409053 - original owner daytona

[nelson_audet]

extremely cool story and cool pic

[moparstuart]

great stories and family historys   

[held1823]

thanks for all the positive comments, and im glad people have found the car's history interesting. it is difficult to look at the daytona as anything other than what it originally was; our everyday family car, which just happened to hang around for a while. larry recalling it being a grocery-getter just adds to the history. i literally grew up with this car always being a part of the family, and i'd like to believe i would feel the same way about it, had it been a four-door coronet. it certainly has never been looked upon for its potential value, and as the photos show, it is far from being a wise investment, if profitability was the only consideration.

my favorite part of this thread is the personal recollection of our car by danny and larry. ironically, both of them have a far more compelling aero car history to tell than i do. a few people here have likely figured out who "69 daytona" is. it has been a thrill seeing his musclecar stable evolve over the years. from the daytona seen above, to the first hemi challenger ever built, along with the t/a challengers, prowlers, vipers, srt challengers, daytonas, and, yes, even some incredible GM muscle. there was never a weak link in the chain, but none of the cars will ever come close to my personal memories of when he had that f6 beauty out for a evening cruise around town.  

[69 DAYTONA]

...small town New Castle has always had more than it's fair share of MOPARS and Muscle Cars in general, even today

...thru the years I remember

...B5 Daytona (still here)
...F6 Daytona
...F6 Daytona, painted white with red/blue stars all over it...(ran into the old owner John D. yesterday)
...R4 Daytona (still here)

...Yelo Bird (destroyed when new ) think it was sold at Newby Paul (need to ask around on that one...haven't thought about it in 20 years or more)
...Vitamin 'C' Bird (ran into the old owner John D. yesterday)
...B5 Bird 6BBL (still here)
...B5 "Geriatric Bird"
...TorRed 6-BBL Bird (still here)

...stretch out to a 10 mile radius and that includes

...Yelo Bird 6-BBL (still here)
...red Daytona (field car-Cadiz)
...R4 Daytona, (Bruce C.-still here)

...so, nearly a dozen have been on the streets of our little town since 1969, not counting visitors, LOL

PS...there was another Yelo Hemi Bird in Hartford City (Rick C.) and another 6-BBL TorRed Bird  in Red Key (Randy R. State Cop)...no idea where those cars ended up at

pix...my first T/A, 1985...wearin' my "Jams"

[hemigeno]

...F6 Daytona, painted white with red/blue stars all over it...(ran into the old owner John D. yesterday)

The current owner of this car is a member on the site (Davtona), and it sat next to my car for about 20 years in Dave's garage.  



Two threads that reference Dave's car with a few more pictures:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,27044.0/all.html

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,50760.0.html




VERY cool thread, love the stories from "back in the day"  

[held1823]

pix...my first T/A, 1985...wearin' my "Jams"

is the r4 from cadiz that you mentioned the same car that is currently owned by bruce c., in knightstown?  if so, danny (69_500) can add some insight to that particular daytona.

i could be wrong, but didn't the yellow bird that was in the smoky mountain musuem also belong to john d., at some point?

[69_500]

I'm guessing he is refering to the R4 red Daytona my dad had when he lived in Cadiz. Since its so tiny of a town I can't imagine anyone else there having one. Oddly enough it is close in VIN to the others in this thread. 409045.

[held1823]

I'm guessing he is refering to the R4 red Daytona my dad had when he lived in Cadiz. Since its so tiny of a town I can't imagine anyone else there having one. Oddly enough it is close in VIN to the others in this thread. 409045.

that is my guess, too. the vin # thing is amazing.

danny, say hello to mr. bell (if you didn't already realize who he was). larry, i imagine you have met danny, or at least his dad, at a bill's diner show back when you had the f6 car. i remember him having a charger 500 at one of them, along with your daytona.

[mauve66]

i know i'm the odd-ball but i think fixing it back up WITHOUT the nose would be more interesting as that is the way it has lived MOST of its life, there are lots of tonas with nose cones and having the history to back everything up is just incredible

super awesum that you guys have kept it all these years, good luck

[69 DAYTONA]

I'm guessing he is refering to the R4 red Daytona my dad had when he lived in Cadiz. Since its so tiny of a town I can't imagine anyone else there having one. Oddly enough it is close in VIN to the others in this thread. 409045.

that is my guess, too. the vin # thing is amazing.

danny, say hello to mr. bell (if you didn't already realize who he was). larry, i imagine you have met danny, or at least his dad, at a bill's diner show back when you had the f6 car. i remember him having a charger 500 at one of them, along with your daytona.

...if I ever met Danny, he was a little kid...I knew his dad Dewayne

...the red Daytona in Cadiz I was refering to was the ragged one that sat in the field behind Dannys grandparents house, it looked like wolves had chewed on it...tons of rust and a rear tire had damaged the passenger rear quarter

...I remember the other R4 Daytona too, forgot to add it on my list though...Dewayne brought it to my house once, it leaked lots of oil on my garage floor, LOL...Bruces' daughter married a good friend of mine a couple of years ago

...and yes, the HEMI Charger 500...it was the first 426 HEMI car I ever drove...Dewayne rented a space from me to store it for a few years...occasionally, he would drive into NC and take the car out for a few hours, then drop it off at my house for me to take back to our warehouse in the industrial park...I drove it VERY VERY carefully, HEMI or not, it wasn't my car, so I drove it VERY slowly...

...a little trivia...the radio in the HEMI 500 and the F6 Daytona were switched by Dewayne...the HEMI 500 was supposed to have an AM 8-track, but didn't...my F6 had an AM 8-track but was supposed to have AM only...so we traded radios/faceplates in my driveway...Goeke Dodge gave Phil an AM/8-track player because the original AM radio didn't work and they wanted to keep him happy...the F6 Daytona was also delivered with a broken/cracked tail light and Goeke gave Phil a new one in the box...he never installed it and neither did I...it had the same cracked lens for 20 years, LOL

pix...my dad at the Chrysler open house 1989 or so, he loved the Daytona with that horrible (circus wagon) paint job and he drove it from time to time to Long John Silvers on Sunday ...it had 6,500 miles on it...I eventually sold it and bought it back a couple of years ago from the same guy I sold it to...it has 9,400 miles on it now...this Daytona is R4 Red/blk, dealer installed 440 6-PACK/AT, was on a list a few years ago as the 1st Daytona shipped in the USA...this car is 3 digits away from "Big Willies" Daytona that has been for sale recently

[69 DAYTONA]

...the "Circus Wagon" today...it now has NASCAR wheels on it, but I have the original road wheels and red lines too

...it is currently on the back cover of a MOPAR parts catalogue the dealerships use...it still wears the same Michigan plates, I haven't changed them yet

[69 DAYTONA]

pix...my first T/A, 1985...wearin' my "Jams"

.

i could be wrong, but didn't the yellow bird that was in the smoky mountain musuem also belong to john d., at some point?

...no idea about a Yelo Bird of John D.

[69 DAYTONA]

but none of the cars will ever come close to my personal memories of when he had that f6 beauty out for a evening cruise around town.  

...I put 15K miles on the F6 Daytona during the 7-8 years I owned it...it was a show car on the weekend, and a service truck during the week...I was a service rep for  Coca Cola USA...the Daytona carried all of my tools and extra Coke fountain parts during the week...many a restaurant manager was surprised to see the Coke service guy driving a Daytona, few knew what the car was, even back then, LOL...it spent lots of time parked behind McDonalds/Wendys and Ponderosa steak houses etc etc

[held1823]

your mention of newby-paul chrysler plymouth reminded me of something dad told me a while back.

i dont personally recall it, but dad said his buddy joe huddelston (later of don & joe's repair) used to work at newby-paul as a mechanic. just a year or two ago, joe told dad that the dealership had ordered a replacement nose cone for the daytona, without dad even knowing it. this is pure speculation on my part, but my grandfather had bought his 1973 fury from them, and i cant help but wonder if he didnt mention to them about the daytona being wrecked. i believe newby-paul had worked on the daytona before, and may have just assumed that dad would bring it there to replace the nose. dad didnt want to file an insurance claim on it back then, out of fear of having the policy cancelled, which is why it ended up with a charger front end.

dad was dumbfounded when joe told him about the nose cone after all these years. it is amazing that nothing was ever mentioned of it over the years, and one has to wonder what ever became of it.  

[69 DAYTONA]

...I know Joe...never heard the story before about the nose cone...I was a GM guy in the late sixties, never was inside Newby Paul...bought a new 73 Cuda at Davis Bates and my dad bought a couple of vehicles at Goodwins...wonder what a replacement nose cost in 1969

...once (early eighties) your dad came out to my house to measure the nose on my F6, said he was wanting to get one made

pix...Daytona at the New Castle car show at Baker Park...the 71 Cuda conv was mine too

[hemi68charger]

...the "Circus Wagon" today...it now has NASCAR wheels on it, but I have the original road wheels and red lines too

...it is currently on the back cover of a MOPAR parts catalogue the dealerships use...it still wears the same Michigan plates, I haven't changed them yet

Wow, a plethora of Dodges in there !!! 

Any more pictures of the Daytona with the NASCAR wheel/tire combo? I'd like to create a set for my Daytona...

Thanks....

[nascarxx29]

Here you go Troy

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,59834.msg667628/topicseen.html#msg667628

[69 DAYTONA]

I haven't taken any good shots of the car since I bought it back a couple of years ago...this is about the best wheel shot I have...I can take some if you need

[held1823]

i see that you had two cars at the show. did you walk up the hill to get the second one?

the contrast between the vintage and modern hotrods makes for a great look. that's not even the fast one, is it?

[69 DAYTONA]

i see that you had two cars at the show. the contrast between the vintage and modern hotrods makes for a great look. that's not even the fast one, is it?

...me, walk up a hill, LMAO........I honestly don't remember who drove the HURST, but I drove the Daytona...the Daytona cruised the Woodward Ave "DREAM CRUISE"  on it's way back to New Castle, but it cruised inside a trailer...

[69 DAYTONA]

i see that you had two cars at the show. did you walk up the hill to get the second one?

the contrast between the vintage and modern hotrods makes for a great look. that's not even the fast one, is it?

...that HURST is a Series 3, Supercharged 5.7,  6-spd...they only built 1 and discontinued the Series...so, this is the only white 6-spd Series 3 in the world, EVER...HURST Performance closed recently, no more HURST Challengers

[held1823]

...that HURST is a Series 3, Supercharged 5.7,  6-spd...they only built 1 and discontinued the Series...so, this is the only white 6-spd Series 3 in the world, EVER...HURST Performance closed recently, no more HURST Challengers

the black one is a series 4 with about 600 hp, isn't it? i dont know if i ever saw the specs on series 3.

by the way, would you consider adopting a 46 year old?

[69_500]

Larry the more you keep typing the more I think I should make a trip up to NC. I havne't even been in that town in about 3 years now.

[69 DAYTONA]

Larry the more you keep typing the more I think I should make a trip up to NC. I havne't even been in that town in about 3 years now.

...welcome anytime

[69 DAYTONA]

...that HURST is a Series 3, Supercharged 5.7,  6-spd...they only built 1 and discontinued the Series...so, this is the only white 6-spd Series 3 in the world, EVER...HURST Performance closed recently, no more HURST Challengers

the black one is a series 4 with about 600 hp, isn't it? i dont know if i ever saw the specs on series 3.

by the way, would you consider adopting a 46 year old?

HURST Series 4, Supercharged 6.1, 6-spd...572HP...just took these today, Doug Dorn just painted/installed the T/A hood...the white HURST is getting the same hood installed next week