69 Charger 500's with Vinyl Tops.

[PocketThunder]

Ok, so i have a 69 Charger 500 with a Vinyl Top.  When i bought it i was told that there were 3 500's that left Creative Industries with VT's.  I would tell this to my friends when talking about my car but never had any way to prove it.  Then, i got some pictures of asv457's car and it started to come together. 

asv457' has a 69 500 with a vinly top, his car is in the 1st picture.  Notice the trim below the window is a couple inches below the rear window, almost centered between the window and the deck lid.  This trim on the other 3 cars that i know of with VT's is just one inch below the rear window.  Therefor, i can now assume that my car, the red one, and 69_500's dads blue car were the 3 that left Creative Industries with VT's. 

What do you think?  Does this sound like a probable scenario?

[69_500]

Well here in a little bit I'll scan in a picture of the Red HEMI 500 with the vinyl top. The Q5 car I don't think was factory. The Red Hemi car was also my dad's car, but I think it was put on at Creative.

[PocketThunder]

Damn dude you're fast........ er, wait, thats right you dont have a job....

[69_500]

yeah and I happened to be on here, just thinking about some 500 info.

[69_500]

How is that for productive. Is that a better shot of the chrome trim piece around the rear window for you?

[PocketThunder]

Yes.  is that the same car as the red one in my post?  Or is there 2 red ones?

[69_500]

Same car. It was my dad's. That is in our garage when he had it.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Dont know if this is the same car but someone posted this on Moparts....it was in a book

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

at a mopar show earlier this summer there was a beat-up 69 all original f8 green daytona SE with black interior and stripe,earlier on in life it had its nose and wing stolen  so now it wears a cheesy primered gray nose cone w/ out headlights and a black wing. neway the car has all that gluey shit all over the roof and has parts of the trim on it which indicates it wore a vinyl top at one time my buddy tells me it was amod top vinyl roof car-MATT

[TheGhost]

at a mopar show earlier this summer there was a beat-up 69 all original f8 green daytona SE with black interior and stripe,earlier on in life it had its nose and wing stolen  so now it wears a cheesy primered gray nose cone w/ out headlights and a black wing. neway the car has all that gluey shit all over the roof and has parts of the trim on it which indicates it wore a vinyl top at one time my buddy tells me it was amod top vinyl roof car-MATT

They didn't make any Mod Top Daytonas, that I'm aware of...

[69_500]

Chris, that is the same 500. That was I believe one of the photo's in the magazine Automotive Quarterly that had just came out the day my dad bought the car in California.

[69_500]

I have seen a few Daytona's that had dealership intalled half vinyl tops as well as full vinyl tops. Never seen any with a mod top vinyl however. Maybe Dave has, but I haven't.

Then again haven't seen too awful many SE Daytona's either. Can only think of a handful of those too.

[73rallye440magnum]

interesting topic. That pick with the old daytona and the 500 is cool P-T. where is that from?

[BigBlockSam]

talk about a rare trim item. try to find one of those trim for sale.

[PocketThunder]

interesting topic. That pick with the old daytona and the 500 is cool P-T. where is that from?

That picture belongs to 69_500.  i think thats his sister in the picture.

talk about a rare trim item. try to find one of those trim for sale.

Ya no kidding!  i was glad they had it when i bought the car....  although i think its some generic trim that was hand bent, that could be easily replaced.

[69_500]

Yeah the picture of Q5 Charger 500 and the Red Daytona was in my backyard when I was little. The little girl in the picture is my older sister. That picture was taken in about 1981 I think, in Fortville Indiana. Now the pictures of the Red HEMI 500 with the vinyl top in the garage were taken in 1983 at our house in Woodburry Indiana. By the way the Red Daytona in the picture is now in a magazine just about every month. Can anyone guess what magazine?



Okay since I don't think anyone would get it except maybe OneBadSuperbird its the Red Daytona in the Paddocks add every month. The daytona that is missing the tail stripe. Because when my dad sold  the car the new owner painted the car, and the wing, but never installed a stripe.

As far as the Chrome that goes along the vinyl tops, I was always  told that was a pretty generic piece. That dealerships had those pieces. Because a lot of dealerships installed vinyl tops on cars and such.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

well i will get pics of the 69 se F8 daytona i took pics but cannot find them-MATT

[Highbanked Hauler]

 When I worked at a  dealership in the early 70s they used to have an outfit come in and do 5-10 cars at a time.Some were new and some were used but they all got the aftermarket moulding when they got the top.The stuff was aluminum and came in a full roll of about 2ft.around. No idea if you can still get it.

[Ghoste]

Just as an aside, how many of you like the look of the vinyl top on the 500?
I'm not crazy about it myself but that's just me.

[Highbanked Hauler]

 If it came through with one I'd put another one on.I think a regular charger(without the flush window) looks good with one.

[Ghoste]

Oh I'm in full agreement with that.  And if I had the choice between two otherwise identical and equally priced cars, I might pick the vinyl just due to rarity, but I still like the appearance better without it.

[Blakcharger440]

Hmmm....Maybe you can learn me some things about 69 Charger 500's and Daytonas.
Wouldnt the build sheet say the car came with a vinyl top??? Or would it not list it due to the car being further produced by Creative Industries and thus the vinyl top not showing up on the build sheet??

And further more how can you be sure or assume that any cars came out of creative industries wearing vinyl tops at all since no serious documentation exists??? Or does there?
I mean if there wasnt any documentation on the build sheet of what creative industries did to the cars how can you be certain of any other options beside the fact of it being a 69 Charger 500 or Daytona.

Just curious and please inform me as I want to learn more about this. Thanks! 

[hemigeno]

Hmmm....Maybe you can learn me some things about 69 Charger 500's and Daytonas.
Wouldnt the build sheet say the car came with a vinyl top??? Or would it not list it due to the car being further produced by Creative Industries and thus the vinyl top not showing up on the build sheet??

And further more how can you be sure or assume that any cars came out of creative industries wearing vinyl tops at all since no serious documentation exists??? Or does there?
I mean if there wasnt any documentation on the build sheet of what creative industries did to the cars how can you be certain of any other options beside the fact of it being a 69 Charger 500 or Daytona.

Just curious and please inform me as I want to learn more about this. Thanks!  

You're on the right track, Blak...

If it wasn't installed at Hamtramck, it won't be on the fender tag or the build sheet.  Period.  If someone had specifically ordered that, it might be on a Dealer's Order Sheet somewhere, but it wasn't supposed to be an available option.  I have two specific pieces of documentation which say it was NOT available.  The fact that documents from that era at Creative Industry are pretty much non-existent, means you're absolutely correct about it being difficult to be sure that a car was "supposed" to have a vinyl top. 

It seems like there were at least a few cars that did get the V-top from Creative, and I wouldn't argue those cars' legitimacy.  But the backup documentation isn't there to show which cars were supposed to get it, if any at all. 

[hemi68charger]

Hmmm....Maybe you can learn me some things about 69 Charger 500's and Daytonas.
Wouldnt the build sheet say the car came with a vinyl top??? Or would it not list it due to the car being further produced by Creative Industries and thus the vinyl top not showing up on the build sheet??

And further more how can you be sure or assume that any cars came out of creative industries wearing vinyl tops at all since no serious documentation exists??? Or does there?
I mean if there wasnt any documentation on the build sheet of what creative industries did to the cars how can you be certain of any other options beside the fact of it being a 69 Charger 500 or Daytona.

Just curious and please inform me as I want to learn more about this. Thanks! 

As far as what documentation there is out there? That's the Holy Grail for this hobby... As far as C500's and Daytonas, all their broadcast sheets and window stickers wouldn't have stated vinyl roof for by Chrysler's orders, it wasn't supposed to be offered...... Best my recollection........ Now, I know there are instances where a dealer installed them, but any coming out of Creative would be another story although I can not disregard any possiblity...

Troy

[hemi68charger]

Geno, you're starting to scare me,,, We replied at exactly the same time practically..   

Troy