Did Richard Petty deny a $300,000 fortune to preserve his lucky livery? All you need to know

The famous blue Plymouth that Richard Petty drove to victory lane 192 times during his Sprint Cup career is one of the greatest paint schemes to have ever existed in NASCAR history. Petty himself was especially fond of its color. There was a time when he turned down $300,000 from his would-be primary sponsor in exchange for his cherished livery.

The sky-like hue on that car was the product of innovation. Petty took up the task of painting the Plymouth Fury that he and his brother Maurice had just repaired at the Petty race shop in North Carolina.

He had two cans of paint, one blue and another white. None of them was enough to paint the entire car; so the 22-year-old Richard Petty combined both colors and created the masterpiece.

Scientifically Treated Petroleum (STP), Lee Petty’s primary sponsor at the time wanted to paint it Day-Glo red. In lieu of that, STP was offering a whopping $250,000 to Petty. Petty didn’t take the money and instead, chose to keep that color on his car.

President and CEO of STP, Andy Granatelli, offered him an additional $50,000 but failed to change Petty’s mind. Hours later, Petty won a race with the No. 43 car in California. Granatelli then offered to sign Petty for the upcoming Daytona 500 but included a clause wanting the cars his company sponsored to be Red-Glo.

Petty signed the contract only after having the clause omitted. Later, he agreed to give STP a shot, which eventually gave birth to the iconic red and blue Chrysler Plymouth that debuted in the 1972 Daytona 500.

Richard Petty’s 1970 Plymouth to get auctioned at skyrocketing price

Richard "The King" Petty’s 1970 Plymouth Superbird 440 is about to get auctioned off at an upcoming bid organized by Mecum at Kissimmee, Florida. As per reports, the highest bidder has offered $1 million for the car.

The car has Petty’s signature on it besides two notes, one of which says,

“From Petty”

and another read,

“take care of my car!”

The car was restored in 2014 by Petty’s Garage, painting it white and adding a new vinyl top. However, the cabin and black leather seats were left as they used to be. Last year, Petty's son and former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty drove the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2024. In October, Kye Pettyvouched for the car to be voted as Car of the Year through one of his posts on social media.

The classic vintage machine is in a remarkable near-mint condition with the writings on it, still intact. The odometer in it says that it has run only 28,394 miles. With a Super Commando V8 engine and A727 automatic transmission, the rare Superbird that Petty owned from 1982 until 2013 still epitomizes raw muscle car power.