Dodge Charger 1968 & Dodge Daytona 1969

The 1968 Dodge Charger looked every bit the muscle car, but on NASCAR’s superspeedways its sleek fastback roofline actually worked against it, generating dangerous rear-end lift. Dodge’s answer was the radical 1969 Charger Daytona, nose cone, flush backlight, and a towering rear wing that made it the first NASCAR car to break 200 mph. Only 503 were built, and just 70 carried the optional 426 Hemi. Here’s how Dodge turned an aerodynamic failure into a record-setting legend in barely a year.

The 1968 Dodge Charger and the 1969 Dodge Daytona. Two cars based off the same platform with very different personalities. These are not show ponies, cruisers or weekend projects, but two warhorses that have been run in some of the toughest long distance and performance events in the United States. Built for reliability, power and performance, they are not technological marvels, but old school resto-mods that have been updated for one reason and one reason only – to put smiles on the faces of all those who see them.

By the time Plymouth’s biggest star walked away from the brand, Dodge didn’t just need a faster car, it needed a completely different shape. The 1968 Charger had looked the part on the showroom floor, but on NASCAR’s high banks its handsome fastback roofline turned into a liability, generating rear-end lift at the speeds that mattered most. Chrysler’s answer arrived barely a year later wearing a nose cone, a flush rear window, and a wing tall enough to look like it belonged on an airplane rather than a Dodge. It worked almost immediately. What exactly changed between these two Chargers, and how fast did the fix actually go?

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A Fastback That Looked Fast But Wasn’t

Despite genuinely good aerodynamic proportions on paper, the 1968 Charger struggled in NASCAR competition, suffering from rear-end lift at high speed that hurt its stability on the superspeedways. When Plymouth’s biggest star, Richard Petty, left for Ford in the wake of that racing failure, Dodge needed a far more radical answer, and fast.

The Wing, the Nose Cone, and 200 MPH

That answer was the 1969 Charger Daytona, built off the standard 1969 Charger R/T’s heavy-duty suspension and brakes, with a 440 cubic inch Magnum V8 as the standard engine and the legendary 426 Hemi available on just 70 of the 503 cars built. The Daytona’s aerodynamic package included a 23-inch rear stabilizer wing, a special nose cone replacing the traditional grille, a flush rear backlight, and front fenders and hood borrowed from the upcoming 1970 Charger design. Chrysler tested the shape in the Lockheed-Georgia wind tunnel and measured a 20 percent aerodynamic improvement over the standard Charger. It won its very first race, the inaugural Talladega 500, and became the first NASCAR car ever to break 200 mph.

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