The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona is arguably the most iconic muscle car from the classic era. It's also inarguably one of the weirdest-looking things on four wheels ever produced, with that nose cone and giant flying wing in the back. It made Top Speed's 10 Goofiest-Looking Cars That Will Blow Your Doors Off list because of its peculiar appearance and the fact that it will smoke just about anything on the blacktop.
Of course, the Daytona's odd facade wasn't a result of the Dodge designers getting into the magic mushrooms, but rather a deliberate attempt at functionality and form. It was made to race and that nose cone cut through the wind like a lightsaber through Luke Skywalker's hand. The wing on the back was to create downforce and stick the rear tires to the track. While it was a bit off-putting when it first came out, you can't argue with the results as the Daytona dominated the track.
With the passage of time, the Dodge Daytona has grown on muscle car enthusiasts and now looks like the most radically cool thing ever conceived as well as becoming a prized collector car. Its unique styling is recognizable, even by the non-car crowd. Everybody knows the Daytona, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have some surprises. There are some pretty interesting facts about the iconic Charger Daytona, that just might blow your mind.
Sadly, much of the information on the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona is scattered or inaccurate. The MotorTrend article 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona - Aero Wizard as well as the All Par Dodge determined to win at NASCAR; development of the Charger Daytona entry proved invaluable for compiling this list.
10 It's Not The First Car To Be Called A Daytona
Studebaker Beat Dodge to the Punch
Lots of cars and trims are named after famous racetracks like the Pontiac Le Mans, the Ford Torino Talladega, and the Plymouth Sebring. The Daytona 500, held at the Daytona International Speedway, is NASCAR's premier event and has inspired the name of many cars, including the Dodge Charger Daytona, but it wasn't the first.
Other Vehicles with the Daytona Name
- 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
- 1967 Triumph T100R Tiger Daytona (motorcycle)
- 1968 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona"
The Studebaker Lark was a compact budget car, that in 1962 introduced a Daytona model. It was made until 1964, when it was replaced by the Challenger (No, seriously). While the Daytona was a peppy little ride with a 289ci V-8, it wasn't built for racing and there's no indication it was named after the famous racetrack.
9 The Daytona Was Created Because The Charger 500 Failed
Aerodynamics Was an Issue
The only reason why the Charger Daytona exists is that the Charger 500 was such a failure. The 500 was the NASCAR version of the 1968 Charger R/T, with a 426 Hemi, and while it was king of the streets, it sucked on the oval track. Apparently, the Charger 500 created a tremendous amount of lift, which is the exact opposite of what you want when you're going 190 miles an hour.
Charger 500 1968 NASCAR Stats
- Zero poles
- One win (World 600)
- 17 top ten finishes
- Finished 30th at the Daytona 500
Drivers described the 500 experience as riding on glass because the car's ass wouldn't stay on the track. Naturally, a car like this wasn't a winner and the 500 suffered humiliating losses to the Ford Torino and the Mercury Cyclone. The Charger was a faster car, Dodge just needed to figure out a way to keep it on the track.
8 The Daytona Was Designed To Dominate NASCAR
The Wild Wing Of Destiny
Horsepower means nothing if it can't effectively be transferred to the road, so Dodge set out to make a Charger that could stay on the track and dominate NASCAR. The first problem with the Charger 500 was that the grill was like a wind sock that slowed the car down, so engineers put a two-foot aerodynamic cone on the front. They also made the tail lights flush to reduce drag.
Stock Power and Performance
Engine | 426 Hemi V-8 |
Engine Output | 425 horsepower, 490 pound-feet of torque |
Transmission | Four-speed manual |
0-60 Time | 5.3 seconds |
Quarter-mile | 13.7 seconds |
Top Speed | 170 mph |
Another issue was that the Charger's recessed rear window created a lift, so the Daytona got a cap that made it flush with the body. Just in case the window cap didn't do the trick, engineers mounted a 23-inch stabilizing wing on the trunk to create downforce that would hold the rear wheels on the track. It wasn't the most normal-looking thing, but it sure did work.
7 It Was the First Car To Hit 200 mph
Record Breaker
The Charger Daytona made its debut at the 1969 Talladega 500, with Buddy Baker behind the wheel, where it handily won. That race was boycotted by many of the top drivers, but Baker would win several other races in the Daytona, and on March 24, 1970, he became the first NASCAR driver to break the 200 mph barrier on a closed course.
NASCAR Daytona 500 Records
- Fastest qualifying lap: 210.364 mph - Bill Elliot February 9, 1987
- Fastest race lap: 206.034 mph - Erik Jones February 17, 2020
- Fastest full race average speed: 177.602 mph - Buddy Baker February 17, 1980
Also in 1970, driver Bobby Isaac turned a 201.104 mph lap at Talladega, in a Daytona, which was a record until 1983. Isaac, in his #71 Daytona won 13 poles, 11 races, and 38 top ten finishes in 1970, bringing the NASCAR championship home for Dodge. Cleary the modifications to the Charger 500 paid off.
6 Richard Petty Never Raced In A Daytona
The King Reigned On The Throne Of Plymouth
Racing legend Richard Petty is synonymous with Mopar and the Daytona 500, but he never drove a Charger Daytona in a race. After Petty won the NASCAR championship in 1967, driving for Plymouth, Ford took the cup in 1968, prompting him to jump to Blue Oval in 1969. At the end of the '69 NASCAR season, the Daytona made its debut and it was clear this radical car was the winner.
Richard Petty Racing Stats
- 7 NASCAR Cup Series championships
- 200 NASCAR race victories
- 6 wins on dirt tracks
- Victories on 57 different tracks
Petty was no fool and wanted to get himself behind the wheel of a "Winged Warrior" but Chrysler reportedly rejected his request, steering to him the newly-created sister car, the Plymouth Superbird. Petty won 8 races in 1970 behind the wheel of the Superbird and other drivers took home an additional 10 checkered flags.
5 NASCAR Banned The Daytona
So Fast it was Like Cheating
Starting at the end of the 1969 season and continuing through all of 1970, the Daytona and the Superbird dominated NASCAR, winning a combined 35 races. Thanks to bellyaching from loser cars, NASCAR instituted a rule change that effectively banned the dominant Mopars. Classified as "aero cars," NASCAR put a limit to the size of the engines in winged racers.
Other Aero Cars That Competed In NASCAR
- 1969 Ford Torino Talladega
- 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II
- 1970 Plymouth Superbird
The new rule for the 1971 season stated that any aero car couldn't have an engine bigger than 305 cubic inches and since both the Daytona and Superbird were running 440s and 426 Hemis, they could no longer compete. In a weird twist, Richard Petty crushed the competition in 1971 in a non-winged Plymouth, winning 21 races and 41 top-ten finishes on the way to the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
4 Dodge Made A Convertible Daytona
Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should
As if the Daytona wasn't already odd enough looking, the design team at Dodge made a one-off convertible concept version of it. Since the Daytona was banned from racing in 1970, Elwood Engle, the VP of Styling for Chrysler's Dodge division, wanted to see if he could repurpose it into a cool roadster. The short answer is, no he couldn't.
Convertible facts
- NASCAR had a convertible racing division until 1959
- The 1939 Peugeot 401 is credited as the first real convertible
- The 255 mph 2012 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse is the fastest convertible ever made
Known as the Super Charger, it was a two-seat Daytona with no roof, a half windshield, fake side pipes, and a decidedly smaller rear wing. It was maybe a distant ancestor to the Dodge Viper, but nowhere nearly as cool. The Super Charger did however get some love as the pimpmobile in the 1974 Isaac Hales blaxploitation film Truck Turner.
3 Homer Simpson Drove A Daytona (Sort Of)
Hollywood Attacks Dodge
In the flashback episode "The Way We Was" of The Simpsons, teenaged Homer Simpson drives something that looks suspiciously like a Charger Daytona. It doesn't have the nose cone, but does sport a big rear spoiler, and is definitely some kind of winged Mopar B-body. It's a rusting hunk of junk, meant to convey Homer's poverty. The same is true in Joe Dirt, in which the titular character has a beat-up Daytona to show he's a dirtbag.
Charger Daytonas Disrespected in Popular Culture
- Dominick Toretto drives and trashes a Daytona in Fast & Furious 6
- A blue Daytona is featured in the Spice Girls music video for "Say You'll Be There"
- A Daytona inexplicably lost a race to a Chevelle in Two-Lane Blacktop
This is part of Hollywood's mad disrespect for Mopar, showing these amazing classics as cars for losers. In the long-running comedy Married With Children, Al Bundy was known for his dilapidated Dodge Dart, which was actually a Plymouth Duster. It was a reoccurring joke for the show's entire run that Al, a shoe salesman by trade, was too poor to get anything but his "Mighty Dodge." Meanwhile, a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona sold for $1.43 million at a Mecum auction in 2023.
2 Nobody Knows How Many Daytonas Were Built
It May Be Rarer Than We Think
When Dodge first announced the Daytona, they received over 1,000 orders from rabid Mopar fans, but reportedly only made 503 to barely cover the NASCAR homologation requirements. It's a rare car, but the story doesn't end there because they may have made far fewer. Some have estimated that only 126 were ever built and there are rumors that Dodge used VINs from non-Daytona Chargers to meet the 500 sold threshold.
Official Charger Daytona Productions Numbers
- 503 manufactured
- 70 equipped with the 426ci Hemi V-8
- 22 four-speed 426 Hemis
- 433 equipped with the 440ci V-8
This isn't some tin-foil hat conspiracy because Car Gurus reports that only 92 Charger Daytonas are known to exist. This isn't like a 1989 Ford Escort, where if it was totaled, it would get sent to the car crusher. No matter what the damage to a Daytona, short of nuclear annihilation, it would be repaired. If 503 were made, there would be way more than 92 left in existence. If however, only 126 were made, 92 remaining examples make sense.
1 The Daytona Lives On
The Legacy Of An Icon
The original Daytona was only produced in 1969 and 1970, but its name lives on to this day. In 1976, the Dodge Charger, which was a rebranded Chrysler Cordoba at that point, got a Daytona trim with either a detuned 360 or a detuned 400. It was slow and ugly but qualifies as the first factory-built Daytona, as the originals were Charger 500s that were sent to an outside company to be fitted with nose cones and wings.
"Regarding muscle cars, few models are as iconic as the Dodge Charger Daytona" - Mopar Insiders
A less shameful version came in 2006 when the rebooted Charger got a performance Daytona trim on the R/T. Dodge would intermittently add Daytona trims to the Charger between 2006-2009, in 2013, and 2017, and a 717 horsepower version in 2020. Additionally, it will be an EV for 2024. As part of their "Last Call" cars to signify getting out of the ICE muscle business, Dodge made a Charger King Daytona that honors legendary street racer William “Big Willie” Robinson. BTW, it was Big Willie's original '69 Daytona that impossibly lost to a Chevelle in Two-Lane Blacktop.