Daytona for Hellcats

[WINGMAN]

  I work at a Dodge dealership as a tech and was kicking around selling my 69 440 Daytona and buying two new hellcats. Thinking of One black and one red one and park them at home and put them on blocks . As for investment i think they might be better in the longrun as the younger car lovers will want them over the Daytona. Any thoughts. (Wingman)

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Are you going to be around in 40 years to see any potential appreciation? You'd be better off selling the Daytona, buying one Hellcat and enjoying it & socking the rest of the dough away.

[myk]

I don't see myself living into next week, let alone into the 30 to 50 years from now that it will take for new muscle cars to show ANY kind of increase in value.  People seem to forget that newer, faster, flashier muscle cars are coming out all of the time.  None of these newer muscle cars will gain any increase in value unless the muscle car era comes to a close AGAIN; which is what made your Daytona worth what it is today.  What's the chance of that happening?  It won't. 

Now in my own opinion, I could never take one, even two Hellcats for a Daytona.  That winged thing is a living legend, which is something those Hellcats will never be...

[abe1968]

Speaking of Hellcats............

https://autos.yahoo.com/news/2015-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-crashes-colorado-083512851.html

[moparnation74]

I don't see myself living into next week, let alone into the 30 to 50 years from now that it will take for new muscle cars to show ANY kind of increase in value.  People seem to forget that newer, faster, flashier muscle cars are coming out all of the time.  None of these newer muscle cars will gain any increase in value unless the muscle car era comes to a close AGAIN; which is what made your Daytona worth what it is today.  What's the chance of that happening?  It won't.  

Now in my own opinion, I could never take one, even two Hellcats for a Daytona.  That winged thing is a living legend, which is something those Hellcats will never be...

[tan top]

 I work at a Dodge dealership as a tech and was kicking around selling my 69 440 Daytona and buying two new hellcats. Thinking of One black and one red one and park them at home and put them on blocks . As for investment i think they might be better in the longrun as the younger car lovers will want them over the Daytona. Any thoughts. (Wingman)

I can see , what your thinking  ! , its deffo the long game   , as much as a awesome car  , the hellcat challenger ,   not something I would do , if I had a Daytona ,  although be tempting  to have a car to drive anytime any where   , & just  put one up on blocks in storage , & drive the other ! ,  cant really see the hellcat being in the same league as  old time muscle cars , but who knows  , with the younger generation  .....  

what about  , sell the Daytona  , get a real  good 69 charger R/T & a hellcat challenger       ... 

[472 R/T SE]

It might not be a bad idea.  I can see the insurance industry raising rates to keep most anyone without bookoo $$ (Mytur type folks) from owning one.   

Why only 2, I would think closer to 3?   

[ws23rt]

I don't see myself living into next week, let alone into the 30 to 50 years from now that it will take for new muscle cars to show ANY kind of increase in value.  People seem to forget that newer, faster, flashier muscle cars are coming out all of the time.  None of these newer muscle cars will gain any increase in value unless the muscle car era comes to a close AGAIN; which is what made your Daytona worth what it is today.  What's the chance of that happening?  It won't.  

Now in my own opinion, I could never take one, even two Hellcats for a Daytona.  That winged thing is a living legend, which is something those Hellcats will never be...

Me too. -- Also the Daytona's gained their place in history from a rather unique set of circumstances as well as very low numbers.
The hellcat is hot today but they will make as many as they can sell and next years competition will put them in a different light.
When the Challenger srt came out in 08 the same kind of speculation happened.  
If you want to leave your grand kids something let it be the memories that grandpa was practical and enjoyed his life as it happened.

[NYCMille]

While the Hellcats are amazing automobiles I don't think I would ever trade an original Daytona for one. I have a lot of drive time in these cars, both on the racetrack and on the open road, and while the Hellcat Charger is my favorite car of 2014, I don't think I would ever move my Daytona for one. With that being said, if you have the means to go out and purchase a Hellcat just do it. Don't think about it, just do it.

If you have any specific questions about either one of the cars PM me and I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. Sometimes being an automotive journalist has it's perks.

[moparchris]

  And that's all it's really worth but you asked...  I have heard a lot of rumbling out there that the Mopar market is coming on so you might want to wait until Spring-Summer before you do anything with the Daytona.  They will be making Hellcats at least for the next couple of years so you have some time.  I had a 440 -4speed Daytona for many years and there really aren't that many days when it bothers me that it is gone.  Granted it's been a long time and I have other cars. like an all original 426 4 speed Charger 500, but, that being said.  You could seel your Daytona and buy 1 hellcat, enjoy the crap out of it, and buy something like a 440 4 speed Charger 500 so you could keep a toe in the vintage market and have the best of both worlds and not have any debt.

I'm going something down this road myself.  I just sold my 70 Challenger T/A last week and I am looking at a Viper GTS with 6200 original miles tomorrow for $20K less than I sold my T/A for.  Guess which car I could actually drive with the A/C on to a car show and get out ready to enjoy the day???

Good luck!

[Ghoste]

Keep the Daytona and buy one Hellcat and don't worry about investment potential of either one, just enjoy them.

[Aero426]

 I work at a Dodge dealership as a tech and was kicking around selling my 69 440 Daytona and buying two new hellcats. Thinking of One black and one red one and park them at home and put them on blocks . As for investment i think they might be better in the longrun as the younger car lovers will want them over the Daytona. Any thoughts. (Wingman)

Very hard to have a crystal ball and predict what will be good in the future - or not.   The collector car world is full of "swing and a miss" examples of post 1975 cars thought at the time to be a no brainer for being a good investment.    

Regarding the Daytona,  there is a finite number of cars available that will never increase.    It already is an iconic car and I really do not see the demand going away, even with the youth movement away from cars in general.   The car is something like a piece of art.    

As to the Hellcat,  production is not limited.   It is just the current flavor of the month that everyone wants to talk about.      Who knows what the market will bring next year?   If production increases, or HP is bumped slightly, the car of today is no longer quite as special.    No one knows when the music is going to stop.    

The other issue with a modern car, as you know, are the complicated systems.   With the myriad of computers and control modules, these cars will not likely be friendly to long term storage.   There might be good money to be made someday in a pile of model specific NOS parts while you are able to get them.  

[69 OUR/TEA]

 Good idea !!!!! I'm going to stock up on NOS Hellcat front bumper covers/hoods/fenders/radiator supports !!!

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Dodge will build all the Hellcats they can. Of course, any new car as an investment is a bit silly, but who knows in the long run 

[polywideblock]

bet the guys that put away Daytona's etc. back in the day were told the same thing 

[HPP]

  People seem to forget that newer, faster, flashier muscle cars are coming out all of the time. 

Ahhh, this same line could have been quoted anytime between 1967 and 1971, ironically.

[charger Downunder]

How many Daytonas built compared to how many Hellcats will be built.

[Ghoste]

I think they've already doubled it.

[Aero426]

bet the guys that put away Daytona's etc. back in the day were told the same thing 

Hardly anyone put a Daytona away back then.     I can think of a few, but that is all.   Very small percentage of production. 

[WINGMAN]

  I think I will keep my Daytona , working at the dealership I can drive one when we get one in , we had a black hellcat two weeks ago. I like the car but if I sold the Daytona I will be kicking myself in the butt the rest of my life. besides anyone can buy a hellcat , just go to the bank and get a loan for 62K. It is a LOTT harder to get into a Daytona for less than 125K .  (Wingman)   Jay.

[1974dodgecharger]

bet the guys that put away Daytona's etc. back in the day were told the same thing 

hard to say since I was not around, but guess what EVERYONE WHO IS BUYING A HELLCAT IS PUTTING THEIRS AWAY ASAP!!  As long as they can make it home safely!!!  Just as people predicted the 4 door charger would be worth tons of money and stash it away and new challenger so everyone is stashing their stuff away to save for a rainy day.....

[Aero426]

  I like the car but if I sold the Daytona I will be kicking myself in the butt the rest of my life.

You will start kicking your own ass the moment the trailer door slams shut on the Daytona. 

[1carcrazyguy]

Keep in mind, it is not good to let any car sit for a long period of time. Let alone a new car with all the sensors and computers.   Ask some of the people that have bought low mileage Turbo Buicks.       

[bigdsul]

Keep the Daytona and wait it out for the Hellcat. Wait a year or 2 to see what new options come out for the car or what the used market price is.

[six-tee-nine]

Modern cars will not ever be as collectible as our classics.

Too large production numbers and better build quality wich makes them last longer. So in 40 years there will still be 10 times the number of cars around then there are daytona's today.

On the other hand, if all the Hellcats get threaded like the one that hit that tree after 1 hour the leftovers in another 40 years could be not all that much