barn find Charger Daytona

[oliver1850]

My first car was a 1970 Charger. At the time you could still order the nose cone and wing from Mopar. I considered making a replica but didn't do it. I was never that fond of the look of the nose but knew how few were built. Can't imagine stumbling onto one in a bar or field.

http://news.yahoo.com/69-daytona-lef...222005876.html

[rnhood]

I was never a fan of the nose cone and to a lesser extent, the high spoiler. But the Charger Daytona represented the pinnacle of muscle cars, and was reasonably aero. I was in love with the '68 Charger body style. Never had one, but always wanted one.

[likebikes]

So ugly.

[gomango]

I grew up with a gearhead dad.

We had an AAR Cuda, a 340 six pack Dart Swinger and a string of Chargers that were cast offs from my Grandpa.

Eventually, Dad brought home a 1970 Superbird and mom had a fit!!!!!

FWIW It drove him nutzo that I was into Euro sports cars.

He wouldn't touch them when my brother and I worked on them.

Liked it when we sold them.

Mark, thanks for sharing this one. Great memories for me.

[Llewellyn]

Originally Posted by likebikes

So ugly.

Americans always seem to be able to put the "muscle" into muscle cars, but never the style. You need the Europeans to do that.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by Llewellyn

Americans always seem to be able to put the "muscle" into muscle cars, but never the style. You need the Europeans to do that.

Plum Crazy was the epitome of style. 68-71 Mopar ruled in its own way without following anyone else.

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by Llewellyn

Americans always seem to be able to put the "muscle" into muscle cars, but never the style. You need the Europeans to do that.

The Daytona and Superbird, in addition to a few others, were designed specifically to race on high speed ovals and were based on existing platforms. "Stock" car racing back then required that the base vehicle be available for purchase by the general public. These cars were not built with any intent to appeal to the general public. Most actually didn't sell for years.

The cars won virtually every race on a high speed oval and in short order the rules were changed making them illegal, followed by the legendary Hemi. Oh the good ol' days.

[Plum Hill]

Rarer yet would be the Charger 500 with flush grill and backlight.
For me, I'd rather have a Talladega or Cyclone Spoiler.

http://www.wwnboa.org

[Shoeman]

I can remember when they were new & the dealers had a hard time selling them. They sat on the lots for a long time with big discounts at the end I believe.

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by gomango

I grew up with a gearhead dad.

We had an AAR Cuda, a 340 six pack Dart Swinger and a string of Chargers that were cast offs from my Grandpa.

Eventually, Dad brought home a 1970 Superbird and mom had a fit!!!!!

FWIW It drove him nutzo that I was into Euro sports cars.

He wouldn't touch them when my brother and I worked on them.

Liked it when we sold them.

Mark, thanks for sharing this one. Great memories for me.

Wow, an AAR and a Superbird! Friend in high school had a yellow AAR Cuda, but I don't think I ever saw a Superbird in the wild.

Too bad you missed our gravel ride as there's a big Mopar collector in the start town. When I got back into town he was out in the lot working on a black Dodge that I hadn't seen before and couldn't quite identify, but it reminded me of my Charger. Turned out to be a '69 Super Bee. I asked what it was worth and he said he'd probably ask $28,000 for it. He has a Hemi car but I can't remember if it's a GTX or something else.

Road and Track was my favorite magazine growing up and I liked lots of European cars I read about. Just not very practical to own one living so far from anywhere to buy a part. We could generally keep a GM car going with used parts as there were numerous salvage yards within 15 miles. Not many foreign cars in the yards around here.

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

Rarer yet would be the Charger 500 with flush grill and backlight.
For me, I'd rather have a Talladega or Cyclone Spoiler.

http://www.wwnboa.org

I never knew about the 500 being designed for better aerodynamics than the other Chargers. I remember seeing one, and just thought it was a base model.

I almost bought a '69 Torino instead of the Charger. Torinos and even more so the Cyclone look huge and heavy to me now. In a Mercury, my favorite would be the Cougar.

[Charles M]

I'll see your Charger and raise you a 58' Aston Martin DB4...




http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a27563/cuban-aston-martin-barn-find/

[gasman]

Originally Posted by donevwil

The Daytona and Superbird, in addition to a few others, were designed specifically to race on high speed ovals and were based on existing platforms. "Stock" car racing back then required that the base vehicle be available for purchase by the general public. These cars were not built with any intent to appeal to the general public. Most actually didn't sell for years.

The cars won virtually every race on a high speed oval and in short order the rules were changed making them illegal, followed by the legendary Hemi. Oh the good ol' days.

Supposedly the only reason the spoiler stuck up so high was so that the versions sold to the public would have a usable trunk. In other words, the trunk couldn't be opened otherwise.
At least that's what I remember reading in Road and Track back when it was a real car magazine.

[fuzzalow]

Boy, those stock cars bring back memories of grammar school. Back when the cars were built on the stamped steel chassis of the actual production cars. The era before the restrictor plate I think.

Whereas now they are tubular steel chassis with whatever look-a-like body shell the race car is supposed to loosely represent - all done away from the lines of a production car for reasons of slipperier aerodynamics.

I don't have any idea how the NASCAR superspeedway cars sold in dealers but I doubt they weren't all spoken for as presold at the time they were offered for sale. There were no more than 500 made for each Daytona & Superbird for the MOPAR crowd and should have been the same number for the Talledega Torino. Ford and Dodge/Plymouth were required to make that many to homolagate them as legal for "stock car" racing being those models were actually sold to the public. They were never production run cars and I'd question whether any were actually made in a Ford or Chrysler facility - It would seem more sense to subcontract this out to somebody else.

I have seen very few of these in the wild and what I might have witnessed on the street may well have been modded or counterfeits. These superspeedway edition cars have been highly coveted and valued for a long, long time.

[whateveronfire]

Originally Posted by Charles M

I'll see your Charger and raise you a 58' Aston Martin DB4...

Yes please. Where are these mythical barns?!