The Charger Daytona was conceived to provide NASCAR teams with leverage at super-speedways like Daytona and Talladega. The lower nose clip and rear wing were all about giving the cars an aerodynamic advantage. In the process, about 500 street copies were built to appease the racing gods. This real race car was driven by NASCAR legend Bobby Allison who logged four laps in excess of 200 mph (this was 19 years before carburetor restriction plates). Available here on Mecum, this Dodge will be up for auction in Kissimmee, Florida in January 2023. Our thanks to Larry D for this one-of-a-kind tip.
Validated by Bobby Allison himself as the real thing, this race car was found languishing in a barn, and it was painstakingly restored some years ago to its original, on-track condition. How long it had been there is not known. This was a test car that was used before the Daytona models were first unveiled for competition at the Fall race in Talladega, Alabama. Though the speeds are not considered official, a copy of lap reports come with the vehicle attesting to the 200+ mph feat.
The heart of the track Charger Daytona was the 426 cubic inch “Hemi” V8. But this motor was tuned to produce 650 hp as opposed to the 425 that the stock editions put out. Everything mechanical would be as it was in 1969 and there’s no mention if this car has seen any track time since being restored. Wearing the red and gold Coca-Cola colors of Bobby’s cars that season, this car is a show winner. It won first place at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in 2005 and has lived at a museum in Tacoma, Washington for the past two years.
Inside where Bobby lived, the interior reflects the heritage of NASCAR racing with a braced single seat, tape-wrapped steering wheel, Hurst floor shifter, Prestolite ignition parts, custom gauge dash, and a full roll-cage. The Daytona would be a short-lived experiment within NASCAR, as was the similar Plymouth Superbird. Dodge moved on from the Charger Daytona after a single season. Do you have a collection that you can add it to, even if just in your dreams?
Hmm, I don’t know why I even doubted the author, it WAS the 1st race car to top 200 mph. Never knew that, mostly because, and Russ didn’t mention, USAC used Daytonas too, but mostly on smaller tracks that never saw those kinds of speeds. I believe USAC got to run Daytonas longer due to a ruling glitch, anyone? Fun stuff, always liked vintage stock car racing. Calling it that today doesn’t quite have the same zing, as cars have morphed into jellybean look alikes, and we never even see the driver. Not sure what to do with this, if anyone here is even remotely thinking of buying this, I’m in the wrong place,,or they are, but racing still pulls them in, a sport as old as the car itself.
And to be clear, the “stock” hemi put out more than 425 hp. Didn’t it seem odd, all those motors, R code Ford, 409 GM, 396 all seem to be 425hp? More like 500, but insurance, I believe, thought that was too much to advertise.
A lot of people don’t know about the 396 that had 425 horsepower.
To be even more anal on Hemi horsepower numbers, a tuned “Street Hemi” was around 500 hp in 1969 and the “Race Hemi” with the new design KB D series heads with a single 4 barrel made 670 hp more or less, at Chrysler’s dyno.
and using a flat tappet cam! Probably a design close to the Mini-Express mushroom lifter cam
THE car I wanted to own as a kid in high school watching the race on TV and all of us going crazy when Allison & team performed their magic, and the reason I bought my ‘72 Charger when I was told it would go faster because of the new aerodynamic shape..
Not that a small block MoPar could ever approach that, but more than a few runs from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas saw it tried…
An icon of a phenomenal time in stock car racing.
Wowser.
Hi Nev, you never know where a Daytona/Superbird will showup. Many moons ago, it seems,( mid 90s) I worked for an asphalt company in SC Wis. and we did a driveway on some rural farm in the middle of nowhere. During one of the many breakdowns, we’re all sitting around, nobody home, I’m looking in a shed, and a car is under a cover, with the wing sticking out. Naturally, curiosity won, I pulled back the cover, and a blue Superbird, in perfect shape. I asked the other workers, “anyone know what a Superbird is?” Not many did. I wonder what ever happened to that car?
Morning Howard, a buddy has one buried in a garage for years now. His is white, you know the drill. Gonna restore it someday. His health is failing so maybe see it on the block soon. Take care, Mike.
Howard, I was in Ashland, WI around 40 years ago and a beautiful blue 69 Daytona was sitting outside of a gas station near the Hardees where I had just stuffed my face with great food. I wandered over to ogle it and the station owner came out and asked if I wanted to buy it. It looked brand new. Can’t remember how many miles on it but not too many as I recall. The owner had it for at least 7 or 8 years when he “bought it off some rich spoiled snot that got tired of it”. That was before the first oil shock and this was just after the second one. The guy was around 50 years old, was pretty honest. Said he was getting “too old to act like a kid” and in all honesty didn’t want to fill her up anymore as despite his own discount on gas, he no longer sold premium. Asked what I would be willing to pay for it. Told him I had young kids and it wasn’t for me. He did dangled a three grand figure in front of me. Even then I knew that was a steal, but who knew that gas was going to get cheaper? We all thought it could go either way, plus my lovely wife wouldn’t like it. Besides, I have always been a practical guy as far as cars went, this was not that. No, just wasn’t practical for a young family man to buy something so frivolous. Little did I know it could have put our three kids through college.
I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to tell this story. About 10 – 12 years ago I was a tractor trailer driver so I told all the receivers at my stops to please look out for me an old classic car that I could buy and restore. Weeks went by, and at one of my stops the receiver was extremely mad. He said he’s not a car guy. He stopped at this farm where he saw a car under a tarp next to a barn and house. He thought it was for sale. He pulled the tarp off to take a look when he heard a guy yell, ” The car ain’t for sale”. He looked up and saw two guys holding shot guns. He said an old lady came running out of the house with her shot gun. They told him to git. I asked the receiver what he saw under the tarp. He said it was lime green, had a picture of a roadrunner on it, and had weird thing on the back ( the wing ). He thought they were going to shoot him. Just goes to show you that you don’t know what’s still out there.
What kind of an idiot would walk up to a strange home and lift the tarp off someone’s car? He was lucky he was only told to git and not ”shown” how to git.
I passed up Sublime and Orange Superbirds back in 83. The orange one was rough, rusty and without the nose. 440 6bbl4 speed for $1500.00, the guy was sellong it because his son moved away.. The Sublime car had 14,000 miles and he wanted a dollar a mile for it. 440 4v/auto. It didnt sell until 91-92, for $14,000.00. If I only knew.
Howard A and Leiniedude:
I can answer some of your inquires on the Daytona, #22.
The actual laps Bobby Allison ran over 200 were not honored or=
Because he was a Chevy guy.
The practice and testing laps at Chelsea, Chrysler’s proving grounds were not recorded by Joe Epton, the official timer. Those laps ran an average of 205 plus.
Anyway, I almost bought this very Daytona in about 2008 ish.
Pat McKinney did the car. It was a Jim Radke Charger body and caged, but never saw track time.
It is an extremely well done car.
It was at Atlanta and Talladega, October 2019. I had my Neil Castles 06 Daytona there. We all had some track time at reduced speeds.
Howard A, I can answer some questions here.
USAC did not use Restrictor plates as Nascar. USAC also let all 5 Aero specific cars for 3 seasons, except the Daytona. The Daytona being introduced September 1969, late in season.
The Restrictor plate first appeared August 1970 at Michigan Speedway.
As for Vintage racing, I was not allowed to run my #22 Daytona in the early 80’s as they only honored sports cars, etc. Hence no Big car series yet.
The Ferrari club at Riverside Raceway after one day, said I can’t come back because I was too aggressive. Humm, racing, aggressive, k, I get. They were embarrassed as I lapped the entire field.
Also, road courses were slower and easier to insure, liability, etc. experience, and assorted other reasons.
Leiniedude: that White Bird of your buddy, is it in Las Cruces?
If so, without names, I picked up that car a year ago November 2021.
Hemi 4-speed with 11,000 miles. Son is doing it now.
Have tons of picures. Also video of this #22 on track at Atlanta 2019.
Interesting comment Joe, thanks for posting. Not Las Cruces, Wisconsin. Take care, Mike.
This car should really be on exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.
Surprised kind of it’s not already there. So that millions of people could
enjoy seeing it, in person.
650 HP,,,lol….now that’s Charger Power !
I always thought they were 800 hp for the NASCAR’s and detuned for the street to 426 hp with an added 4 bbl carburetor.
Bobby Allison also factored into when Restrictor plates became permanent.
The plates were put into use in 1988 as a result of a wreck in the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega that involved the car of Bobby Allison crashing into the front stretch catch fence at a high enough speed to destroy almost 100 feet of the fence and put the race under a red flag condition for two hours.
What provisions were made on these cars to allow side-entry airflow to not “ball up” into the pocket created by the back window ? It is a detail never shown in photos of these cars that surely was dialed in to work with the rest of the seriously over-thought aerodynamic engineering. Having only laid eyes on street versions, with full interior bodyshell sheetmetal, I have long wondered how that was addressed.
Burger,
I think I can answer your question. Dodge introduced a special edition called the Charger 500, with a special fastback rear window panel. This was done so they could use the Charger 500 body for the Daytona cars. I’m attaching a photo showing the different roof and rear window treatment.
Understood on the exterior aerodynamics, but not what I am asking …. let me try to ask differently, …. So, there is no sideglass on these racers. At speed, you got a lot of wind pounding into the interior body cavity through those open sides. Were there no backglass, the wind would just flow right through, but with backglass present to carry the exterior wind flow over the car, it creates something of a “parachute” effect for that air entering where the sideglass is not present.
Were there open body areas in the rear seat area to allow that air to freely pass through ?
That question I can’t answer. Anyone else want to try?
Did Bobby Isaac also do some tricks in one of these? I think he drove for K and K.
Burger, and a few inquires on inside air flow, turbulence and Nascar rules.
First, Dodge upon building the Daytona, had a rule book to go by, sorta.
It was the Nascar rule book.
What you would do is do what it does not cover, or interpret to fit what needs you desired, hopefully.
But, the interior air flow, Pockets.
As I have the actual Wind Tunnel Test car for the Daytona development, which also was used for the 69 Charger 500, and the RT’s.
The rules at first were windows up. Then changed to read screens, then a net for the drivers head.
George Wallace, the walking computer, would do quite a variety of tests.
George would hold up a Hankie and watch what helped or interfered with turbulence. George discovered that the roll bars by the windowless interior, should either bbbbe moved out to keep air from entering as much as possible and using padding to deflect air entry. Not 100%, but anything is better.
George would wrap an arm to help him be sorta stable and able to see what was happening.
As for the Isaac tricks? Not sure on that, unless the reference is what Harry Hyde would do. Kenny Trout can answer some of that.
We did a recreation at the Bonneville salt flats on the 45th anniversary and my son’s Daytona was the Nascar Race Hub camera car.
I have some funny stuff we did while film crew quit and wanted to film later for lighting they prefer. Hot Rod magazine was there also.
Back in rgw Exner years, racers packed the headlight pockets and other forward facing pockets with clay, to NOT have pockets and smooth airflow over the car’s exterior. Anyone who drives these car , like a 57 300, know that with the side glass down, there is a staggering amount of turbulence inside the car at speeds over 45. I cannot imagine the drag factor of a 69 Charger’s rear interior compartment at 200mph, but it had to be substantial. Are there air flow exit vents cut in to the package tray/sail panels/elsewhere in the rear seat area to let rammed side air to flow through ?
It seems odd that if they went to all the thought and trouble of the nose design and rear wing angles, and the fender bump-ups, that the interior air pocket was overlooked or ignored.
Stunning car !!!
“It happened in March of 1970 at Talladega when Buddy Baker blistered the tarmac of that 2.66mi. long track at 200.447mph lap during tire testing. Though unofficial, Baker’s performance…was widely touted as the first time a stock car had cracked the double ton. There was talk at the time that Bobby Allison had done so earlier…, but “officially”, Baker’s blue #88 winged car has been honored as the first past 200.” VINTAGE & HISTORIC STOCK CARS, Dr. John Craft, pp. 48-49.
“Worried about ever-increasing speeds and safety, NASCAR officials introduced the carburetor restrictor plate in 1970.” op. cit. p.47.
I was a flag worker, in the 1970 Motor Trend 500, at Riverside International Raceway, when Bobby Allison drove that car. Bobby Allison was one of my favorite drivers. Bobby could drive any racecar successfully. Watching that Daytona and the other Daytona and Supper Birds go up through the “Esses” was a hoot.
A few years later, as Chief Flag Marshal, I was at the track early, about 5:30 AM, on Sunday of the Winston Western 500. I had our flags hanging on the pit fence, hosing them of. We had rain the day before and the flags were muddy.
Bobby walked over to me and asked “Who are you?” I told him that was in-charge of the flag team. He asked when I’d be done. He said, “When you’re, meet me at the refreshment stand in the garages and I’ll buy you breakfast. He did. Two eggs, bacon and a waffle. He sat with me while we both ate. He was one of the nicest pro drives that I ever met and I met quite a few. That was one of my favorite memories. I have a lot of racing memories.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/motor-trend-500-nascar-riverside-bobby-allison-bobby-isaac-news-photo/150189018
fantastic story ….thanks for sharing
Danny,
Sadly,most of the “Good Old Boy” racers are passing away
one-by-one.
I visited the Wood Brothers Racing Museum in Stuart,Virginia
earlier this year,& was surprised to meet Leonard Wood.He still comes
into the shop there.