Heterologous expression of ␣ 1D -adrenergic receptors (␣ 1D -ARs) in most cell types results in intracellular retention and little or no functionality. We showed previously that heterodimerization with ␣ 1B -ARs promotes surface localization of ␣ 1D -ARs. Here, we report that the ␣ 1B -/␣ 1D -AR interaction has significant effects on the pharmacology and signaling of the receptors, in addition to the effects on trafficking described previously. Upon coexpression of ␣ 1B -ARs and epitope-tagged ␣ 1D -ARs in both human embryonic kidney 293 and DDT 1 MF-2 cells, ␣ 1D -AR binding sites were not detectable with the ␣ 1D -AR selective antagonist 8-[2-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)ethyl]-8-azaspiro [4,5]decane-7,9-dione (BMY 7378), despite the ability to detect ␣ 1D -AR protein using confocal microscopy, immunoprecipitation, and a luminometer cell-surface assay. However, the ␣ 1B -AR-selective mutant F18A conotoxin showed a striking biphasic inhibition in ␣ 1B /␣ 1D -AR-expressing cells, revealing that ␣ 1D -ARs were expressed but did not bind BMY 7378 with high affinity. Studies of norepinephrine-stimulated inositol phosphate formation showed that maximal responses were greatest in ␣ 1B /␣ 1D -AR-coexpressing cells. Stable coexpression of an uncoupled mutant ␣ 1B -AR (⌬12) with ␣ 1D -ARs resulted in increased responses to norepinephrine. However, Schild plots for inhibition of norepinephrine-stimulated inositol phosphate formation showed a single low-affinity site for BMY 7378. Thus, our findings suggest that ␣ 1B /␣ 1D -AR heterodimers form a single functional entity with enhanced functional activity relative to either subtype alone and a novel pharmacological profile. These data may help to explain why ␣ 1D -ARs are often pharmacologically undetectable in native tissues when they are coexpressed with ␣ 1B -ARs.