When talking about Dodge’s old-school NASCAR hall of fame, the 1969 Charger Daytona gets most of the attention, not least thanks to setting a 200 mph closed course record back in the day. Then again, when switching to the road car siblings of those late-1960s racers, the 1969 Charger Daytona is an ever rarer example that comes with its own set of assets.
As Dodge introduced the sportier second-generation Charger for the 1968 model year, the Charger R/T race car fell behind Ford’s high-bank oval track contenders, the Ford Torino Talladega, and the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. And when engineers put the car in the wind tunnel, the culprits were quickly discovered. The deep front fascia increased drag, while the recessed rear window caused lift.
Naturally, the Mopar people wanted to stay as close to the appearance of the street car as possible, as back then the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” philosophy paid out. So, to make a long story short, they took an R/T and gave it a flush rear window and front fascia, with the latter having been lifted off the Coronet.
When sending the resulting 1969 Dodge Charger 500 out on the track and noticing this still couldn’t match the top speed of the said Blue Oval race cars, the Mopar people went all the way. As such, the Daytona, with its nose cone and its humongous wing was born.
Let’s talk numbers, shall we?
Both Charger variants were available with either a 440 ci (7.2L) or a 426 ci (7.0L) HEMI V8. And, if you like your numbers thorough, we’ll remind you that while Dodge built 503 Daytonas, only 392 units of the Charger 500 rolled off the production line.
This red example is one of the 103 units that mix the 440 with a three-speed automatic (26 of them had four-speed manuals). Now, we need to take into account that these numbers vary according to the various sources, but the fact that we’re dealing with an uber-rare Mopar remains.
And, if we take into account the exact configuration of each vehicle, the figures become even lower. For one, Canadian hot rodder Smokin Valley Customs, who is offering this Charger 500 via an auction the Richie Brothers will hold this June (on the 23rd), tells us this is one of just 36 vehicles of its type in the Instagram post below.
“In 1999 Galen Govier (Chrysler Expert) decoded the car and stated that only 36 Chargers of this type were ever registered—32 were registered in the USA and 4 in Canada,” the seller states.
The eye candy is strong with this one
It’s worth noting that the vehicle has been fully restored and appears to be in top-notch condition. Nevertheles, we can’t see the underbody, so you’ll have to check its condition yourself.
As for the value of the car, a 68 Charger 500 with a 440 crossed the auction block for $67,000 last year, but with the booming market we’re experiencing these days, we can’t be sure about the money this Dodge is going to fetch.
Regardless, you can feast your eyes on the pristine-condition Charger 500 in the images below.
