Wing car question.....

[Pinballjim]

Hi Gang.   I have a wing car question.   I recently saw a YouTube video where a guy was talking about wing cars, specifically, a Daytona.  In the video, he mentioned that the person who ordered this particular Daytona ordered it with a bunch of options.   I was under the impression that wing cars were converted from the production line and "ya kinda got what they made".  Based on the video, you could spec out a wing car any way you wanted.  Is that true?  I'm confused.....     

[hemigeno]

The answer is both "yes" and "no".  There are examples of people who special-ordered a Daytona.  Bob Kerbs from Colorado is one who did just that. 

However...

Other than 287970, Daytona production at Hamtramck went from April into June.  Creative Industries' first car shipped (DC.com member maxwellwedge's 414619) is listed with a 6/27/69 ship date.  The next one shipped was mid- to late-August, if memory serves.  By the time the cars were actually built and out in the public view, the window of production for the '69 model year had closed. 

There was a BRIEF time when, if you heard about the car and were willing to buy one sight-unseen, you could place an order with the options you wanted.  That's essentially what Mr. Kerbs did (nice guy, and great story about his purchase of that car, incidentally).  Once that window closed, buyers had only what was on the dealer's lot from which to choose.

Based on the Daytona Dealer Invoice list, it appears on the surface that there were many more dealership orders for Daytonas than were actually built.  Most of the Dealer Invoice List entries have a VON but are listed as "Cancelled".  A Sold Car / special-ordered car might have made its way through to production easier than a car ordered just for a dealer's stock.  Since we don't have complete records of the Daytona Broadcast Sheets, it's impossible to say how many Y14 Sold Car / ordered Daytonas there were.  I'll have to check my stash of B-sheet records to see if I even have a single one coded with Y14 (not sure if I have a copy of Bob's B5 HemiDaytona's sheet).  I should look at the Invoice list a little closer too, as there might be other notations on it related to this topic that I simply don't recall at the moment.  Been too long since I stirred around in that box.

Was it possible to walk in off the street and special-order a Daytona?  YES (brielfy).  Every car was ultimately ordered by someone, it's just that most were spec'd by a dealership salesman.  A few were spec'd by Chrysler as loaded-up PR cars.  The ones given to NASCAR Grand National drivers come to mind, as a couple of those had cruise control. 

[johntpr]

Great job explaining Gene. I always wondered too.

[Dave Kanofsky]

Great job explaining Gene. I always wondered too.

AGREED!  And glad to see you 2 on here!    

[Pinballjim]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.  I knew if I asked here, I'd get a good answer.  Would that have been the same scenario for the Superbirds as well?

[held1823]

Dad worked at the local Chrysler plant and heard about the cars very early on. He approached the dealership where his 1968 Coronet R/T was purchased and told them he wanted one of these new model Chargers. The dealership was unaware of them at that point but said ok, we will get you one. There is no concrete evidence, but according to Dad, the dealership had to pick from what was out there at that time, very early in the process. Had they been able to spec the car, there would be two B5 hemi cars instead of just Bob's.