Kevin Buzzard, a resident of Orange, California, is one lucky son of a gun! In September of 2025, a buddy of his texted him and wrote that a Dodge Coronet Super Bee's auction on BaT was ending that very day. Kevin did some rapid homework about the car and placed a bid without seeing it in person that last day of the sale. His bid for the 'Bee won!
Brilliant Bring a Trailer Super Bee Buy
Above: Here's a photo from the online Bring a Trailer listing. Classic Industries' intrepid photographer, Vicente Diaz, would never make the mistake of including the shadow of his right arm in the photo. That shadow would either be cropped or wouldn't be there in the first place.
So Kevin's first thought was, oh heck, what just happened - or words to that effect. How many times have you heard a horror story of a sight unseen online American muscle car purchase? Regrettably, I've written many enthusiast auto articles with this very same theme. It's usually only the absolute persistence and hard headedness of the new old car owner that turns a potential car-tastrophe project car nightmare into a happy ending with an oh my goodness American muscle machine restoration or restomod being produced out the other end.
With this particular, shall we say, four leaf clover F8 'Shamrock Green'-hued Super Bee auction purchase, Kevin Buzzard has been thanking his lucky charms ever since he made that fateful, last minute bid in September '25.
The only surprises he has had since he took delivery of the Mopar have been happy ones. The Upton family of Santa Fe, Texas that he purchased the car from, owned the car for 20 years and only put 2,000 miles on the Super Bee during that timeframe. Though the Mopar was born with a 383 cubic inch V8 and a four-speed manual transmission, the 383 was replaced with a 440 big block V8 around 2005.
Before the Upton's owned the Super Bee, Music City Magazine in Nashville, Tennessee were the Coronet's early caretakers. Perhaps some famous country music singers road shotgun in those factory trimmed seats. Who's to say otherwise?
The Super Bee shows just 15,850 miles on the odometer now, which means that the 440 V8 does have a bit over 2,000 miles on it. Based upon the photos of the interior and seeing the car in person, the interior appears to be from the Los Angeles (Maywood), California assembly line where the car was built. Kevin doesn't have anymore history about the Super Bee at present, so it's anyone's guess as to whether the exterior has ever been repainted. Although, the decoded fender tag does reveal that it was born with F8 green paint from the factory, and is the same hue to this day.
Could the Coronet really be a 15,850-mile survivor?
All we know is that Mr. Buzzard is one lucky current Coronet caretaker. All he has had to do in his several months of ownership to make the 'Bee roadworthy is to replace the rear leaf springs and shocks, the fuel sending unit, replace the rear end with a sure grip rear diff/axle, install new TTI headers, a rebuilt steering box, new rear wheel cylinders, serviced all the fluids and the engine's cooling system. He replaced the starter and the carb with an Edelbrock AVS2 800-cfm four-barrel. Kevin also cleaned the underbody and applied undercoating. New rubber weatherstrip items replaced the cracked and worn items.
Above: The Coronet is still equipped with four-wheel drum brakes. Kevin purchased the new Magnum wheels at Classic Industries. He had been searching for a Mopar muscle car for many years, before his buddy texted him with this amazing find.
Above: The Super Bee emblems on this Mopar time machine are way cool looking!
Above: To get the Super Bee buzzing along reliably, the owner also purchased from Classic the following items: driver's side view mirror, the starter, the rubber engine hoses, the fuel cap, and other miscellaneous rubber components that needed replacing due to wear.
Above: The 15x7-inch front Magnum wheels have BFGoodrich 235/60/15 T/A radial tires.
Above: The Magnum 15x8-inch rear wheels are shod with BFG 275/60/15-inch T/A radials.
Since 1995, yours truly has written about and photographed enthusiast automobiles that gearheads have inherited, hunted for in classified sections of newspapers, found in the Auto Recycler periodical, purchased on eBay, bought at in person auctions like Barrett-Jackson, Mecum, RM Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Gooding's Christies, found on BaT or Hemmings, etc. Of the vehicles that were bought sight unseen, this one has to be the best example that I've ever had the fortune to see and hear in person. Kevin Buzzard is one lucky Coronet Super Bee purchaser and owner to be sure!
Decoding the fender tag shown above reveals the following information:
- N96 – Fresh-air hood
- R11 – Music Master two-watt AM radio
- V21 – Performance hood treatment
- V8W – Transverse stripes, white
- END – End of sales codes
- A40 – Dodge Spring Special B
- A62 – Rallye instrument cluster
- J25 – Three-speed windshield wipers
- J45 – Hood tie-down pins
- M21 – Roof drip-rail moldings
- N85 – Tachometer
- F8 – Dark Green Metallic exterior paint
- H2G – High trim, bench seats, green vinyl upholstery
- F8 – Dark Green Metallic–painted interior door frames
- 603 – June 3 build date
- 258958 – Order number
- E63 – 383ci V8 w/four-barrel carburetor
- D21 – Four-speed manual transmission
- WM23 – Dodge Coronet Super Bee two-door hardtop
- H9B – 335-horsepower 383ci V8 w/four-barrel carburetor; 1969 model year; Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, assembled in Los Angeles (Maywood), California assembly line
- 161047 – Sequence number
Dodge Coronet Super Bee Restoration or Restomod Parts
