I’ve heard quite a few tales about a Dodge Daytona that’s been hiding in Alabama, but I’ve yet to see any high quality photos of when it was found. Finally, more photos of this winged Mopar has finally surfaced! It’s been pulled out of the barn and is now going to auction at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January! The photos of it here on Mecum look absolutely breath taking, but sadly they are staged. The car was originally found in a car port, not a barn. That’s alright though, as this find is still incredible! If you are interested in throwing your hat into the ring, you can bid on it on January 15th. Special thanks to Franke P. for this tip!
In typical auction house style, Mecum does it’s best to sensationalize this Daytona, with some lovely photos of it in a barn with lots of hay to cover the tracks. Above is a shot of where it was actually found. The story goes that it was purchased new by a local judge for his wife. They owned it until 1974, from there it went into the second owner’s care, who was the one that parked it. They were also the ones to add flames and paint to the door scallops. It gave this winged warrior an interesting look to say the least, but then again these were already pretty over the top cars so why not make them even more ridiculous! With only 20k miles on the clock, it was parked in a car port and left to the elements.
As you can see, Alabama is not the place to leave your rare and desirable high performance car outside. If the exterior doesn’t scare you away, maybe the interior will! I find the auction house’s description of the interior to be rather interesting. Never do they state that it has been ravaged by the elements, time and most likely rodents, but they do point out that the seats were optioned with headrests and that the interior has been “stabilized”. Now that last part is really what has me intrigued! What do they mean by that? Do they mean they’ve evicted all the mice or is there some magical chemical I don’t know about that they’ve sprayed it to stabilize it for future use?
We’ve actually featured a number of Daytona barn finds over the years, but this one is the most perplexing to me. The seller and the auction house have really gone to great lengths to emphasis the importance of this being an unrestored barn find. I’m alright with them stating it’s a barn find, even though it was found in a car port, but I’m not sure it matters whether it’s been restored or not. It was modified by it’s previous owner, so it isn’t exactly original and even if it was, to be driven ever again it is going to need a complete and extensive restoration. I really do feel it’s deserving of a restoration though, it’s a Daytona after all, but when everything has to be replaced anyways does originality matter that much? None the less, it is great to see finds like this coming to light and hopefully this car will be saved from further decay!
MoPar mavens will know better, but this looks to me like a VIN plate ready to have a new car jacked up under it. I don’t see a single part that won’t require either replacement or extensive rebuilding (well, maybe the brake pedal won’t), and that means the low-three-figure auction estimate will need to be doubled, if not tripled, before the Daytona meets the road again. Or will some bucks-up collector just put it in the middle of their collection and revel in its “as-found” status?
This is why I don’t go to auctions. Sorry, Josh, I don’t think there’s any solid metal/plastic/vinyl here that can be “saved from further decay.” I wish that wasn’t so.
As much as I have always been impressed that a No American carmaker would build a car like this for the road to homologate it for racing, the fact that a major auction house manipulated things in this way to market this car is a complete turnoff.
And as much as I like Barn Finds—the website, it seems to have come to the point where anything that gets a car connected to those two words gets thrown into the marketing pot. What’s next? Cars in pig pens? That’s pretty much what we have here in these photos.
This marketing ploy is just embarrassing. I don’t think I could bring myself to bid in an auction that has been staged this way even if I wanted the car and had the money to throw at it. I’d rather have a different car that hasn’t purposely been put in a pig pen for marketing photos.
I’m glad that it appeared on here so people can see what went into this sale, and comment on it.
Thanks Dolphin! I felt people needed to see this, as this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed auction houses and a particular car magazine (I won’t say which, but they’ve been featuring barn finds on their covers lately) manipulate the truth about a find to make it more sensationalized and subsequently make more money. Personally, I thought it was pretty awesome in the car port, but apparently someone else would disagree with me. It wouldn’t really even bother me if they would have stated that the photos in the listing aren’t of the car as it was found, but were staged afterwords. Sorry for the rant guys! Oh and Dolphin, if you don’t register CarsInPigPens.com I will ;)
Josh, you will have no competition from me to register that website name.
Have fun….but stay clean, buddy.
That almost looks staged…
I am glad that it was stated up front that this is staged, because it is so totally “over-the-top” staged that to assume this is where the car was found would be laughable. Anyway, I agree with Dolphin that to stage to this extent is great for making a calendar, but kinda cheesy for marketing the car for sale!
If it were really staged right, Doug M., the photo crew would have been able to hose off the fake dirt and mold, wipe away the fake rust and remove the phony rotten seatcovers before the Daytona’s owner jumped in, fired up that big 440, and drove home.
These cars have been highly sought after for decades, how did someone let it get so badly deteriorated? This car owner doesn’t deserve what he’ll get for this piece of history.
Whoever buys it gets what they deserve
Gawd those things are one of the ugliest cars built. I remember seeing them new when I worked at a gas station…….ugly then, nothing has changed. And huge……..like stupid huge
I guess dude didn’t want it that bad….
http://www.hotrod.com/cars/barn-finds/1511-barn-find-1969-dodge-daytona-charger-discovered-in-alabama/
So this guy screwed the owner out of this car and goes on about how excited he is and what he’s going to do with it and then less then a month later its heading to auction.
Yeah…it appears that’s about the long and short of it…sadly… I’d love to share the Barn Finds link to Hot Rod….but not sure how…
Thanks for sharing that article. It smacks of getting some free publicity for the sale, doesn’t it? I guess we don’t know the family circumstances, but I’d sure ask some pointed questions as to what changed…
Not that I EVER have to worry about buying one of these!
Thanks for the posting guys. It just shows what at lengths a underhanded flipper or auction house will do just to try and make a sale. If I was wanting one, this one would not be on my list because of all that crap. Good day guys and keep hunting.
And people wonder why I have such little respect for flippers.
Ditto Rancho, those cars are fugly. I even remember guys in the 60s and 70s making their own huge spoilers….out of what I’m not sure…maybe aluminum siding or a 1X6.
We all love the thrill of the hunt for these cars, and I don’t begrudge anyone the opportunity to pursue capitalistic supply-and-demand freedoms (#merica!). Now, if this seller legimately committed fraud or otherwise acted unethically in obtaining this car, then that needs to be pursued. And yeah, stapling some livestock onto a car for marketing purposes is just tacky. But finding a Daytona/Superbird/HemiCuda etc is the Holy Grail, Baby-Jesus-just-blessed-you epitome of American Barn Find-ing. For that reason it’s legit to be posted here.
I’d be shocked if the final bid comes anywhere near the auction house estimate.
Prepare to be shocked, compared to the rusty $152K 356.
If all things are equal, this should double the 356 price just on condition. It has to be more rare than the 356 as well.
Did they say if the 440 turn over with a wrench? Does anything have fluid left in it ?
Same house that sold a guy a “fake” Corvette. Car was “supposed to be a ’67. It wasn’t. They “used” the law and the little known fact that auction houses can’t be held accountable for perpetuating a story given them by the seller. Trust no one.
This circus side show is a joke totally perpetuated by greed.
http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/the-curious-case-of-the-fake-1967-corvette-1721955795
Slim says: “and the horse you rode in on”.
You want a fender? We can build you one. You want a history? We can build you one of them too.
WOW, this is the roughest looking Daytona I think I’ve ever seen. I mean, you’d think even the least knowledgeable person would know this is a rare car. And the backwards air cleaner seals the deal. Even Joe Dirt’s car looked better.
That’s gonna be a fun project.. The rats had a ball with that interior..
I also doubt the price will get to what’s shown… That said, it will be worth a fortune when the resto is completed..
I’ll always remember the day I had my own Superbird barn find! I used to be a real estate appraiser and was appraising a suburban acreage of about 5-10 acres. House with a garage and, what appeared to be a pole barn. The owner was present and I asked him if I could look in the barn. He seemed strangely reluctant but after talking with him about how it would help me value the outbuilding plus the contents of the appraisal report was confidential, only available to him and the lender he decided to open it up and let me see the inside. He pulled open the door and there was the rear wing of an original unrestored superbird! You could see he was gathering parts to restore it and we talked a bit about the car. I’ve always wanted to go back and find out if he hung onto it or sold it for big bucks…
Hi Mark, cool story. Here’s mine ( stop me if you’ve heard this one),,,,years ago ( mid 90’s) I worked for an asphalt company, and we did a driveway at a farm way out in the middle of nowhere. ( central Wis.) Ramshackle place with a few 3 sided out buildings. During one of our many breakdowns, we’re standing around waiting for the “mechanic” and I’m looking in these buildings, and under a cover, I see what appears to be a “wing”. Nobody was home, so I go over and pick up the cover, yup, a blue Superbird (or Daytona) in perfect shape. I said to the crew, “does anybody else here know what a “Superbird” is. And they all came to look. You never know where these will turn up.
Not to mention the owner let his dog sleep in the car as well. The owner must have hated the car for some reason. Maybe it reminded him of a painful past. There is something definitely awry in this cars history.
I still think it’ll go to the top, as there are very few of these cars left in “barns”.
A while back I watched a show not sure which one. It was one of these shows that was gear toward the part supplier of reproduction parts. The car of choice for the restoration was I believe a 68 charger they had a team of guys that started in removing rusty portions, at first very carefully and by the time they were done they had the fire wall, floor tunnel and front sub frame. They held onto enough dash structure to maintain the vin tag.all the needed parts were available, and this team of professionals basically built a new car around the vin tag. When it was all said and done they did manage to reuse the engine and trans as well. The car was legitimately still the same car by vin tag but barely. The whole point of the show was to sell repro. Parts which is fine but the final bill was over $60K. And it really wasn’t the car anymore. More a legalized fake. That is what will become of this car enough will be kept to say that it’s a Daytona, but very little of itwill be which mean some sucker is going to pay way to much for a pile of reproduction parts. In my mind it is just a little tiny bit of a fake at that point. But hey if the buyer is happy then so am I.
Thanks buddy , Time to repent .
I would not have near the resources to restore that car . The question was just the first thing that came to mind .
I’m not even a mopar guy , but through my employment in my youth , i had the privilege of driving one of those cars . To own one was a dream then .
They could have spared it the cow dung , but in the car port , the bottom of it might have been ok ..in .any case , i think one would have to watch what you payed , without seeing it .
If like to see that show. Did they remove the core support or rear body panel? On a 68 and older Mopar B body as the original VIN numbers are stamped there… so, you know, there’s those pesky laws about that.
All remember Steve is they started with rear quarters, then there was to much rust around the outer edge of the trunk so they put in temporary braces to keep the roof in place. While the were taking out the trunk floor they found more rust around the tail light and the section across the back so that came next. They next took out the rear window and windshield and the sills were rusted. As memory serve me the A pillars were salvageable so when they were done there was the fire wall, Driveshaft tunnel there may have been a small section of the floor under the back seat along with the over axle structure. There was nothing beyond that at the bact of the car.in front of the fire wall there was the frame section and maybe the rad support but I’m not sure about the rad support. I wish I could remember the name of the show. The car looked rusty when they first got it there but I think that they underestimated the level of rust.
I have one to top it all. 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird 440 6bbl 4 speed in Corporate Blue with the white interior. Cut out the back of a barn
(literally). It had 3,648 original miles on it and was never titled. It was also the 11th Superbird built and the 1st in Corporate Blue. I saw it at Carlisle and was mesmerized.
omg that’s depressing
Sorry, the staging for $ takes the OMG out of it…..IMHO
Attached is NOT staged (and not for sale…)
Alan f
Not staged….and not for sale….
There are only ugly if you don’t own one…..
I disagree if you own one or not it still is the best looking car ever made.
Update: This car is going across the block soon…I’m interested to see what kind of money it brings….
Lot#F186
As of this writing, they are on F138 and moving them thru fast..Live feed at http://www.mecum.com
$90,000…they estimated $150-$180,000…Hope he made the money he hoped…
I wonder if one of these was ever parked on the streets of NYC or Newark – overnight. Or if one of these was ever used by a teen for the ROAD TEST – with a 4 speed, hemi, & racing gears. Would like to see expression on driving’s instructor’s face. They might have to move the cones for the parallel parking test. & if you knew he was gonna fail you, as least then you could scare him with it, hoping you don’t get him next time & that he possibly quit. lol