Daytona's left in existence

[Ghoste]

Like the kind of lot security gaurds who would be at the gate if someone on the outside drove it in because he had a factory connection who allowed him to take a pic on the property?  It's still circumstantial at best.  Show me the car and show me the paperwork to prove Chrysler did it but until then, it's a clone.

[hotrod98]

There's a new pic that has surfaced showing the car with several other new 70 models. I don't have it or I would post it.

[BigBlockSam]

 

[MNMopar]

This posting has kept me awake now for way too long! I'm hoping there is someone else out there that knows about what I'm about to write about and maybe can back me up on what I recall, or tell me more about the WHOLE story.

I remember when I was a young pup and my parents would drive us down to Lake Phalen right here in St Paul MN. This was the hang out for all the young kids and their cars. Even today it still is as far as I know. I myself and my friends used to hang out down there with our muscle cars. I remember vividly at least 4 winged cars that would frequent when I was much younger. I believe 3 were Super Birds and one was a Charger Daytona. They were too me brought down from the heavens and would fly away at night. I don't know that any of them were 100% real but this was also early 80's. By the time I was old enough to have a car of my own those cars were long gone. But I still drove my primer colored 73 Charger SE down there and occasionally saw another really nice Mopar or two.

Fast Forward to I believe it was 1993? Or plus or minus a year. I was actually still daily driving my Charger and my sister and brother in-law had moved up to Big Lake MN. I drove up to Big lake a lot of weekends just to hang out. (now remember gas was $1.09-.35 a gallon) And we all still loved our muscle cars, and drove them daily. About 6 months prior an idiot friend of mine bought a 1972 Charger/Superbee with a 440 and shaker hood. In decent shape, I even have some of the interior left that I posted a while back. Long story short on that end the idiot lost the title and couldn't keep it at his apartment building anymore because it was not running (don't remember why) so in a desperate move we brought it over to the garage and  tore that thing apart like were were in a chop shop. And yes desperate kids with no where too keep a car we sent it off to the Junk Yard.

That will most likely keep me up the rest of the night. Just thinking about that again.

   ANyhoo getting back to the story. This is what happened the week before my brother in-law called me and asked if Spanky (the owner of the Charger/Superbee) was looking for a new car. I said no but he insisted that I come up and look at this mopar up near St Cloud MN. I was very intrigued and went up for the week end. Saturday morning we headed up towards St Cloud. I wish I could remember exactly where but I think just south of St. Cloud and on a dirt road west of highway 10. Nothing but crop fields as far as the eye can see except a small out cropping of trees. There is a little road with a few houses in between the trees. We approach the end and there it is.   

  A 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona nose clip and wing all attached. Original everything sitting, rotting rusting in the yard of this old farm house. I think it was a very dark green with the black lettering and decals. This thing was sitting on the original tires and everything outside in a MN yard! We tried feverishly to get a hold of the owner but no one answered the door. My brother in-law saw it when he was out to work on one of the neighbors houses. He claims that the neighbors don't know anything about the car. And that is that. I walk away heart broken. 

There are two things that haunt my sleep that Daytona and selling my first Charger. 

Oh and I also regret junking that 70 charger, not buying the 340 six pack for $175. Selling the shaker hood on my charger for $600 car and all, not buying the Harley basket case fatboy for $275, not buying the 340 demon dart for $600 and hate my cousin for not spending the extra $13 a month to have a Hemi Cuda back when he bought his Cuda originally.


I almost feel like I've gone to confession a little here. If anyone else has any information on this car please add. My memory may not be 100% correct but I do know it was a real Charger Daytona, and it was rotting!

[69CoronetRT]

Doug is that 370 the amount of cars known to the DSAC? I was thinking it was around 385 cars between the two clubs? I could be wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time that I was either.

DSAC has apx 370.  So 385 in total sounds reasonable.

Doug, is there a current number for Superbirds?

[Aero426]

Very close to 1300 Superbirds by now.

[WingCharger]

Like the kind of lot security gaurds who would be at the gate if someone on the outside drove it in because he had a factory connection who allowed him to take a pic on the property?  It's still circumstantial at best.  Show me the car and show me the paperwork to prove Chrysler did it but until then, it's a clone.

What I meant was that they saw it drive in and out all of 1970, somebody driving it to work. But, no guards ever saw it again after 1970. This could back up the theory of it being a executives car, and then just had it crushed when he didnt want it anymore. So they didnt have to deal with the hassle of warranty transfer. This happened to a lot of concept chryslers, especially ones that executives drove.
OR
When Chryslers concept storage building was auctioned off buy its owners because Chrysler owed back money, and told them to sell 'em, a lot of concepts went every which way in America. Remeber Diamante? The white E-Body Hemi convertible converted to a show car with Daytona styling, it was sold to a collector in Illinois. It was missing for many years, the same as Watermelon, but was sitting quielty in the collector storage, and then surfaced when it went up for sale, and is now owned by Steven Juliano living in SoCal.

[WingCharger]

There is only one '69 Daytona in the state of Alaska. Is it counted for?

I thought the Daytona in Alaska was just a third gen with a wing?
http://wwnboa.org/kellyscharger.htm

Says there that the two wingcars in Alaska moved to the lower 48 too.

[Ghoste]

I still have trouble with that.  I know sometimes the showcars saw some limited use and that would have been one of the cheaper ones to do but the thought os somebody driving it regularly for all of 1970 doesn't add up for me.  If it were a concept car for 1970 Chrysler should have been trtotting it around the show car circuit during that time.  If they had decided to only show it once and then retire there should still be scads of pics of it.  The pic of it in front of Cobo only means that it was in front of Cobo, not inside.  It would be helpful to see it with those other 70 models.  There has been a theory before that it was a personal project of somebody on the styling staff and there could be some credence to that but as yet, no one has come forward and publicly admitted they knew anything about it.  Everybody knows somebody who heard of a guy whose brother worked at Chrysler and he says...
That's what makes a good mystery and it's more interesting to me than the Loch Ness monster.  It's obvious the car existed but so far, there is no proof that it was anything but a clone.

[dads_69]

That third gen doesn't count as a daytona, let alone a........never mind. There is a B5 SuperBird here now as of last weeks car show for proof. The Daytona is Y2 yellow bit I won't mention the owners name, I'm sure the guys who are up on the documentary know who he is. There was a white Superbird, but that car was a rust bucket in Fairbanks. It needed a donor car to be saved.

[4speed]

 

[69charger2002]

sorry to bring up a super old post, but i was curious. of the 70 or so hemi daytonas supposedly built, how many are still unaccounted for?

[DC_1]

 

[Aero426]

We have 43 Hemi Daytona VINs in the DSAC club database.

[69charger2002]

Wow so almost half of the Hemi cars are either dead or still out there unfound/registered? i find that interesting. You would think since they were such high profile cars from day one, that the number known/registered would be a little higher.. is there a breakdown on auto versus 4 speed Hemi cars? and what is the accepted total number.. 70? 75?

[moparstuart]

Wow so almost half of the Hemi cars are either dead or still out there unfound/registered? i find that interesting. You would think since they were such high profile cars from day one, that the number known/registered would be a little higher.. is there a breakdown on auto versus 4 speed Hemi cars? and what is the accepted total number.. 70? 75?

[wingcar]

I would have thought that the entire discussion regarding whether the factory built any 1970 Daytona's had been put to rest a couple years ago by a Mopar Collector's Guide Magazine article.  The way I understand it, the "factory" never made any 1970 Daytona's.  Yes, the Daytona was promoted in at least one "Scat Pack" ad from 1970, but none were ever built.  In the MCG article they showed that both the "red" Daytona as well as the highly promoted "Purple" Daytona were both built outside the factory....so doesn't that make them clones?  And, the "Watermelon" Daytona is reported to have been built for a Chrysler Executive (sorry, can't remember his name), however when asked about the car...he said he never owned or used such as car.  And, I would think he would remember IF he had driven such a vehicle. 
On top of all this, there were the new Federal front bumper regulations that went into effect in 1970 (which is why all Superbirds are late '69 builds).  And, just to add to the pile...no one has ever been able to produce any factory paperwork to prove they ever built even one 1970 Daytona.
Until someone can prove beyond a doubt that the factory actually built a 1970 Daytona, using factory paperwork....I don't buy that there are any factory built "1970" Daytona's.  (And, just for those "wordsmiths" out there...that also includes any 70's built by Creative Industries).

I think you will find a fenced off area of the factory where they parked all the 1970 Daytona's...right next to all the 1971 Challenger TA's they built. 
Just my two cents.................... 

[Aero426]

Wow so almost half of the Hemi cars are either dead or still out there unfound/registered? i find that interesting. You would think since they were such high profile cars from day one, that the number known/registered would be a little higher.. is there a breakdown on auto versus 4 speed Hemi cars? and what is the accepted total number.. 70? 75?

I'm sure there are other cars not reported to our database, or are out there in hiding.   

[mauve66]

when you guys say "$$$ VIN's in data base" is that how many VIN's you tracked down (wrecked/crushed/storage/running) or just current survivors that have been or can be brought back to life?

[learical1]

 
On top of all this, there were the new Federal front bumper regulations that went into effect in 1970 (which is why all Superbirds are late '69 builds).  

Do you have any facts to back this up?  Please refer to:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,71811.0.html

[FJMG]

We have 43 Hemi Daytona VINs in the DSAC club database.

Doug, of those 43, how many of those correlate to the 37 that show up on the shipping list?

[nascarxx29]

   I know I have located many actual daytona ads .A found some that didnt show up on the daytona list.And found some ads that may indicate less daytonas in existence .If there were actually sold to racers less drivelines

    Iowa 69 daytona ad with or without engine and transmission for racers.And over 300 units to choose from 

[nascarxx29]

  A 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona nose clip and wing all attached. Original everything sitting, rotting rusting in the yard of this old farm house. I think it was a very dark green with the black lettering and decals. This thing was sitting on the original tires and everything outside in a MN yard! We tried feverishly to get a hold of the owner but no one answered the door. My brother in-law saw it when he was out to work on one of the neighbors houses. He claims that the neighbors don't know anything about the car. And that is that. I walk away heart broken.  




This green on black daytona mentioned from MN .Sounds like the daytona of one mint caddys dad .
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,24984.0.html

[nascarxx29]

I had a friend send me this is this car known by vin .If not add it to your accounting
http://jakesgeneralstore.com/other/misc/hunt

[nascarxx29]

Earlier Quote
The picture was taken there but as yet, the fact that the car was on Chrysler property once is the only thing that has been offered as proof that it was a Chrysler built 70 Daytona.  Chrysler says they didn't do it so the photos don't mean much without a car and paperwork.
As for new info, Mike has claimed for a while now to have special secret information about it but he has yet to allow the public to know what it is.

Theres yet to be no documentation to colaberate this 70 daytona existence
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,65917.0.html