As Chrysler was shifting from being the wild child of the Musclecar era to an era of company-wide confusion as to what to do with itself in the United States, in Mexico the party was still going on, just on their own scale. When Chrysler de Mexico lost the A-body Plymouth Barracuda in 1970, they felt that the costs of bringing the E-body Barracuda were too much to handle, so instead they looked at the Dodge Valiant Duster and with a little bit of corporate raiding and creativity, created their own version of the Dodge Super Bee: a 318-powered manual transmission Duster that was punching well above it’s weight at 270hp. Not a bad way to go, but seeing an A-body Super Bee in the States is still a pretty rare occurrence. Lucky for someone, this 1971 Super Bee is in Pensacola, Florida. The photos are the “before” pictures, as the car is finishing up a restoration, but make no mistake, this is a legit Super Bee from Mexico and would be a standout from the 340 and 360 Dusters and Demons that normally are seen.
From the ad:
I have a 1971 dodge Valiant Super Bee. I bought this car in Mexico and imported to USA. Currently I am restoreing it to perfect condition and will be complete sometime in the next 6 weeks so it will look a little different then current photos but color will remain the same, the original front bucket sets and console will be installed as I have them in upolstry shop now. its has original 318 block that has many 340 parts from factory to push this super bee to 270 HP.factory 270HP 318 4bbl and A-833 4 speed
I am currently takan offers on this rare superbee and looking for interested buyer so email me if your interested.
heres a little info on the Mexican super bee
In 1970, Chrysler of Mexico introduced the new Dodge Super Bee as a replacement for the company’s previous sports car product, the Plymouth Barracuda. As the production and sale costs of the third-generation Barracuda in Mexico were too high, Dodge adapted the semi-fastback A-Body platform and introduced the Super Bee at the beginning of 1970.[23]
The Super Bee was only available with the V8 318 engine (270 horsepower (hp)) and the buyer could choose from either a four-speed or three-speed manual transmission. Dodge was unable to design its own Super Bee in 1970, resulting in a design that was virtually identical to the Plymouth Duster (known in Mexico as the “Dodge Valiant Duster”), with the side stripes and the Super Bee decals serving as the only distinctions.
In 1971, Dodge sought to further differentiate the Super Bee from the Duster, assembling it with the grille from the American Dodge Demon.
The Valiant Super Bee was equipped with the 318 V8 engine, with 270 hp, from 1970 to 1974.
1970 brought the Duster, sold as Valiant Duster, and its sports version, the Super Bee, in substitution of the Barracuda. The Super Bee shared all its body major components with the Duster. The Super Bee had air ducts on top of the hood and a tach attached to the top of the left side air duct; it used a 318 V8 with a 4-barrel carb and a harder suspension, as well as a four-speed manual transmission with a Hurst gear shift lever. This was one fast car and on many occasions it blew the doors off Mustangs.This engines have more power in Mexico than in U.S.A. because mexican anti-pollution Laws were not as strict as in the US.
The Mexican Superbee was known as the fastest car in Mexico and could even blow the doors off larger cars. They were infact so fast that the Mexican Fedaralys had the same car but in automatic and use them in police and presuit.
My Superbee is all original and title says Dodge Valiant Super Bee. This is not a clone or replica. these were limited production cars and very few are even left today and even less are inside the USA.
CLICK HERE to see the Craigslist ad for this 1971 Dodge Super Bee
Mexico made some
WEIRD Mopars
That’s kind of epic.
I clicked on this post under the impression that it was some horrible Craigslist monstrosity made of mismatched parts and ideas, but now I’m thoroughly impressed.
It looks good, actually
Its a nice car and would be different. But I always have to wonder why sellers don’t put the price in the ad.
They don’t want you to die laughing at the ridiculous prices.
Cool car & knowledgeable seller — but please learn to use spell check…
From FB
Did you know that there was such a thing as a 1971 Dodge Valiant Duster Super Bee? We’re serious. They wee made in Mexico and this one is for sale in Florida. Cool or too much stuff at once? More photos here
They wee made in Mexico? granted, it is a mopar and it is yellow – but why are we talking about what it does in the bathroom? Spellcheck is kind of a pisser, isn’t it? 😉
No; never heard of one before,
not too surprised there are some pretty strange oddities that came from Mexico ..strange but Cool !
I had never heard of a… space duster.. before either until you published earlier this month .
Thanks for sharing with us !!!!
I like the car however the seller needs to use his spell check.
Maybe he’s from Mexico too. 🙂
Like this car I have played with the idea of bringing a car from Mexico for some time, but I have my own projects to get done first. Their 2dr Dart Magnums from the mid 80’s to which is a Diplomat here but still offered as a 2dr long after that went away north of the Mexican Border.
Also love the some of the treatments given to the A-body dart w/318 robbing the 340 parts bin sold in Brasil as a Charger and Magnum or Argentina as a Polara GT or Dodge GTX also fully based off the 70’s A-body dart. I spent too damn much time on the internet looking at Mercadolibre. (the Latin Ebay)
Hey ColinV ,
Just out if curiosity
What projects do you have ?
I have a 70 Dart 340 4speed
Nothing too fancy
Just a Cool little street car
with a bada** 340
I have a triple green 1977 Chrysler Cordoba T-Bar car w/360 that is a project and driver. It’s the car I brought on my first PT for 2014 with my Dad.
A 1978 Chrysler LeBaron T-Bar car w/360 Great shape except wiring. But the plans have already gone beyond that. When done it will be Black Landau on Black with Blood Red Leather interior.
I have custody of the family car I grew up with, from my Dad at’s a 1969 Coronet 440 2dr w/318. I have a 440 in the shop for it but this car was a daily driver here in Canada from new to 1999 so it is RUSTY! It is planned to be tackled head on in 2 years once my Dad retires.
I also have a 1976 New Yorker that I bought as a driver simply for the 440 (read above) and was going to fully part out and scrap but then I got a mild built 318 for free so the plan before scrap is to make it run with the small block and take it to the Lemons Race in Washington State hopefully next summer.
So yeah I’m currently out of room in my driveway to actually acquire something more. I may or may not have been bit by the northern cousin of the Freiburger Bug.
Oh yeah and I’m single for some reason!
I’m not sure that I like the implication there…
Brain you caught me! Meant to be a take on the Jeff Foxworthy a home that is mobile 15 cars that are not! Realized after I posted that it was not the best possible phrasing I could have gone for.
sounds like an awesome collection buddy !!
thanks for sharing .
I’ve been aware of these for a while. Want some other Mopar oddities? Look up the Brazillian Chargers, which were basically Darts with a Charger style grill and C-pillars. Or the Argentinan Dodge GTX, which was based on the A body platform, but had it’s own styling not based on any other existing Mopar. The GTX’s were pretty awesome looking, I’d love to be able to import one to the US.
Damn, totally didn’t read the other guys comments before replying. ColinV beat me to the punch on those Chargers and GTX’s. D’oh.
If you troll around on Mercadolibre as well have you seen the custom (Done really well from the photo’s) convertible GTX that keeps showing up near Buenos Aires. That is one sweet looking car.
Also, and you probably didn’t mention it because they are getting to be more known, was the Valiant Charger from ‘Straya. By far my favorite, but I’d love to get my hands on any of the ones you mentioned as well. South Africa also got some pretty sweet Mopars.
Loved the Aussie cars for years first one I ever saw was at a car show in my old hometown back in the late 80’s. He brought a Charger over with a 340 stock because he wanted to be able to get parts for the motor as this was way before the days of internet shopping. I will have to troll some more as I did not know of any South Africa specific Mopars.