YouTuber and racer Emelia Hartford has done it again—this time breathing life into a once-forgotten 1970 Plymouth Superbird NASCAR stock car that had spent nearly three decades collecting dust in a barn. What began as a rust-covered shell has become a fully restored, 200-mph-capable piece of American racing history. And when Goodyear Corporate caught wind of the build, they called Hartford with an offer too good to refuse—test it at their legendary high-performance proving grounds in San Angelo, Texas.
For Hartford, a lifelong car enthusiast and no stranger to pushing limits, the invitation was a dream come true. After years of neglect, the Superbird—now reborn in classic Goodyear blue with period-correct logos—was ready to show what it could really do. Her goal wasn’t just to make it look fast, but to make it go fast. And as her latest video revealed, that’s exactly what happened.
Before unleashing the Superbird, Hartford warmed up with a few practice laps behind the wheel of a Ford Shelby Mustang GT350, shaking off the nerves and learning the track. Then came the big moment. On her first run, the freshly restored NASCAR legend managed a respectable 113 mph, proving the old machine still had plenty of life left in it. But that was just the beginning.
With each pass, the Superbird became more confident and composed, howling down the straightaway like it was 1970 all over again. Hartford pushed harder—and the results were nothing short of astonishing. On her second full-speed run, she clocked a top speed of 206.4 mph, an incredible feat for a car that had been abandoned for nearly 30 years.
Encouraged by the Goodyear team, who mentioned that the original NASCAR Superbirds once topped out near 220 mph, Hartford decided to make one final attempt. On the next lap, the car screamed past 210 mph, officially solidifying her rebuild as one of the most authentic and fastest tributes to the golden era of stock car racing.
While the Superbird didn’t quite reach that historic 220 mph benchmark, the fact that a once-forgotten piece of Mopar racing history could now challenge it is nothing short of remarkable.
