1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 Mopar big block muscle car

When the 1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 Mopar big block muscle car was introduced in mid-year 1969, Mopar fans could not sign up to order fast enough. The magnificent high rise intake manifold designed by Vic Edelbrock Jr was a muscle “car work of art” with its triple 2-barrel carburetors to become known forever by Mopar fanatics as a Six Pack. It was obvious from the gitgo that the 1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 was born to race. Some people call it the 1969 1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12, but everyone who saw it at the race track back in the day called it the one to beat.

Hemi Orange, Bahama Yellow, Bright Green, and Bright Red … these were the four new colors for Dodge in 1969.  So when the A12 440 Six-Pack Super Bees were announced to be built for the second half of the 1969 production year, the early batches were all done in these four new colors. Bahama Yellow (often referred to as Butterscotch) was a popular color for the Super Bees that year.

The 1969 ½ Dodge Super Bee A12 you see featured here came highly optioned from the factory. The current owner has had the car for 40 years. But it still only has 49k miles. The options include, bucket seats, console, tach, AM/FM radio, power steering, power brakes, six-way seat, rear shoulder belts, wood wheel, light package, remote mirror, Deluxe interior, side scoops, and automatic transmission.

The first time I ever saw an A-12 LIft Off hood Mopar it was at Milan, Michigan. They could take on Hemi Cudas, LS6 Chevelles and L88 Corvettes. And while there were quicker cars on the track, none of them could do a burnout like the A12 Mopars, both Super Bees and Road Runners. The reputation they had back in the day was that you could buy one right off the dealer lot and it was ready to compete at the drag strip.  It was said that a bone stock automatic equipped Six Pack Super Bee could could power out the back end of a quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds. Plenty of times you could see them do better than that in high altitudes.

You realize, the Coronet R/T 440 Magnum was used by Dodge when they put together the design for the A12 Super Bees. Mopar then asked Vic Edelbrock Jr to fit a unique highrise manifold to the monster big block with three Holley two-barrel carburetors that could suck 1350 cubic feet of air per minute. The special A12 440 came with stiffer valve springs and a low-taper camshaft. Mopar simply called it a Six Pack. Stamped steel valve covers stand as a label.  In stock condition they often caught Street Hemi owners off guard.