Muscle Cars
50th Anniversary 2020 Dodge Charger Daytona Limited Edtion Model
By Dave Ashton
Wind the clock back to 1969 and you’ll find Dodge needed a racer to produce the goods at NASCAR. In conjunction with Creative Industries, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was born, named after Daytona Beach, Florida. Intended as a limited of the Dodge Charger, with an unusual nosecone and huge rear wing, the Daytona definitely produced the goods on the track, hitting 200 mph at Talladega in 1970, the first time ever and plenty of wins. So good, NASCAR decided to ban the things after one season.
To celebrate the Winged Warrior’s 50th anniversary a 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary limited edition model is to be produced. This model won’t just have the now standard wide-body, but also tweaks throughout from the powertrain to the styling. Power is pumped out by a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8, 717 horsepower (534 kilowatts) and 650 pound-feet of torque. Brakes-wise, there will be six-piston Brembos at the front and four-piston versions at the rear, on top of 20 inch Warp Speed wheels finished in satin carbon.
No huge rear wing on this model, only a small spoiler. But, there will be Daytona decals on the rear quarter and decklid with four colors available – Pitch Black, Triple Nickel, White Knuckle, and B5 Blue. The White models will receive blue Daytona decals, while the other colors receive white Daytona decals.
For the interior there will be Daytona blue cross-stitched performance seats, temperature controlled with Nappa leather and Alcantara. A flat bottomed, suede steering wheel, velour-bound Daytona floor mats, dynamica suede headliner, special carbon fiber bezels and instrument panel. Blue accent stitching will also follow through the interior.
The model will be limited to 501 units, the same number needed to be produced back in the day to allow qualification in NASCAR( in reality supposedly 503 1969 Charger Daytonas were built for the US and 40 for Canada), a numbered plaque will also adorn each vehicle. On that note, the original Daytonas didn’t exactly sell well due to their unusual looks, but now command a king’s ransom if you’re lucky enough to own one, especially as a 426ci. Hemi model.
There’s no pricing information at this point, but orders will start this fall, with deliveries starting in early 2020.
Oldies, but goodies
The irony of the current Charger platform, along with the Challenger, is that it’s one of the oldest vehicles currently on sale. A platform change is due in a couple of years, but it seems the public have not tired of what is still a worthy vehicle. The underpinnings may change in the future, but the retro styling is one of the pointers to the success of the modern muscle car and why change what clearly works.
An article over at Motor1 states that the average Dodge buyer is 51 years old, a group most likely to reminisce about the golden age of muscle cars, also have the most disposable income. As a byproduct of the buoyant sales, it has also cemented the concept that basic muscle car principles still work today. In other words, huge horsepower in an affordable saloon car never grows old.
This means that the future Dodge Charger and Challenger will feature underpinnings to satisfy modern safety regulations and advancements, but that outer shell will only be slightly tweaked for the coming decade.
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