A unique grille and other details helped the ’69 Charger 500 slice through the wind, specifically with NASCAR racing in mind. This 1969 Dodge Charger 500 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada could be one of fewer than 40 remaining, according to the listing here on eBay. At least seven bidders have jumped into the slipstream, whipping the high bid beyond $50,000 without meeting the seller’s Reserve. These special models can bring north of $150,000, so grab your popcorn as the action plays out. Thanks to reader Larry D. for spotting this brilliant Hem Orange specimen.
Under the hood, the 500 packs the same 375 HP 440 cid (7.2L) V8 available in many B-body Mopars that year. With factory air conditioning, power windows, power brakes, and power steering, this 500 was not ordered with hard-core racing in mind. A spartan description urges buyers with questions to message the lonely seller.
The flush rear window made the 500 more slippery than the buttress-flanked glass on other ’69 Chargers. Details from an earlier sale on DodgeCharger describe restoration work done in 1984 and a refresher in 1999 that included a $10,000 paint job, about $17,500 in today’s Canadian dollars. The “500” script reminds envious onlookers that NASCAR required that 500 or more production cars reached showrooms before one circled the track on race day. Dodge got by with 392 of these beauties, according to RoadAndTrack, and none ever raced! Dodge simply shipped the 500-specific parts to racing teams who added them to existing racers to save time.
The “buddy seat” folds up to seat six in a pinch. How many six passenger muscle cars are sold today? While Dodge kept the “500” name as a trim level in 1970, the custom aerodynamics only graced the 500s of 1969.
Wide tail lamps differed radically from the circular units of 1968. Clean is the name of the game at the Charger’s stern. Though not perfect, this sweet Charger 500’s rarity and overall excellent condition should bring stronger bids as the auction wanes. Have you seen a ’69 Charger 500 in the wild?
AC, and power brakes? That’s going to ding the ‘ol bank account…
And yes, I have seen one. My buddy in San Fran took my wife and I for a drive like it was a Bullitt reenactment.
I remember seeing one when they were new,
during a family trip to Southern California.
I thought that was pretty cool!
our bro worked at Norms back then. our dad needed a new car. walked the lot drooling over all the Mopes. 69 500 stuck out? didn’t really like it? our dad bought a 64 Merc. with power back window! cool! I ended up owning a 69 Daytona later in life. …lot’s O Mopars since 75. sold my Daytona. lost my job. guy was gonna restore it. he took all the good stuff off. was sitting next a 67 R/T convert. the garage burned down! he still made more money parting it out than i sold it for.
Did these & Charger Daytonas ever appear in the same Nascar race together?
I’m always amazed how rare optional & not that expensive cruise control was in the ’60’s. Not on this loaded car either.
Love it!! never seen a 500 in person.lots of wing cars though. In the early 70s sombody had a orange wing car that never left the carport.One day i heard a thunder of a car come around the corner by my house-the only time i saw it move. I lived in seattle and there where a lot of cool cars. A guy up our street had a gtx that packed a hemi-you could here him a mile away. o ya someone drove around a ac croba that showed up a lot. those where fun days.
When I lived in Colorado Springs ’72-’74 a friend in high school family had
one each of a Superbird and Daytona. They were for sale but no one
wanted them due to the gas shortage-as I remember one of the two had
column shift Torqueflite and bench seat. Definitely a “motorhead” family,
said friend had as his daily driver a Chevelle wagon which had had a 396
and 4 speed installed, quite the grocery getter to cruise Academy Boulevard.
I didn’t know Chrysler/Dodge’s hideaway headlights function was an option…learn something everyday.
Keith, the 500 grill was moved forward for aerodynamics, hence no hidden doors
Oh okay, I didn’t check out the full description in the article signifying that it is a “500” model..my bad Thanks for clarifying for me Paul
Excluding the above 500 model, all other Chargers ’68-’70 came with std recessed hidden headlites. Exposed non hidden headlites were not an option.
Money car!
As a young kid, a limelight super bird asked a group of us to stay on the sidewalk as it left two long black patches down the street. That started my affection for cars. There was a Petty blue super bird for sale a few years back at a dealer near my parents in AL, should have bought that one. The service writer at a local dealer had a pic of one in his office. I asked him if the 500 was his. He said yup, still has it a few towns over.
Yes in Canada, check out the sellers show truck.
Saw one at the dealer in Charlotte NC. Have seen plenty of the winged cars. This is racing territory.
These cars are rare. Had the pleasure of driving a Hemi powered one in 2006, while an editor at Hemmings Motor News. Driving it on the NY Thruway near Albany, the owner seated next to me said NAIL IT. I did, it downshifted to second, Torqueflite, and took off like a rocket. On the side of the road was a state trooper as I went by at like 110 mph. He just looked and probably liked the site of it in contrast to boring SUVs, also driving just as fast. Ah, the cars today are so butt ugly and just big computers. USELESS.
I know where there is one in a small collection. No engine or transmission, but really nice body and not on the registry. Bought it in the 80s when they were worthless. Guy won’t sell right now, but at least it’s being kept inside. The 500 was slippery, but not enough so they added the nose cone and wing and called it the Daytona; still in 1969. Plymouth made the Superbird in 1970.
The Charger 500 was a band-aid car, just to allow Dodge’s teams to be more competitive until the Daytona development and homologation production run were complete.
The ’68 and ’69 Charger’s recessed grille and upright rear window had proved to be huge aerodynamic liabilities, even in comparison to their sister Plymouth Road Runners. Dodge wanted their teams in Chargers, not switching to Super Bees, so the “quickie” fix was the more aero-efficient rear window plug (likely pulled ahead from the Daytona development program) and to slap a ’68 Coronet grille out at the leading edge of the Charger’s grille opening to reduce its inherent aero liabilities.
This might be Cool Joe Machado’s car. Or at least one of the dozens he’s owned or sold or bought new. I’m shocked he hasn’t shown up to give all of us a reminder of just how Cool, Cool Joe Machado the Mopar king really is!
45 minutes left. $50,399
And that is what it ended at, reserve not met.
Working at the family dealership in ’84, I took one this color on trade for a turbo Laser. It was hemi orange, but with white buckets and a hemi engine. It was all original save for new front seat covers. I took it to lunch one day. Coming back, I got the red light a block from the dealership. I turned the corner when it turned green and nailed the gas. Half a block later as I was going past our small town’s grocery store, I passed 60 mph. There was a car getting ready to leave the store’s parking lot, and the thought occurred to me that if it was ready to pull onto the street when I turned the corner, I would have T-Boned it. I pulled into the dealership, had it cleaned, then buried it in the showroom with a couple cars between it and the door. That cured my desire to drive a hemi.
I saw one in a junk yard back in the late 70s. Even then I thought these were cool. Of course with gas at the astronomical price of a dollar a gallon, anything like this was like a dead skunk in the road. You steered clear of it and got away as fast as you could. That junk yard car with the blown engine but otherwise great body and interior, probably could have been bought for a song and stored until the prices were right to sell. Of course, I wasn’t in the proper time in my life to do anything like that. Plus no one thought that things like this would ever be valuable again. Hindsight is 2020.