WINGED WARRIOR

Dedication to Winning

The Dodge engineers were so dedicated to McCurry and his goal of getting Dodge in the winner’s circle that they taped a picture of him on the dashboard of the engineering test car during the development of the Charger Daytona, with this quote from him: “The name of the game is WIN.”

The Golden Age of Stock Car Racing

Stock car racing was a big deal in the late 1960s, and winning on the track translated to car sales. “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” was for real. This was the golden age of super speedway racing, and it provided car manufacturers with the opportunity to show off their products with great pride.

The Dodge Charger 500

The Dodge Boys had already built a Charger model for ’69 with slightly improved aerodynamics, dubbed the “500,” because that’s how many NASCAR required them to build for homologation. That car had a flush grille and modified rear window, sloped from 45 to 22 degrees, which was added to the “Coke bottle” Charger design. But these cars just didn’t do enough to keep up with the slippery Ford Talladega and the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II models. Dodge needed more to cheat the wind. That’s when the company came out with the wild winged Daytona.

The Goal of the Daytona

The goal of the Daytona was to pick up five mph on the super speedways compared to the Charger 500. An exotic change would be needed, and the Chrysler aero engineers experimented with different front ends and rear wings of various sizes, shapes and designs. Among those involved were Dick Lajoie, John Pointer, Larry Rathgeb, George Wallace, Bob Marcell, Dale Reeker and Bob Rodger. Dodge’s styling division was not involved in the project and followed orders from Bob McCurry to stay out of the way. He flatly stated that he didn’t care what the car looked like as long as it worked. Those were the days!

The Final Design

After extensive wind-tunnel testing (using 3/8th-scale wood models), along with full-size testing at the Chrysler Chelsea Proving Grounds, the final design was decided: An 18-inch-long front sloping nose section was affixed to the front, scoops were added over the front fenders (for tire clearance reasons), a pair of aerodynamically enhancing chrome panels were mounted over the A-posts, the revised rear window from the 500 model was retained and a new, massive wing was fitted to the rear.

The Outrageous Appearance

It was outrageous. The combination of the unusual nose and the addition of a sky-high wing were certainly shocking to the eye, to say the least. The pointed nose was chosen because it provided lower drag and better directional stability. A front airdam was fitted 13 inches back from the leading edge, and a small air inlet grille (with two small air duct openings below it) was located in the center of the front edge.

The Massive Rear Wing

The huge rear wing was added to the car to add high-speed stability, and it measured some 58 inches across and sat 23.5 inches off the rear deck, just high enough so the decklid could be opened up. The wing itself was an inverted “Clark Y Airfoil” that was 7.5 inches wide with 12 degrees of adjustment (plus-2 degrees to minus-10 degrees) via a hex-head bolt on each side. The vertical uprights measured 15 inches fore and aft at their base (where they mount to the quarter panels) and tapered to half that size where they met the wing. These streamlined wing supports were attached to the car via eight 3/8-inch bolts and two support plates inside the trunk floor.

High-Speed Stability

Because the wing supports were so large in size, during testing it was found that if the car (traveling at race speeds in the corners) ever got slightly sideways, the airflow would hit the vertical supports and instantly straighten out the car, making it wonderfully stable at any speed. Originally the Chrysler aero specialists were going to mount the upside-down airfoil about 15 to 17 inches off the deck with smaller posts, designed only to hold up the wing. But when it was learned that the car’s decklid must be able to open up enough to remove the spare tire, there was a sudden change of plans. After on-track testing, the decision was made to give the driver more control by creating more overall stability with the streamlined risers.

Performance Specs

The Daytona came standard with the 440 Magnum, with the dual-quad 426 Hemi as an option. Air conditioning was not available because of cooling concerns from the small grille area.

Introduction to the Automotive Press

The automotive press was shown the Daytona for the first time on April 13, 1969, and because the display car was a hand-built prototype made prior to the actual run of 503 cars, the nose was made of fiberglass. The factory called the nose a “bumper” for street-legality reasons, and because of the prototype, many publications reported that “the Dodge Daytona had a fiberglass front nose cone” when in reality the production cars all had sheetmetal nose pieces.

Conversion Work by Creative Industries

Creative Industries handled the conversion work. The Chargers chosen to become Daytonas were originally slated to become Charger R/Ts and arrived at Creative Industries without grilles. After the conversion work, the Daytonas could not be loaded on haulers wearing their front spoilers, as they hung too low and would scrape. The spoiler was stored in the trunk to be installed at the dealership. There were complaints by customers that the paint on the front nose cone didn’t properly match the rest of the body, but most surely knew that the limited-production machines were something special—instant collector’s items.

Built for All-Out Racing

Never intended as a styling exercise, the car was built for all-out racing, and the 503 units that ended up on the streets were built only to satisfy NASCAR. The Talladega 500 was the debut race for the Dodge Daytona, and Richard Brickhouse saw victory driving the Nichels Engineering No. 99 Dodge Daytona. David Pearson, the top Ford driver at the time, had this to say of the winged Dodge: “It just scares me to look at it.” The Daytona dominated NASCAR, and in 1970 Bobby Isaac, driving the No. 71 Daytona, brought the championship to Dodge, winning 11 times with 38 top 10 finishes in 47 starts.

Restoration of the T-5 Copper Metallic Hemi Charger Daytona

This T-5 Copper Metallic Hemi Charger Daytona was beautifully restored by Cal Anderson and his wife, and thanks go to the folks at Nagel Auto Body for their help on the project. Records indicate that the car was originally purchased new at Watertown Dodge in Wisconsin, but the fellow who ordered it refused delivery because he felt the detail and workmanship weren’t up to par. The car went to another buyer, and eventually Anderson, who is the third registered owner, ended up with the rare Mopar. He felt honored in ’98 when the Ertl Company made a 1/18th-scale diecast replica of the car. Because of the escalating prices these cars now command, he eventually sold it, and today it is in the hands of Fargo, North Dakota’s Bill Wiemann, a longtime admirer of all things Mopar. Wiemann does take the car on runs, and on occasion he opens up the dual four-barrels to get the adrenaline flowing, but with the 4.10 gears this car is best suited for short bursts rather than top-speed blasts.