a Superbird" with factory a/c option code on the data plate, it's not a
real one.  Some people did put add-on a/c on the 'Birds and Daytonas,
but they didn't come from the factory (or the conversion company that
did the Daytonas--Superbirds were done "in house") that way.  Something
about not enough air flow through the small front grille or something
like that?

If you want to see a full gamut of Superbirds, attending the Mopar
Nationals (the 2nd weekend in August, every year) will "get you there".
Factory correct, not over-restored as we might like to see them, but
completely factory-correct in all respects for the Concours level
judging they do there.

The Winged Warriors usually had a yearly meet too, I believe.  

I have seen the Build Instructions for the Superbirds.  I was also
involved in a complete "bare body to completion" restoration of a
friend's Superbird in 1999-2001.  He took it to Mopar Nats (at IRP that
year) and it won First Place in its class, getting a victory lap down
the race track and back.  THAT WAS NEAT!

I always liked the Daytonas better, but the 'Birds were a "cleaner
build".  The nosecone and such was hung inside the car as it went
through the paint booth, so it got the same paint as the rest of the
car.

The reason that all Superbirds had vinyl roofs was to cover up the
additional body work for the rear window "plug" for the different shape
it has compared to stock B-body Plymouths.  Some of that body work was
pretty rough, as I recall when the cars were still new and running
around like regular cars.

So, take one B-body Plymough 2-door hardtop, add one aerodynamic
nosecone to the front, some modified front fenders, the wing and inner
supports to the rear quarter panels and you haven't really raised the
build labor for the vehicle over what it would be otherwise, nor
probably the cost.  Where any additional cost might have come in would
be in the additional items related to the rear window (different glass
plus the other items to fit it to the car).  They probably had to have a
separate sub-assembly line to make that happen.  A few unique vinyl top
mouldings and probably a little more vinyl top fabric would round things
out for additional costs and such.

Many people were somewhat put-off by the additional length of the front
end.  In the "gas crunch" days, some unsold Superbirds had normal front
ends put on them by dealers just to move the cars off the lots.  They
were definitely a novelty item . . . with big motors that people
suspected would guzzle fuel more than they wanted them too back then.

In reality, the Chrysler Engineering papers for the cars noted they had
the lowest coefficient of drag of any car built for regular production
at that time, and rival many vehicles of modern times too.  The "rub"
came with the 440 and 426 HEMI motors and performance rear axle ratios,
plus basic weight that approached 4000lbs.

There is an excellent book on the Winged Cars, which has been out for
several years.  It talks about the testing they did at the proving
grounds' oval track.  How that a regular NASCAR car on that body had a
shockwave that nearly blew down the small timing shack, but with the
nosecone and wings, the 'Birds were both stable, much faster (over
200mph), drove with much less "drama", and blasted past the timing shack
with little more than a breeze.  All of that unusual body work "worked"
and worked well.

As for the Daytonas, they were assembled at the assembly plant as a
normal car, but with special instructions to be shipped to the
contractor to do the conversion to a Daytona.  Therefore, for those cars
to be restored accurately, they should have about three layers of
primer, overspray, and undercoating on the undercarriage.  The paint on
the nosecone would usually be acrylic lacquer rather than acrylic enamel
as was on the rest of the car (from the factory).  If those extra
details are not there (reproduced accurately), it's a points deduction
in the judging.

I suspect that if anybody lost money on Superbirds, it was the dealer
who had one on the lot (after the feeding frenzy had diminshed).  The
factory had their costs covered in the price of the car, so they didn't
lose anything.  With the additional items, they might not have made as
much on the Superbird as a normal B-body Plymouth, but they should have
still covered their costs to make it happen.

I suspect the costs of research and development of the aerodynamic
package would have been costed-out to the NASCAR racing budget as that's
what drove that whole situation back then.

So, check out the Winged Warriors website, the Wing Car Book, and such.  

Now, what we need to do is to get the youngsters who add those "wings"
on the back of their imports to stop calling the result "wing
cars"!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy!  

C-BODY