{"id":39129,"date":"2020-06-16T15:08:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T19:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=39129"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:43","slug":"six-pack-super-bee-still-stings-after-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/owners-clubs\/2020\/06\/six-pack-super-bee-still-stings-after-50-years.html","title":{"rendered":"Six Pack Super Bee Still Stings After 50 Years!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI had one just like that, I wish\nI never sold it!\u201d How many times have we heard a muscle car enthusiast utter\nthese words while checking out cool vintage rides at car shows? That phrase of\nseller\u2019s regret or remorse is a common theme among a generation of gearheads\nthat grew up in an era of affordable high-horsepower machines emblazoned in\nwild colors with big gaping hood scoops and sucking down high-octane fuel like\nit was going out of style. Eventually college, career and marriage made owning\na muscle car an expensive burden and impractical for daily family transportation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Luckily, not everyone who purchased\none of these cool muscle cars back in the day let them slip through their\nfingers. Lifelong Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> enthusiast Bob Karakashian has managed to hang on to\nhis rare and fast Dodge Super Bee Six Pack for over 50 years. Growing up, Bob\u2019s\nparents drove a Dodge Coronet Station Wagon while his older brother had a 1965\nDodge Coronet with a 426 Street Wedge. So, it\u2019s easy to see how Bob got his\nlove for the Dodge brand. Another life-altering moment for Bob came when his family\nmoved from Highland Park to Farmington Hills, Michigan, in the mid-to-late\n1960s. One of his neighbors was none other than Tom Hoover \u2013 the legendary Chrysler\nEngineer and Godfather of the 426 HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> engine. Not only would Hoover have a major\ninfluence on what new car Bob should buy, but how to modify it for increased\npower and performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was 1969 and I was in my second\nyear of college and I wanted to buy my first new car. After driving my\nbrother\u2019s \u201965 Coronet with the 426 Street Wedge, I knew I wouldn\u2019t be happy\nwith a 383 Road Runner or Super Bee, as they ran about the same as the 426\nStreet Wedge. I really wanted a 426 HEMI-powered Road Runner, GTX or Super Bee\nbut it just wasn\u2019t feasible, being a full-time Industrial Management student at Lawrence\nTech University,\u201d reminisced Bob.<\/p>\n

The Mopar gearhead he was, Bob asked Tom\nHoover for some advice on what new car to purchase. \u201cBobby, I think we have a\nnew package coming out that you\u2019re really going to like,\u201d said Hoover.<\/p> \n

With\nthat, Hoover gave Bob all the specs on the new mid-year 440 Six Pack and 440\nSix Barrel option on the 1969 Dodge Super Bee and Plymouth Road Runner. With a matte\nblack fiberglass liftoff hood held on by four hood pins, 15-inch steel wheels, Dana\n60 axle with a 4.10 ratio and, of course, a 390-horsepower 440 big-block with\nthree Holley carburetors mounted on an aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold, this\nnew package got Bob\u2019s attention immediately.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Armed with this information, Bob\nand his father headed to South Point Dodge in Lincoln Park, Michigan, to order\nhis 440 Six Pack Super Bee. \u201cMy dad\u2019s friend from church was a salesman at the\ndealership and I gave him all the details on the Super Bee Six Pack,\u201d said Bob.\n\u201cI chose R4 Bright Red as I really liked that color and went with the Hardtop,\nI felt it had a cleaner look than the Coupe body style. The only options I checked\noff were automatic transmission, tinted glass and AM radio. The Bee cost me only\n$3,350 out the door! After the order was placed, I had to wait 10 weeks for my\ncar to arrive. I still remember getting the call from the salesman asking if I\nwanted to pick up my new car at Chrysler\u2019s Lynch Road Assembly Plant. I told\nhim just have it shipped to the dealership, but looking back now, it would\u2019ve been\ncool to have actually taken delivery of the Super Bee right from the plant it\nwas built at,\u201d recalled Bob. When he took delivery of his new Six Pack Super Bee, Bob\u2019s\nfather got after the salesman on why his son\u2019s new car had no hubcaps or wheel\ncovers. Unbeknownst to Bob\u2019s dad, the only wheel package available on the 440\nSix Pack Super Bees and 440 Six Barrel Road Runners was a 15″ x 6″ black painted\nsteel wheel with chrome lug nuts. The package did not include hubcaps or wheel\ncovers as the Chrysler Product Planners intentionally wanted these cars to have\na certain look and they also assumed the buyers would bolt on mag wheels.\nAccording to Bob, \u201cI had to tell my Dad that\u2019s how these cars come from the\nfactory and he just shook his head at the fact that I was buying a new car that\ndidn\u2019t come with hubcaps.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like many muscle cars of that era,\nowners immediately began bolting on high-performance engine parts and\naftermarket wheels and tires, and Bob was no different. With a mere 1,400 miles\non the Super Bee\u2019s odometer and with that pungent new car smell emanating from\nthe interior, a Racer Brown SSH-25 camshaft and JR Headers got installed to\ngive the already stout 440 Six Pack even more horsepower. \u201cMy mother and father\nwere so upset seeing their son take apart his brand-new car, but when they saw\nMr. Hoover helping me and teaching me things like how to degree a camshaft, set\nignition timing, adjusting the carburetors and other things, my parents\u2019\nattitude quickly changed. Eventually, Mr. Hoover and my folks would become\nlifelong friends,\u201d commented Bob. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By the early to mid-1970s, Bob\u2019s Six Pack Super Bee saw less street duty and more drag strip usage, specifically racing in Super Stock and eventually Stock Eliminator. During this period, Bob\u2019s Super Bee was used as a development vehicle to evaluate prototype performance parts and packages for the new Mopar Direct Connection program. Bob was even asked to bring his Super Bee to Milan Dragway when the Mopar Direct Connection engineers would rent the track for testing. \u201cIt was cool being at Milan with all the Chrysler contracted racers like Sox and Martin, Herb McCandless, Butch Leal, Terry Earwood, Dave Boertman and The Rod Shop Team, and many other professional drag racers that ran under the Mopar banner. Even the Motown Missile guys where there experimenting on their Pro Stocker,\u201d smiled Bob. \u201cWe\u2019d bolt parts on my Super Bee, make some passes, record the data, and then try something else to see if we could improve the performance. I learned so much from the Mopar Direct Connection engineers like Tom Hoover, Larry Shepard and others.\u201d Bob was a good listener and a quick learner as his Six Pack Super Bee set many records during the 1970s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, Bob focused less on\ndoing modifications to his prized Super Bee. With the power of the 440\nconstantly being increased to be competitive in Super Stock and Stock\nEliminator, more and more modifications were needed elsewhere in the chassis\nand suspension. Not wanting to cut the car up, Bob made the wise decision to focus\non the new Pure Stock Drag Racing classes that were gaining popularity. With stricter\nrules and more focus on stock vehicles maintaining their production\/showroom\nequipment, it suited Bob very well. With Bob\u2019s Super Bee still wearing its\noriginal paint and stock interior, he made the right move in preserving this\nrare Dodge Super Bee while still enjoying the car for what it was built for – shutting\ndown the competition in the next lane at the drags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These last two decades have seen Bob\u2019s Six Pack Super Bee dominate the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race<\/a> events. Not only is he a formidable driver and tuner, Bob also helps fellow Mopar racers while he\u2019s at the track. It\u2019s very common to see Bob buried under the hood of a fellow racer\u2019s car, jetting a carburetor or changing spark plugs. He helps any who ask and is not afraid to share his speed secrets and tips. His knowledge of Mopar Small and Big Block engine setups has led to Bob getting the moniker of Mr. Six Pack. Bob also puts things into perspective when he and his Super Bee roll into a drag strip for an event. \u201cWe\u2019re here to have fun and help each other get these cars running as best as they can. This is a hobby and hobbies are meant to be enjoyable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With its original red paint still\nshining bright, pristine engine compartment looking as if you can eat off it\nand interior that smells as fresh as when it was delivered to the dealer in the\nspring of 1969, it\u2019s hard to tell Bob\u2019s Super Bee has made thousands of passes\ndown the drag strip. Make no mistake, it may look like a restored muscle car with\nonly 20,000 miles, but Bob\u2019s basically stock blueprinted 440 Six Pack Super Bee\ncan click off 12.0-second ETs on the skinny production G70X15 Redline Bias Ply\ntires anytime at any track. As you can see, this Bee might be over 50 years\nold, but it still has plenty of sting in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out these awesome images of\nBob\u2019s Six Pack Super Bee through the decades!<\/p>\n\n\n\n