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1969 Dodge Charger Daytona
The most interesting period in NASCAR was the late ’60s. That’s when the rules allowed modifications to car bodies to make them more aerodynamic. The condition was to apply those changes to regular production examples and sell a limited number of them to the public. So, most manufacturers jumped at the opportunity, creating Aero racers or specially designed cars they homologated for the races.
But one of the most famous and influential was the 1969 Charger Daytona. They produced it in just 504 examples strictly as a homologation special. Despite winning some races, the Charger 500 wasn’t good enough, so Dodge decided to go all out. They created the Daytona, a racing car with a special front end, flush rear glass and a big rear spoiler. The Charger Daytona was one of the first cars they developed in a wind tunnel using new materials in construction.
The Charger Daytona proved to be successful on the racetracks. It even managed to do a record 217 mph run in almost stock configuration. And that shows how good the design and engineering behind this project were. The standard engine was 440 V8 and only about 70 cars received the legendary 426 Hemi.