What's it Worth Looking to buy this Super Bee... would appreciate input.

[MikeyM]

Hey all,

Greetings from NorCal again. First off, a big thank you to all of you who have guided me and provided input this far in my search for a Super Bee. So after reading a bunch here and looking at 3 Bees and coming down to really 2, this is the one that is in the lead at the moment. I was hoping you who know far more than I could give it a look and see if it's a fair deal. I would ask a few k less but I think the body looks killer. Under the hood needs a few things like a fan shroud, maybe some mild clean up. The undercarriage looks like it's been well cared for, maybe some spray paint but no major rust or issues I can see but not sure what's up with the weird anomaly on the pinch seams. I've spoken and emailed with homie at the dealer and the story is it was a frame off resto about 10 years back. Since then it's been sold to the present owner. Reportedly has about 4-5k on it since the resto and engine, trans, diffy, and suspension have been gone through. I don't need a perfect car and for the price, this seems to me to be a fair deal. And I figure I would likely need about 5-8k to make it how I'd like it and fix any of the "little" things that need attention. Thoughts, input, opinions appreciated.

1969 Dodge Super Bee - LOU3093

Thanks much,
Mikey

 

[pnora]

Buyer beware. The painted door latches and strikers tell me this was not a quality restoration. More like a quickie paint and flip. The rust flakes in the pinch weld might be a tell tale sign of some body repairs.

 

[dadsbee]

Looks nice, money has been spent, frame and floor look good..... but it's a perfumed pig..

 

[RR Fan Dan]

For that money there shouldn’t be any rust.

 

[Charles Cook]

The Chevy guy that restored this car put the Bee on the 1/4s backwards.
Run Forrest run.

 

[4mulas]

I think the last 3 replies should get you to exercise caution and look around some

 

[Dennis H]

Nice car. Caveat Emptor, maybe see in person and make offer. I prefer a B Body with a 440.
Better term is Rotisserie rather than frame off. My car was done by a Chevy guy who made some errors a Mopar person would not have made. Schelly’s Auto Body in Danielsville, Pa. May he rot in…
Good luck.

 

[71RRHI]

Have you seen the car in person. They always look better in pictures then in person. But I feel 56k is high, from looking at the pictures. I would want to be closer 45-48k.

 

[dadsbee]

I've seen enough of them to be suspect of anything Gateway is selling. Jump on a bus or plane, go look at it. Take a fridge magnet with you...

 

[66 Sat]

Although harder work you are MUCH better off finding a private sale rather than a dealership like Gateway. They'll tart the cars up to make them look good and won't really know any of the history. They're often selling on consignment, taking a chunk of dollars from both parties.
If you can buy a car from the real owner he'll usually give you the full rundown of the car, both good and bad. You get to see where it's been stored and how it's been treated. You'll get a vibe, which you can't get buying it from a dealership. Just watching how he starts it and lets it warm up on the test drive will give you an idea of how it's been treated.

 

[#41]

$56 is way too high for a driver-quality, all green, column shift, bench seat, 383 car with limited options and suspect rust. I would look really carefully at this one, and only then if satisfied..... offer quite a bit less than they would probably let it go for.

 

[RJ Squirrel]

The rockers are probably rotted out behind those quarters like this

 

[dfrazz]

Hard pass on this one as there are a lot of hidden issues. Definitely go see any car in person before wiring thousands of dollars across the country. Don't be in a rush, the right car will come. There are plenty Bee's out there in much better shape than this for the same price or less. The market is cooling off so its a great time to be a buyer.

 

[hunt2elk]

I agree with the others that you need to pass on that one. That rust on the rocker pinch welds is a huge red flag which will cost a pile of cash to repair. But hey, when you repaint the car, that would be the time to remedy the backwards Bee stickers on the rear quarters, lol. It took me 6-7 years of searching to find a decent Super Bee. There were far fewer of them made compared to RR's and Chargers, and why there are fewer to choose from now.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

I didn’t notice that the emblems were backwards when I first looked at it. That right there is a huge red flag. I the Bee emblem on the truck lid caught my eye too. Something seems off wit it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Isn’t that emblem supposed to be on the center panel between the tail lights?

 

[RR Fan Dan]

The Chevy guy that restored this car put the Bee on the 1/4s backwards.
Run Forrest run.

Although harder work you are MUCH better off finding a private sale rather than a dealership like Gateway. They'll tart the cars up to make them look good and won't really know any of the history. They're often selling on consignment, taking a chunk of dollars from both parties.
If you can buy a car from the real owner he'll usually give you the full rundown of the car, both good and bad. You get to see where it's been stored and how it's been treated. You'll get a vibe, which you can't get buying it from a dealership. Just watching how he starts it and lets it warm up on the test drive will give you an idea of how it's been treated.

This is good advice. Consignment dealers are going to have lots of pretty pictures and a lot of wow factor. In reality they never disclose all the issues wrong with the car, and the price is always marked up way more than the car is worth.

Buy from a private seller and if you can, go look at the car. If you can’t look at the car, there are inspection companies you can hire to do it for you. There are also lots of members on this forum who may live close enough to go look on your behalf.

Things to look for when buying for the kind of money I see you are willing to spend ($50k plus) Fender tag. A highly optioned car with AC. Not column shift. RB motor. At a minimum.

If you had bought this Bee, I guarantee you would have had buyers remorse in a few months. Probably sooner if you took it to a car show, and everyone kept asking you why the emblems were on backwards.

Most of the car selling sites have advanced filters for searching. Search for private sellers only. Turn off dealers. If that doesn’t yield the results you want, then be patient and keep looking.

 

[BSB67]

I think there is very good advice above.

I think the price is probably high. You need to look at it.

Get really clear on what you want and what’s it for. As an example, I don’t want a highly optioned car, and prefer the column shift. And I understand that likely hurts resale, but I don’t care about that.

Not knowing the car’s history is a huge negative for me, and the guy you are speaking with is untrustworthy and untruthful, IMO.

 

[Nxcoupe]

I didn’t notice that the emblems were backwards when I first looked at it. That right there is a huge red flag. I the Bee emblem on the truck lid caught my eye too. Something seems off wit it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Isn’t that emblem supposed to be on the center panel between the tail lights?

View attachment 1871664
View attachment 1871665

No, not in 69, in 70 yes. I could be wrong but I did a couple bees back in my day.

 

[Lefty71]

This is good advice. Consignment dealers are going to have lots of pretty pictures and a lot of wow factor. In reality they never disclose all the issues wrong with the car, and the price is always marked up way more than the car is worth.

When i read the part about the underneath looking better than the day it was built, I knew they were just going to say anything to get $60k out of a $40k car.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Hey all,

Greetings from NorCal again. First off, a big thank you to all of you who have guided me and provided input this far in my search for a Super Bee. So after reading a bunch here and looking at 3 Bees and coming down to really 2, this is the one that is in the lead at the moment. I was hoping you who know far more than I could give it a look and see if it's a fair deal. I would ask a few k less but I think the body looks killer. Under the hood needs a few things like a fan shroud, maybe some mild clean up. The undercarriage looks like it's been well cared for, maybe some spray paint but no major rust or issues I can see but not sure what's up with the weird anomaly on the pinch seams. I've spoken and emailed with homie at the dealer and the story is it was a frame off resto about 10 years back. Since then it's been sold to the present owner. Reportedly has about 4-5k on it since the resto and engine, trans, diffy, and suspension have been gone through. I don't need a perfect car and for the price, this seems to me to be a fair deal. And I figure I would likely need about 5-8k to make it how I'd like it and fix any of the "little" things that need attention. Thoughts, input, opinions appreciated.

1969 Dodge Super Bee - LOU3093

Thanks much,
Mikey

They don't mention if the engine and trans are numbers matching ir if they are even year correct. For that miney I would expect numbers matching engine and trans. The rockers do give me pause.