The Winged Warrior From Dodge in ’69
10 months ago Heritage
–AERODYNAMIC 18-INCH NOSE CONE EXTENSION
–22-DEGREE BACKLIGHT SLOPE
–REVERSED “CLARK Y” AIRFOIL 23.5 INCHES OFF DECK
The first time Dodge’s General Manager Bob McCurry saw drawings of the then-proposed mid-1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, he thought it looked awful. Legend has it, he then asked the engineers, “Will it win races?” After they said it would, the Dodge boss replied, “Well damn it, go ahead and build it!”
Among the key people involved in the development of the special Dodge were Dick Lajoie, John Pointer, Larry Rathgeb, George Wallace, Bob Marcell, Dale Reeker and Bob Rodger. Dodge styling was not involved in the project, and they followed orders from Bob McCurry to stay out of the way, as he flatly stated that he really didn’t give a $#!% what it looked like, just so long as it worked.
The Dodge engineers were so dedicated to McCurry and his goal of getting Dodge in the winner’s circle that they taped a picture of him on the dashboard of the engineering test car during the development of the Charger Daytona, and these (his) words: “The name of the game is WIN.”
Stock car racing was a big deal in the late 1960s and winning on the track translated to car sales – race on Sunday, sell on Monday was for real. This was the golden age of superspeedway racing and it gave car manufacturers the opportunity to show off their products to the public with great pride. The Dodge Boys had already built a Charger model for 1969 with slightly improved aerodynamics, dubbed the “500,” because that’s how many NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) required them to build to be homologated for racing. That car had a flushed-out grille and modified rear window (changed backlight slope from 45 degrees to 22 degrees) that was added to the standard “Coke bottle” Charger design. However, these cars just didn’t do the trick to keep up with the slippery Ford Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II models. Dodge needed to do more in the way of cheating the wind, and within a relatively short time period, they came out with the wild winged Charger Daytona model.
The goal of the Daytona was to pick up 5 miles per hour lap speeds (on the superspeedway racetracks) over the Charger 500 racecar. Something “exotic” would be needed and soon the Chrysler aero engineers were busy experimenting with different front-end designs and rear wings of varied sizes and shapes.
According to the book “Supercars” (written by Frank Moriatry, foreword by Buddy Baker) the Dodge Daytona in testing had gone well over the 200 mph mark in Michigan during the development of the car, prior to its competition debut in Alabama. Buddy Baker recalls that once while running wide-open at the Chrysler Chelsea Proving Grounds (on the five-mile oval) he reached speeds of 235 mph, and fellow test driver Charlie Glotzbach has been on record saying that when he was testing an engineering car (at the same facility in Michigan), he reached a top speed of 243 miles per hour!
SAE REPORT
With these drawings presented, here’s how the car was explained by R. P. Marcell and G. F. Romberg in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.) paper done January 12-16, 1970:
“The aerodynamic knowledge gained on the race track has the long range potential of benefiting production vehicles in the areas of improved fuel economy, handling in corners, gusts and crosswinds, and acceleration. In fact, looking at even broader applications, all high speed land-borne transportation systems could benefit from aerodynamic information acquired from cars such as the Daytona.”
FIRST MEDIA
Inside the 1969 Alabama International Motor Speedway Program (Talladega) was this advertisement, and it was published before any street Charger Daytonas were seen by the general public.
When High Performance Cars Magazine tested one of the very early Charger Daytonas (note the lack of rear-facing fender scoops and A-pillar covers), they received all kinds of comments, everything from “If Dodge tries to sell that thing, they’ll be laughed out of business!” and “They gotta be kidding. Who would buy such an ugly boat with a clothes dryer on the back?” to more supportive screams of “Wow, It’s the grooviest—like a beautiful trip!” and “Hey Batman, does it fly?”
COVER SHOT: DODGE NEWS MAGAZINE
Richard Brickhouse won on the brand-new track at Talladega, Alabama, in September 1969, running on the 2.66-mile, 33-degree banked superspeedway. Leading the last 11 laps of this inaugural race, he won the event driving the Ray Nichels Dodge Daytona in front of the crowd estimated at 62,000. It was his one and only win in NASCAR Cup racing, and it came as the result of a driver’s boycott of the race, which was said to be an “unsafe” track (because of the race tires coming apart) by the P.D.A. (Professional Driver’s Association) organization. Dodge News wasn’t shy about promoting the victory!
BUDDY BAKER: HERO DAYTONA DRIVER
Buddy Baker and Cotton Owens had a good thing going in ’70 with the #6 Charger Daytona, with a big win on September at the Southern 500 at Darlington, South Carolina. It was car owner and former driver Owen’s most sought-after race victory as he himself had entered for 20 years prior and never won, and Baker gave him the prestigious victory. Champion Spark Plugs featured the winning car in their full-page magazine advertisement. Here’s how Buddy described his experiences in the winged Dodge: “It was a time in the sport when you looked at the car and you knew you wanted one of ’em. They were fast. When it cranked up, everybody looked. The car had a certain mystique about it that people still remember.”
Baker is also famous for driving the #88 “Test Mule” Charger Daytona on March 24, 1970, setting the world’s closed course record at 200.447 mph at the Alabama International Motor Speedway (Talladega), also turning laps there at 200.096 and 200.330 mph.
PRINTED SPECS
These Charger Daytona specifications were actually listed in the Dodge 1970 model year brochure, even though the cars were 1969 models. It lists the car having “R/T Handling Package” along with standard engine being the 440-cid Magnum, which was also an R/T standard powerplant. Nonetheless, Charger Daytonas were never listed as being a “Charger R/T Daytona” and they featured the standard “Charger” emblem on the back panel.
BONNEVILLE 71 216.945 MPH WORLD RECORD
After winning the 1970 NASCAR Championship in 1970 with 11 wins, 13 poles and 38 top-10 finishes, the Norm Krauskopf-owned, Harry Hyde-prepared, Bobby Isaac-driven Charger Daytona set off to the salts of Bonneville to prove a point. And the point was that this Dodge was fast. Running a HEMI® engine of 426 cubic inches (where the USAC rules would have allowed for bored and stroked versions) with a single four-barrel carburetor (USAC allowed two four-barrel carbs) plus setting the front torsion bars at about 1 inch lower than what was legal for NASCAR, the #71 ran on a 10-mile oval course the crew had set up on the salt. Isaac drove it like a dirt track car and in the end, he set some 28 world records. And the biggest accomplishment was setting the world record of 216.945 miles per hour, average speed, on the flying mile. Isaac was on record saying that he was real comfortable out there “because there was nothing to hit.”
AFRICAN ELEPHANT I & II
“Big Willie” Robinson and the Street Racers of Los Angeles was a group dedicated to racing, Willie and his wife, Tomiko, both had Dodge Daytonas. Each one of them had Keith Black powered HEMI engines, with her car doing double-duty as the tow car. She did run a 12.35-second time with hers, with B&M TorqueFlite®, street tires and complete interior (including power windows and 8-track tape deck).
WPC MUSEUM
One of the magazine advertisements used to promote the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan, featuring a Bright Blue Daytona with White wing, with this ad copy: “Not a good place to visit if you’re about to undergo a midlife crisis.”
UNITED STATES POSTAGE FOREVER STAMP
You know a car has reached iconic status when the US Postal Service commissions the creation of a postage stamp of it. That’s exactly what happened when they had artist Tom Fritz do a run of “Muscle Cars Forever” commemorative stamps featuring the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. Fritz said that he used bright-colored oil paints on hardboard to try to “capture the emotive quality of the vehicles.”
T-5 COPPER METALLIC HEMI CHARGER DAYTONA
The pictured T-5 Copper Metallic HEMI Charger Daytona has a paperwork trail that indicate that the car was originally purchased new at Watertown Dodge in Wisconsin. T-5 Copper Metallic and White interior make the car extremely rare, and the car is a factory 4-speed (D21) with A34 “Super Track Pack” option. Magnum 500 wheels wrapped with redlines help provide the visual appeal.
The huge rear wing was added to the car to add high-speed stability and it measured some 58 inches across and sat 23.5 inches off the rear deck, just high enough so the deck lid could be opened up all the way. The vertical fins reduce the tendency of the car to move sideways at racing speeds.
The streamlined front end was a “highly interactive aerodynamic system” according to the January 1970 SAE paper 700036, and it was proven to be an effective reducer of front axle lift and vehicle axial force. 426-cid HEMI engine came through with mechanical lifters. 425 horsepower rating (@5,000 rpm) with 490 lb.-ft. of torque (@4,000 rpm) and 10.25:1 pistons were used on street applications.
This Charger Daytona has a white interior, factory code C6W meant “White Vinyl Buckets” and the combination of this interior hue and the Copper Metallic body color makes this vehicle one of the rarest of the rare. Hurst 4-speed shifter put the HEMI engine power to the ground via 4.10:1 gears in the Dana 60 differential. Charger Daytona and Charger 500s featured this streamlined backlight and its flush design eliminated the “flying buttress” C-pillars as used on standard Chargers of the era.
These rear-facing scoops were fitted to Charger Daytonas for one reason and one reason only: Tire clearance on racecar applications. Folklore about relieving underhood air pressure and other tales are just that – tales! The front spoiler on the production Daytonas were mounted 13 inches behind the leading edge of the nose.
Here’s the link to the NASCAR Race Hub “Bonneville 71” highlighting the Charger Daytona and the records it set:
Author: James Maxwell
