Dodge Charger Daytona
The NASCAR races were one of the most important battle arenas of muscle car wars, and back in the late ’60s, the superspeedways were places of many fierce clashes between Detroit’s manufacturers. The most exciting period was the late ’60s when NASCAR rules allowed modifications to car bodies to make cars more aerodynamic. Most manufacturers jumped to this opportunity and created Aero racers, or specially designed cars, homologated for the races (via Motor Trend).
One of the most famous and influential was the 1969 Charger Daytona, produced in just 504 examples, strictly as a homologation special. The Charger Daytona was one of the first cars to be developed in a wind tunnel and used new materials in construction. It proved to be very successful on the race tracks and even managed to do a record 217 mph run in almost stock configuration, which only 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.