One of the most outrageous-looking muscle cars to emerge in the late 1960s was the Dodge Charger Daytona. With its aerodynamic front end and huge rear wing, it was designed to give Chrysler an edge in NASCAR on superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega. Between 500 and 550 copies were built for public consumption as well, most fitted with a 440 cubic-inch V8 like the seller’s car. Finished in what appears to be “Petty Blue”, this Daytona is in Midway, Utah, and is available here on eBay for $319,999.
Buyers of the street Charger Daytona had their choice between the 440 or a 426 Hemi, of which the latter only saw about 70 installations. And most came with 3-speed automatics as only 22 were sold with 4-speed manuals. Either way, the starting price was under $4,000 which sounds like a bargain considering that they can fetch six figures today. The race-tuned version of the car reached more than 200 mph on the racetrack, yet only captured six victories in 1969 and 1970. Changes in NASCAR rules prevented the cars from competing going forward. The 1970 Superbird was the Plymouth version of the Daytona.
The seller is cautious in not saying this car was repainted, only that there has never been any rust and the body panels are original. While the car comes with loads of documentation, the fender cowl indicates the car was painted yellow when it was built, so a switch to a blue akin to Richard Petty’s cars looks to have taken place. But very well done. The numbers are said to match, so mechanically this Dodge should be as it was equipped from the factory in 1969. With only 63,000 miles, the car serves mainly as a show vehicle today.
Back in its racing days, the Daytona was referred to as a “Winged Warrior,” but that term also applied to the Ford Torino Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, and – of course – the Superbird. This car is offered by its third owner and comes with a load of documentation including the build sheet. The interior is the only part of the car that the seller indicates has been restored. Assuming $400,000 is the going rate for these cars (if you can find one), the seller is offering this one at 20% below the presumed market value. For a quick sale, perhaps?
Let it be known when these came out they sat on dealership lots so long, the dealers wouldn’t even drive them. They cut the stickers thousands and still no sales. They were ugly and stupid looking. In my humble pie opinion, still are! 319k would buy a nice townhome overlooking the gulf here in Florida. Think how stupid that is… THINK!
jv – smash palace
No, wrong. The Daytonas were only 504 and they sold fairly well without trouble. It was the frumpier looking, 1900+ car Superbird that sat around lots too long. I do agree with you that 300K is enough to change most of our lives, and the price is what it is, but it is also vulgar that such prices and the means to pay them are allowed to exist. Just think how happy that townhome on the coast would truly thrill the average person, I bet a lot more than this car would thrill the rich old dude who buys this at that price.
” no, wrong ” ??
obnoxius and unsubstantiated
ya, its a legend, very rare, and built with plenty power to enjoy..
also obnoxious is a price ending in 9s, especially 4 of them
like a supermarket or gas station, cause were all stupid enough to think:
‘ oh ! what a good deal, its only $ 319,999 and not 320,000 ‘
is the car that lost the ‘Aero Wars’ really worth this much ?!
if so, whats an equal condition Talladega worth ?? at least the Ford, in my opinion, is good looking.
But hey, theres a seat for every arse
I sold mine when the government insisted that I go to southeast asia. I remember that my dad wouldn’t let me put it in our barn. I learned how to fly helicopters and remember the parades held for us in Auburn, Indiana when I got home in 1972.
I loved the car and don’t remember my dad paying me when he sold it. I started work as a gas station attendant for Gulf in 1965.
Some of the rich old guys paid their dues.
All irrelevant. The simple answer is that it was not designed to look pretty. Aesthetics was never taken into consideration. It was designed ONLY to go like stink and stick to the road like your morning dump sticks to a blanket. The fact that 500 had to be sold to the public is neither here nor there. I would not drive one myself but I would not hesitate to invest in one if I were ever in the position.
Humble Pie. 30 Days in the Hole! Good rock band in the 70’s. Thanks for the flashback, JE!
It’s not like you are taking 300 large and throwing it in the street. You buy it, it’s an investment you can enjoy. If you enjoy folks laughing at you, but still…
When the novelty wears off, you turn it over to some other sucker…er…collector. Can you do any of that with a nice townhome? Well, most of it, though I suppose the getting laughed at might be harder to arrange.
Gorgeous
The taillights were ugly?
“The taillights were ugly”, that’s your best shot? Personally, that black filled-in gap between the front end and the nose cone didn’t do it for me. The only people that saw my taillights were those disappearing in my rear view mirror!
“ The taillights were ugly”, that’s your best shot?
I wish, when these hit the showrooms I had bought everyone of them. I’d be “bucks-up” and sitting pretty right now.
We can all dream little dreams Greg.
I’d much rather have a Daytona than a Florida townhouse. A hurricane will wipe out that house in a heartbeat………THINK how stupid that is…..THINK!
319k would be a nice down payment on the 1100sqft 2br 1ba Reseda (San Fernando Valley) home my parents bought back in 1958 for $5000.
Please let me know where exactly in Florida I can buy a townhome with a gulf view for $319k!
Crossing over from Montana to Wyoming on my way to Yellowstone about 20 years ago, on a two lane hwy I look in my rear view mirror and said to my 15 year old son, I think I see a Daytona coming. That was a rare sight even then. Seconds later it blew by us, I’ll never forget it. I love 69 Daytona’s!
Y2 on the fender tag is Sunfire Yellow for 1969. They did a great job respraying Richard Petty blue. It looks great on this Daytona. I was lucky enough to be a passenger in a Daytona and Superbird. Also behind the wheel of a Superbird back in my early life. Is this price high yes for normal folks. But if this was on BJ Auctions close to $800,000. All you need is one person to cash in some stock and it’s sold. If I had stock to sell… Hell yeah I would buy this Daytona hands down !!! Why not.. Life is short enjoy it. Good luck to the next owner.. 🐻🇺🇸
Russ, actually the Talladega and Cyclone II were referred to as aero cars. Only the ‘bird and Daytona were called “Winged Warriors.”
Yep! I like it a lot! I would prefer a Petty blue Superbird however. My first look at a wing car was in 1970 and I was 12 years old. The local gas station owner bought a new orange ‘bird and I must have spent an hour just looking at it, love at first sight. later in life I was lucky enough to do a full body restoration on a 24K mile B5 blue Superbird. If I win the lottery tomorrow I just might buy that Daytona and forget about it being damaged along with my Superbird in a Florida hurricane.
Back around 1970 in NE Ohio, I remember one just like it as a 11 or 12-year-old kid walking down the street back then, it passed me by and defiantly got my attention. Still great looking cars that had a design purpose.
heard a 70 superbird punching it from the corner; thought? get outta the way! going thru the cross street hit a car slammed into a tall curb. driver ran (car jacking in the 70s?)….cops kept chasing us away for hitting the beep,beep horn. remember it was red?…i ended up with a 69 Daytona needing work. ended up on a KZ1000 cheaper to ride.
I kid in my high school bought an orange one (his dad also owned a gas station) and he’d cruise Van Nuys Blvd in it. But even that wouldn’t get him laid.
To this day, I’ve never understood “why” on this car. Most of the car was pretty nice looking, but that “spoiler” … naw. I lived out in west Texas back then, and I knew a guy who thought he was cool and that women would just crawl into this car… he was wrong, as far as I ever knew, he couldn’t get a girl to ride in this thing. He finally got rid of it and went to a bit more conventional looking car….and, his social life picked up as well. West Texas was a great place to drive a car like this, but I rarely saw one out there.
Also the Daytona and Superbird was way ahead of the times. But I always love the way they look. Living in NY I was lucky to see these on the street. People back then couldn’t understand them. 🐻🇺🇸
Here we go again. 499 Daytona’s made, not 500-550.
40 Hemi Daytona’s made, NOT 70.
Don’t care what you heard or read.
1200 plus orders from Dodge dealers and repair garages ordered Daytona’s.
Since a rule existed in Nascar of 500 units in 1969.
Nascar changed this rule for 1970 to one unit (SuperBird), for every two Plymouth dealers, hence the production of 1935 units
Daytona’s did not have a hard time selling.
The Bird, having a higher mandatory production run, of which Chrysler did not want to build, but, rules are rules to qualify to get Richard Petty back to Plymouth.
Very good friend of mine who also shares our truth on the production of the Daytona, and has shared a printed an 4×8 about color card specific to the Hemi version.
Of known units, 21 Auto and 16 4-speeds. 3 unknown.
Colors: V2=13, R4=5, F6=4, T5=3, W1=3, X9=3, Y2=3, B5=1, F8=1, R6=1. 3=Unknown.
35 sold in the U S.
5 in Canada. All Hemi Daytona numbers have a J for the engine.
The last 6 of the 3 not found Daytona’s: 381534, 408036, 412546.
30 Hemi Daytonas exist, confirmed. Lots more, but I gotta get back on the road.
sounds like you know your stuff BUT, there’s at least 6 different people on the internet that don’t agree with each other on the numbers made and 500 was the mandatory number for NASCAR rules, it was the 1960’s and 70’s anything was a go during production! I’m not surprised and I’ve it with my own eyes lots of cars were tagged wrong or made off line. guess we will never know.
Understood why you question what I actually have from Chrysler.
It is a long story of how the numbers got out of hand.
In the beginning, it was figured on a percentage, not actual count.
I know of tv shows and books that print that misinformation.
Mother Mopar gave the organization we created in 1974, Winged Warriors,
documents pertaining to the Daytona specific.
Other pertinent information is being held by others and they do not share the way I-we do.
It woud take hours of corrections to educate everyone.
It’s more important to those of us owning these cars.
For those who don’t get the purpose of them, they were purpose built
only to win, nothing else, racing. The story does not stop here, but I have things I do besides these cars history.
I don’t need to convince those that don’t get it. That is your loss
Joe, the biggest thing I want to know is if there is any truth to the rumors that dealers disassembled these to make them look like a “normal” car (Roadrunner, Satellite, etc) in order just to sell them.
I mean, these cars became legendary, and I can see a dealership or two being desperate, but I find it almost impossible to believe that happening.
Plus they had Coronet front fenders, making the replacement of the entire front clip being the only way to return them to “normal”.
I must say that my 2013 Challenger SRT8 Core in Plum Crazy Pearlcoat and the HPP Daytona Retro Package satisfies my itch for one of these with a quarter million left in the bank. 500 HP, Shaker Hood, Daytona Front end, big wing and the Plum Crazy Pistol Grip Shifter let’s me cruise down the interstate getting 28 MPG in a/c comfort, satellite radio, anti-lock Brembro brakes. Most people that see it don’t even know it’s a recreation. Consistent car show crowd pleaser as well😊
Love everything about it , even the color, not to be petty!
But would rather have a clone
Will you take a check for $100K? Please.
Whats the hangups with gettin laid in a car?
Get a room dingleberry cheapskate
You never know where these will turn up. In the 90s, I worked for an asphalt company, we were doing a long driveway at a very rural farm. During one of the many breakdowns, we’re sitting around, I look in a lean to shed, a car under a cover with what looked like a wing. Naturally, I had to look, it was a blue Daytona just like this, middle of nowhere. I always wondered what happened to that car. And yes, they were poor sellers, so much so, I read many dealers removed the nose and wing and sold them as regular Chargers. I can only imagine a warehouse full of noses and wings.
Again, the Bird, not Daytona, experienced the wing or nose removal issue.
Again, because 4 times more Birds produced than Daytonas, because of a racing organizations rule, Nascar, one for every two dealers. Hence, 1935 Birds. Daytona, rule was 500, hence the 69 Charger 500 name.
The Daytona was under the 500 rule.
Stuff like this, confusing history from one vehicle to another.
Thanks, Joe. You know how it is to the layperson, tomato, tomahto, what’s the difference,,,
PRA4SNW: yes sir, the hood and fendes wouldbee removed, then install the 70 hood, fenders, grill, bumper, etc.
I physically saw and chased down 2 Birds in California that were converted to Runners.
Those not in the know would ask, Then with no wing or nose, how can you tell if it was a Bird.
The rear window and sheetmetal work were Bird specific.
One did not know it was a BIrd.
I had him follow me to my shop, opened his hood and showed what number on the fender/body plate had the confirmation code.
A Bird Serial number is just like a Runner. RM is Road Runner.
RS, GTX.
RM23-0A is the first 7 digits for a Runner and the Birds.
On the body plate next to the battery, the last numbers is the serial sequence.
Immediately above the 6 digit serial is 6 digits all alone.
The letter J is the first, designating the Bird.
The following 5 numbers, the balance of the Bird specific code, unique to each Bird.
That, after I would see that rear window, would confirm the car.
What I don’t have is actually how many conversions were done.
Doug Schellinger in Wisconsin could possibly have a closer count of how many had that happen.
For the Daytona, I never saw, fingerprinted, or heard of a conversion.
The Daytona rear window is so obvious to be a 69 Charger 500 or Daytona.
A 69 Charger 500 and 69 Daytona code specific is in the same location on body plate.
The 500 codes are 6 numbers, no letters involved.
The 500 starts with 925.
Daytona, with 1,200 ordered is 926 and 927.
I have every single cancelled 926-927 code, besides the actual built cars of 926-927. Sorry this is so long, but, I love the people I meet along with the cars.
I have always liked variety in cars.
Some ask me, which is your favorite over the years?
I answer, it’s a mood thing.
Having Daytonas, Charger RTs, Charger 500’s, convertibles, Imperials, Cadillac, Edsels, real Nascar racecar, it is a feeling that day.
I have taken different cars to shows, cnc’s, club breakfast like this morning.
Currently I am finishing another building, this one for only hard parts, iron, steel, anything that is not affected by heat or cold.
Living here in Palm Desert, it hits 125 plus in Summer.
No rust, but cooks rubber, vinyl, plastic, etc.
Off to see what to drive this morning.
Have an amazing day.
I will be 78 in a few months, so just keep busy.
Thanks for the info., Joe. I had a feeling that you would have an idea on the converted birds – glad that at least couple of them have been rescued.