{"id":21762,"date":"2015-11-30T10:11:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T18:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=21762"},"modified":"2015-11-30T10:11:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T18:11:39","slug":"muscle-car-madness-69-dodge-charger-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/muscle-car-madness-69-dodge-charger-daytona\/","title":{"rendered":"Muscle Car Madness – ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1969<\/a><\/p>\n

A sad soul can kill you quicker than a germ, but this has been a 14-year love affair with no ending in sight. What was a metal husk of rust in a field somewhere in the bowels of Quebec now, even at rest, looks predatory. It appears as though the wind designed it, but it was Al Stigter who, in his modified home-garage, with sand-dust on his face and spit on his hands, rebuilt the classic 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona to its former glory.\u00a0In contrast, twelve days after its restoration, he took the car down for its debut to Alabama\u2019s G-spot, the monster oval track in Talledega, and clocked it over 140 mph without a hiccup. Not bad for a car re-learning how to walk again. Al gives his typical shrug, his boyish face allows a sheepish grin, \u201call-in-a-day\u2019s-work\u201d attitude. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to push her too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took about three years of haggling to get it,\u201d Al remembers as he brushes back a loose strand of light brown hair with the back of his hand. \u201cIt either had 229 miles on it or 229,000 miles. I couldn\u2019t tell, all the gauges looked like tombstones.\u201d He first laid eyes on the Daytona when he watched Wild World of Sports\u2019 coverage of NASCAR races as a kid, and believes the Daytona represented the pinnacle of all Charger models. Al should know, he owns a dozen Chargers \u2013 each one at various levels of restoration. One has a front-end shaped like two roads splitting in opposite directions. His wife slid it into a telephone poll.<\/p>\n

So what is so unique about the 1969 Dodge Daytona that makes it one of the most sought after muscle cars, reaching cult status? For many manufacturers, proving oneself on the racetrack was the precursor to success off the dealership floor and Ford was the Ring-master. Dodge answered with the mighty Charger, but even this paled in comparison to the introduction of the Daytona. The car was impossible to mistake and captured everyone\u2019s imagination and superlatives. Looking like a car version of the Concorde with its shark-like drooping nose cone \u2013 an extension of 19 inches housing retractable headlights. But the most outrageous modification was the rear 2-foot high spoiler, high enough to enable the trunk to open unimpeded. This uncompromising accoutrement perched on like an eagle expanding its massive wingspan reduced drag by a remarkable twenty per cent. Though it seemed like an optical phenomena, it was Jim Hall\u2019s Chaparral CAN AM cars, with their idiosyncratic 4-foot rear wings, that was the inspiration for the Dodge engineers.<\/p>\n

Plymouth followed suit and suddenly the \u201ctall tails\u201d had changed all the rules of racing. The following year, Dodge and their Cinderella Daytona easily won the Championship. They won by such a wide margin that the NASCAR sanctioning body had a pow-wow meeting and came to the conclusion that it was un-American to be so imaginative, that these \u201cfunny cars\u201d had an unfair advantage and imposed new rules for the \u201971 season by curtailing the powerplants to 302 cu. That ended the honeymoon and Dodge withdrew the Daytona from racing at the peak of its success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to do wide open laps at Talladega with their incredible banking. What an awesome experience,\u201d swoons Al.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely an open road car. It loves long cruises and hates stop-and-go city traffic.\u201d Al is like a big kid. \u201cI have to admit, I enjoy pulling up to a kid in a Honda Civic and saying, \u2018mine\u2019s bigger!\u2019\u201d Of the 1,200 garishly coloured units built for the public, two engine options were offered, Al choosing the 440-engine, automatic transmission \u2013 all stock. The sections that took the longest to restore were the fabrication of new Daytona specific body panels, including spares, because of the damage from rust. We made the nose, fenders, hood and all the unique parts out of steel. They are as nice as the originals. The hardest part to maintain was my patience when restoring it and my composure when driving it!\u201d He finishes the sentence with a big grin. Al kept to the original colour scheme, Factory B5 Blue with white wing and interior. So far only 5 are known in this combination.<\/p>\n

I inquire if any of his Chargers have changed his life. How does he feel when he slips behind the wheel and feels the throttle, like sitting on a rodeo bull ready to buck? \u201cYou can\u2019t be self-conscious driving this car. It just draws too much attention. The cars don\u2019t own me, I own them. After all, it\u2019s only a machine. I enjoy them but don\u2019t get obsessive. I prefer to spend more time doing instead of wanting.\u201d I ask Al what he intends to do with the car. \u201cEnjoy it and put it in shows. I would like to explain its significance to the next generation.\u201d Never one to mince words, Al has little time for the youth\u2019s ephemeral desires. \u201cTo make things desirable and collectible, they need a good past. Today\u2019s generation is too self- absorbed and lazy to make good pasts.\u201d<\/p>\n