XP Hemi '69 picture discovery (dial-up beware)

[dodgecharger-fan]

Maybe it was destined to be a 500 and just hadn't had the plug and deck lid changed yet.... that's why it's labelled "475"

As in not quite a 500.



Seriously though, this is interesting stuff. I like puzzles and mysteries.

[69_500]

Just going off of the photo of the trunk being opened I would say with 90% certainty that it isn't a 500. When you look directly at the side of a 500 when the trunk is open the hinges are viewable behind where the C pillar goes down to the top of the fender. Ie they look to come straight up out of the top of the fender, not from an angle to the C pillar.

[69_500]

Side note, but was it really 2005 when we were sitting at Carlisle discussing the picture Gene? That sounds like it was so long ago, but the whole scene is pretty new in my mind. Which is odd, because it wasn't a conversation about an aero car, which Chris gave me a hard time about at Carlisle. He thinks I'm nuts for memorizing things.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

He thinks I'm nuts for memorizing things.

Certifiable...

[69_500]

Any chance to get a certificate of that sent to me in the mail, so I can frame it and hang it up in the computer room. Would be the first certificate I'd have received since graduating from HS. 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Any chance to get a certificate of that sent to me in the mail, so I can frame it and hang it up in the computer room. Would be the first certificate I'd have received since graduating from HS. 

PM me your address & this one will be in the mail!

[moparstuart]

Any chance to get a certificate of that sent to me in the mail, so I can frame it and hang it up in the computer room. Would be the first certificate I'd have received since graduating from HS. 

PM me your address & this one will be in the mail!

  classic

[69_500]

Sweet deal.  

[Dan T]

Wonder if the developers at Chrysler in 1969 thought, in 40 years, guys on Internet forums will be discussing what color the rear side-marker bezel on our car should be. "Hey, lets paint the one on the test car like one of those 500 Chargers just to confuse them in the future."

With the expense of producing a Charger 500, why would they use one as a crash test vehicle?
And, it would screw up NASCAR required homologlomation (Spelling?) wouldn't it?

Whichever of them are still alive would have NEVER figured it would come to this in 40 yrs. As my dad used to tell me, these were just cars. Same as any car on the lot.
It's great that all these cars have this following, or after 40 yrs, there would hardly be any left!!

[Charger_Fan]

Good one, Chris.

Was crash testing mandatory for a manufacturer back then?

Your question's been answered, but I thought you may also be interested in this...
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,20311.0.html

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Hey any one catch the certificate #?

PS---Danny it went out today!

[resq302]

Chris,

Did you purposely buy that one since it had that number on it or did you print that in there?  Either way, still classic!

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Chris,

Did you purposely buy that one since it had that number on it or did you print that in there?  Either way, still classic!

It was a downloadable PDF file that enabled you to change certail fields of the document....that was one of them

[Magnumcharger]

I thought I'd throw this in....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-DODGE-CHARGER-SE_W0QQitemZ290303636713QQihZ019QQcategoryZ6199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and this too...
http://s423.photobucket.com/albums/pp319/melodymansdream/?albumview=slideshow

[Magnumcharger]

Chris,

Did you purposely buy that one since it had that number on it or did you print that in there?  Either way, still classic!

It was a downloadable PDF file that enabled you to change certail fields of the document....that was one of them

Any way of having that .pdf emailed to me?

[XS29J8]

Doing a little research on the fabled '69 XP Hemi car for a friend and came across this little tidbit in the '69 brochures....

First up is one of the press release shots for 69 showing the XP Hemi car ...for those that dont know, this car has no outward R/T markings (stripes or emblems, 14" wheels etc) but has Hemi emblems on the doors.  This pre-production car has a host of '68 only pieces on it as well shown in other pics in the brochure....you can see the '68 pointed dash pad in this pic....



a colored version...




Now looking at the '69 full line brochure (Dart, Coronet, Charger, Polara, Monaco) & opening the front cover you will see this car...looks a bit different no?  Ah but its the same car!  All that was done was the addition of the optional Road Wheels and the deletion of the Hemi badge on the door!  Look the 3 holes are still there!



The next pic shows the actual background that was removed in the USA brochure....this pic was in the Canadian brochure...



Just a little fun fact for today!!

Due to the Chop Cut Rebuild debacle on another thread I have to bring this thread with all the good details back to life..........



Steve

[Brock Samson]

  i thought we'd established all this like two years ago... 
i guess it goes along with reposting the bullett chase every three mos or so... and the commercials, and the road tests..

[thedodgeboys]

[1969chargerrtse]

That is great Chris.  I couldn't even begin to figure out how many times I've stared at both of those brochure photos and I never noticed the three holes in the door before. 

[Magnumcharger]

Here is a better copy of one of these pictures?

[Finn]

Wow cool read! Thanks for posting. 

[DC_1]

It sure would be nice to find some people from Chrysler that had direct involvement with these cars, whether at the factory or ad agencies, and who could shed light on some of these questions. Where are all these guys? I mean someone had to say "call over to pre-production and get us a car for media purposes" or "we need a crash car from engineering,  send a request to Smith at ABC dept"......... someone must have had to make that happen! There must have been dozens of people involved. Where are they!?........Or was this so routine that even if you found them they wouldn't remember the car they used for the Charger brochure anymore then the car they used for the Polara or Newport ad or crash test. Was it a situation that there were so many people involved and so many cars regularly requested that the memories at this point would not be discernible from one another? Did the people responsible for getting the cars even know where they were going and for what purpose? I know Chrysler was not the best at record keeping back then, but I would think that someone was the puppet master when it came to media and promotion car requests! Likewise, would that person also not direct what to do with the vehicle after it's initially requested duties?  Were things really that much of a free for all that no one had any control of these cars? You would think that after these questions of car origins and where they went got raised a few years ago that by now someone would have tracked down that retiree who could give some insight into these issues. I'm beginning to think the guys that ran Area 51 also ran this dept for Chrysler! All we have are grainy old photos, speculation and no first hand accounts!

[Chargerrtforme]

Well said. I wondered myself. I know there is info from some of the engineers about the superbird on the Aero thread, somewhere?

[Ghoste]

It does seem more than a little strange that cars connected with promotional use would be cloaked in so much secrecy.

[tan top]

I believe that I have a larger clearer picture of the car in question around here somewhere and you can clearly see the trans cooler lines, indicating that it wasn't just 383 car with the HEMI badges on it for a photo, but more than likely a HEMI car.

would love to see it , i can just make out the brass block conector & a tiny bit of the cooler line in one of them pictures that chris posted ...

ok now i figured out how to make the picture a bit clearer , heres what i'm on about in the above thread i know they are not visable on a production car from that angle , but this car being a proproduction car .....