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Only nine lucky people can say they bought a BRAND NEW 1971 Dodge
Charger Super Bee with a Hemi and a four speed transmission. I happen
to be one of those nine lucky people. On March 26, 1971, I purchased a
brand new Hemi Super Bee with a four speed from Mr. Norm's Grand
Spaulding Dodge of Chicago, Illinois. At the time, I lived in Lombard,
Illinois and had tried to buy a Hemi car from the local Dodge dealer, Don
Miller Dodge of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, BUT they were not interested in
ordering the car I wanted. I was told "We don't stock any Hemi's or
Six-Pac's, we don't want to order any, we don't want anything to do with
them, they are nothing but trouble!"
So I decided to take a trip to Chicago and visit Mr. Norm's "200
Hi-performance Dodges IN STOCK." It was a different story at Mr. Norm's
when I told the salesman I was looking for a Hemi. He asked, "Do you
want a Charger or a Challenger and in what color?" I said Charger and
that the color did not really matter as long as it was equipped with a
four speed. The salesman grabbed a couple 3" x 5" file cards that listed
the options and prices for the cars that he would be attempting to sell
and off we went to one of the several lots where Mr. Norm stored new
cars. I looked at three Hemi cars that day and choose a Bright Blue
Super Bee. We went back to the showroom and I gave them a $10.00 deposit
to hold the car and offered my Chevrolet El Camino pick-up as a
trade-in, signed some papers and told the salesman I would get a loan for the
balance and be back by the end of the week. That was Tuesday, March 22,
1971. The following day, I went to the Bell West Credit Union, filled
out the loan papers and got a check for $2400 the following day. I
couldn't wait to pick up the car!
The big day was Friday, March 26, 1971. At the time I was living
at home with my parents and my Dad thought he should go with me even
though I was over 21 years old (he didn't want the dealer to take
advantage of me). I wasn't too happy about this as my Dad was not a "car
guy." To him cars were just transportation and when you bought one you
argued price with the dealer and if you couldn't buy the car for $100 over
dealer cost, you walked out and went to a dealer who would sell you the
car at your price. I knew he was going to have a stroke when he found
out how much I was paying for the Super Bee. We got to the dealership
and I gave them the keys, the title to the El Camino, the check and
some cash. I signed some papers and the salesman said the car was in the
back shop right around the corner and that he would have them bring the
car up front. Well, we waited and waited but the Super Bee did not
arrive. After waiting about twenty minutes, I got the salesman and asked
what was the problem? The salesman called the shop and when he told me
what caused the delay I was FURIOUS. The car had run out of gas in the
short trip from the back shop to the front of the dealership! I said
to the salesman, "I paid $5000 for that car and you were sending me out
of here with no gas in it!" Back in the '70's, you drove through some
bad neighborhoods to get to Mr. Norm's and if I had run out of gas with
a brand new car, things would not have been pretty. The salesman
assured me the car now had a FULL tank of gas and was ready to go. To my
surprise my Dad hadn't said much. We got in the car and I cranked the
big Hemi over and it fired up, rumbled, shook and sounded just like a
Hemi should. The sound of the car alarmed my Dad. He said, "There's
something wrong with this car. A new car should never sound like this."
Then he said " We are not driving this car out of here until a mechanic
looks at it." Nothing I could say could convince him that the car had
been built to sound the way it did. I had to go get a mechanic to come
out and listen to the car and tell Dad it was OK!
The car had been ordered by Al Smith, the High Performance Sales
Manager at Mr. Norm's on July 7, 1970. When he ordered the car it was
to be built with A54 body matching painted bumpers, W23 road wheels and
A45 front and rear spoilers, among the other options ordered . The car
was built on Friday Sept. 11, 1970, at the St. Louis assembly plant and
delivered to Mr. Norm's on the 26th of September. The Super Bee then
sat on the lot for six long months until I bought the car on March 26,
1971. The next day at home, I started checking my new car. I was
already aware that the car had been built with chrome bumpers and painted
wheels and dog dish hub caps. I had not been charged for the W23 road
wheels or the A54 paint options that were not present on the car at the
time I bought it. Nor were these options listed on the sales papers.
But the spoilers were listed on the sales papers and they were not on
the car, but I had paid for them! I called Mr. Norm's asking for an
adjustment of the price or the spoilers and they refused to give me the
spoilers or any monetary refund, so I called the Chrysler Zone Office and
did get a refund for the spoilers.
The Super Bee was my Saturday Night Special. It attracted lots of
attention. I often cruised the local drive-in's looking for street
races. Many people didn't believe the car was a real Hemi. On the front
fenders, right above the marker lights in block letters about inch in
height, in the same black tape as the other striping on the car, was the
word "HEMI" and it looked phony. When the car was parked with the
engine shut off, I'd hear comments such as "who is he trying to fool?" But
that's the way the car came and I don't know if it was done at the
factory or if it was done at the dealer. (I believe that the car came from
the factory with this tape Hemi logo.) The car also had the chrome 426
Hemi logos on the power bulge hood. None of the other Hemi's I've seen
have this taped Hemi logo. However, in a street race, there was no
question that my car was indeed a HEMI. The competition got a real good
look at the rear of my Super Bee disappearing rapidly in front of them! I
also raced my car at the Oswego, Illinois drag strip in the stock
classes, but the car never did well with street tires from a standing start.
I liked racing the car on the street from a 20 mph roll as it was
easier to keep the tires from breaking loose. It was a real trip to feel
the torque push you back against the seat as I pounded the car through
the gears!
I had driven the car about 1200 miles when, during an impromptu
street race, I heard a clicking sound (ouch)! By the time I could get
the motor shut down, it had sucked a valve and the engine had stopped
running! When you bought a Hemi, even though it was called a "Street
Hemi," it only had a limited warranty on the engine. I had the car towed
home, pulled the head off and saw that the valve had pulled through the
keeper, hit the piston, broke the head off the valve and pushed it into
intake port destroying the head and a piston. When I found out what
the parts were going to cost, (plus the fact I didn't think it was MY
fault as I hadn't over-reved the motor), I called the Chrysler Zone
Office. They told me to take the car to the selling dealer and that they
would have a rep look at it. I told them Mr. Norm's was too far away to
have the car towed, so they said take it to Don Miller Dodge. You can
imagine how thrilled Don Miller's Dodge was to see this car! Anyway,
Chrysler warranted the engine, a new head, and a piston were installed
along with a few other things like rod bearings. When the repair work
was completed and I went to pick up the car, I was told the mechanic
that had done the service work wanted to talk to me. He asked, "You ran
this car pretty hard didn't you?" I replied, "Why do you say that?"
His response was, "The rod bearings were down to copper so try to take
it easy because I don't want to see this car again!" I don't think he
liked working on Hemi's.
I kept the car for almost four years. I really liked the car. It
had the look, the sound, and the performance. To me it was one great
ride. During the time I owned the car, I installed American S-200 Mag
wheels and a Mallory ignition. I bought a set of Hooker Headers, but
never installed them on the car. I sold the car in late 1974 with only
3,300 miles on it for $2800. The original wheels, hub caps, and the
headers went with the car at the time of the sale. Believe me, over the
years I have come to regret selling this car knowing now that this car
was one of only nine 1971 Super Bees built with a Hemi and a four speed!
I had a feeling back in 1974 that I shouldn't sell it. But, at the
time insurance rates were skyrocketing, gas was almost impossible to buy,
I was getting interested in Street Rodding rather than Drag Racing and
I was trying to buy a house. And as my Dad said to me, "All that car
does is take up garage space, cost you money, you hardly ever drive the
car and what good is it?" Who knew at the time what the future would
hold! I haven't seen my Super Bee in almost 30 years, but I've never
forgotten it! All I have left is my original paper work plus the
original Dealer Files for my car from Grand Spaulding Dodge that I have been
fortunate to have acquired recently. Most importantly, I'll always
have memories of owning a very special automobile.
All the copies of the original paper work shown on this web page
have been marked with the word "copy" to protect against possible fraud.
My car's serial number and my personal information has been concealed,
as I would like to find my old Super Bee (before someone else does).
I've tried several times since 1985 to locate the car and/or the person
who bought the car from me, but with no success. Short of finding and
buying the car back, I would be very interested just to know that my car
has survived. My hope is that if I can't find and own my old Super Bee
again, it's alive and well and being pamper by its owner. I hate to
even think that it may have been crushed, shredded, destroyed, or ended
up a stripped-out shell rusting away in some junk yard.
UPDATE 12/01/04
Mr. Norm ordered and sold five Hemi Super Bee's in 1971, two four speeds and three auto's, colors Blue, purple, red and orange, not sure about the fifth ones color, all were built in St. louis. The purple car was sold in April of ' 71 and I sure it was on the lot when I looked at mine, it was an automatic.
Thanks,
Jeff
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