Charger Daytona R-Wing Warrior Continues The Legacy

The new 2024 Charger R/T Daytona is getting close to launch and while this modern muscle car will take the brand into new frontiers, there’s a bit of inspiration from its illustrious past. To gain the proper context, we need to go back over 50 years to 1968, when the corporate marching order when burying your competitors was “whatever it takes!” It was widely accepted that racing improved the breed and the image of the brand. Dodge wanted to win in NASCAR at all costs. While the restyled 1968 Charger was a sales hit and became an American Pop Culture icon with its sinister appearance in the 1968 blockbuster film ‘Bullitt’ playing the ‘bad guy,’ it was still an ‘also ran’ at virtually all NASCAR events that year. Sure, Bullitt did contribute to Chargers flying off dealer lots, and its victories on Main Street and on the battled drag strips across America did reinforce the car’s bad boy image. But the new Charger just did not work on the high-bank super speedways due to many factors including its recessed front grille and rear glass. A solution had to be found, and quick as Dodge boss, Bob McCurry, was not going to eat the dust from the fastback Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone II the Ford teams had unleashed in 1969, making matters worse for Dodge. 

In the confines of Chrysler HQ in Highland Park, Michigan, designers and engineers huddled to devise a plan to make the Charger more efficient and keep the tires planted on the track. They also knew that drafting other cars at close to 200 mph on high-bank tracks would require a new way to approach aerodynamics on stock-bodied race cars. Among this brain trust were Larry Rathgeb, John Pointer, and Gary Romberg. It was Romberg and his team that devised an upside-down airfoil that would pull the car closer to the pavement instead of lifting it. It was so revolutionary, and the fact Romberg used the skills and knowledge he gained while working for NASA on the Saturn V project that got us to the moon. Now he’d apply those theories on a prototype Charger Daytona engineering ‘mule’ and headed off to Chrysler’s Chelsea Proving Grounds.

Romberg was educated at Cal Poly-SLO as an aerodynamic engineer and then later headed to Seattle to be a flight test engineer at Boeing. Throughout the 1960s, Romberg worked at NASA and helped build America’s space program including developing the Saturn V rocket B-1 booster that sent astronauts into outer space. By 1969, Romberg moved from NASA to Chrysler’s Race Group. As the Apollo program had reached its zenith, Romberg thrived on the challenge of making stock cars more aerodynamic. The space race and the racetrack were one-in-the-same for Romberg as his ‘Wing Warrior’ Charger Daytonas and Plymouth Superbirds won championships and set both closed-course and land speed records whenever they showed up. By 1971, NASCAR had enough of Chrysler’s ‘Wing Warriors’ and banned them completely.

It’s been five decades since man ventured to the moon and back, but the inspiration of Gary Romberg and his team can be found in the new Charger Daytona. The Stellantis design team is paying homage to Gary Romberg, the man who applied ‘Rocket Science’ to race cars. “The design of the ‘R wing’ enabled us to maintain the ‘upright’ front fascia design that was inspired by the 68 Charger. This blunt, muscular profile is a key feature of that original 1968 design. In order to achieve a more optimized aero and drag signature, the elevated wing with the opening just beneath enabled air to pass through thus reducing drag while providing 25% better aero over today’s cars. This not only makes the new Charger more efficient but improves handling a high speeds. Without that opening, air would stagnate just in front of the upright grill while pressurizing the engine bay and increasing overall drag,” said Brian Nielander of the Stellantis Design Team. “The windswept and low profile of the hood just underneath reminded us of the pointed and wind-swept nose cones of the 1969 Charger Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Superbird that Gary Romberg was part of. The Wing cars dominated NASCAR before getting totally banned. While the elevated wing harkened to the large rear spoilers of those cars, the design of those features between the original cars and the new Charger is not identical in execution or placement. We felt that the new Charger shared the same innovative spirit and wanted to pay homage to the cars that inspired it. During one of the many casual conversations that we had in the studio between the design and brand teams, Gary Romberg’s name was brought up, and he contributed to the original NASCAR. Gary was very well regarded within Chrysler due to his achievements company and decided to use the term “R Wing” as a nod to his legacy.”

It’s been five decades since man ventured to the moon and yes, SpaceX and Blue Horizon with support from NASA, are making plans to go back. But, the influence of Gary Romberg, the man who got us there over 50 years ago the first to apply ‘Rocket Science’ to a stock car, is well represented and maintains the Charger Daytona’s legacy and DNA. Now the new all-electric, all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger Daytona with its 440V propulsion system delivering Hellcat type performance with zero tailpipe emissions will boldly go where no muscle car has ever gone before!