Head rest question

[jefferson]

I noticed it was mandatory after  january 1st?? 1969 head rests became mandatory.
So ive noticed almost all 69 chargers have head rests, i have seen a few without, were the 69s without head rests produced months prior to that rule being bought in? Late 1968?
Even then, could you get a 69 charger in say december of 68, and would it have been allowed to have been sold without headrests?

Am just a bit confused on how ive seen a few 69s without headrests and they are claiming they are all factory specs etc.

[Mike DC]

            
Production (and sales) of the model-year always starts in the previous fall.  It's a standard car industry practice then and now.  Lots of '69s were built, sold, and roaming the streets in the later months of '68.  The headrests were federally mandated after January 1st 1969.  

The little vertical front bumper guards (the chrome walrus teeth on either side of the license plate) also got a couple inches taller mid-way through the '69 run.  



The '69 Daytonas were slammed together and pushed through just before the deadline that summer.  They were built out of '69 models (and '70 front sheetmetal) but they were much closer to 1970 models based on the timeframe.  (One magazine writer at the time even referred to them as '70 Daytonas.) 

The Plymouth Superbirds a few months later actually were 1970 models.  

[tan top]

 what MikeDC said  

  my chargers SPD  is / was  November 22nd 1968 , &  had no headrests, thought it odd at the time when I bought it. was only later I found out about SPDs & Federal law all models built after 1st January 69, I found my broadcast sheet & headrest option box was empty . soon fitted a pair,
although had to buy a pair of roadrunner seats to get them & the post  bezels, was no repop stuff then  

[A34]

I have a Oct. '68 built Charger that did not come with headrests, and a Nov. '68 built that did come with headrests. Both from Hamtrammck, both R/T SE's. 

[Ghoste]

And also Jefferson, they were optional before that so it is quite easy for you to find earlier build cars that have them anyway.

[moparfan53]

I noticed it was mandatory after  january 1st?? 1969 head rests became mandatory.
So ive noticed almost all 69 chargers have head rests, i have seen a few without, were the 69s without head rests produced months prior to that rule being bought in? Late 1968?
Even then, could you get a 69 charger in say december of 68, and would it have been allowed to have been sold without headrests?
Am just a bit confused on how ive seen a few 69s without headrests and they are claiming they are all factory specs etc.

Headrests were an extra cost option until Jan 1, 1969. After that they were standard equipment. It was based on the build date. So if you ordered a new car the first of December and it was built before December 31, then headrests were an option. Even if the car was delivered to the dealer in January, headrests were not required.

Cars built after January 1 required headrests by law.

Below is info from the '69 Charger dealer data book.