Dodge Charger Daytona

The Dodge Charger Daytona is a 3-door hatchback with front drive. The model was presented in the USA by Dodge in 1984. The car was designed on the basis of the Chrysler K. The name Daytona came from Daytona Beach, Florida, which was the very first motor racing range and was the main event of NASCAR. The whole model range is Dodge.

The original model, which was named after Dayton, was the sport version of Studebaker Lark, which was produced for about three years with standard bucket-shaped armchairs and was widely available with a 4.7-liter V8 with an output of 240 hp. And following the devastating failure of the 1969 Dodge Charger, the company decided to release a productive Dodge Dayton for one purpose – to take revenge on the NASCAR race.

Already in the spring of 1970, during the competition on the largest roundabout track in Talladega, Alabama, the driver of Buddy Baker overcame Daytona up to 330 km/h – which was undoubtedly the record speed in the history of NASCAR up to this point. In just a couple of years, the American was able to win 6 races, but later, the NASCAR administration ordered a ban on the participation of such “airplanes”, and the production of sports cars was suspended.

Exterior

The machine was able to attract the eye of anyone who was within sight. On the outside, the Daytona coupe was split by a simple Charger with a big rear spoiler and an aerodynamic “face”. The spoiler itself was very high in height, so the level of anti-wing over the trunk was 58.4 cm and was installed above the roof of the car.

Since there was such a huge anti-wing, it began to function only at high speeds, to be more precise – more than 150 km/h. Nevertheless, the smoothed forms of elongated bodywork provided a reduction of aerodynamic drag by as much as 20%.

The streamlined bumper was made of sheet metal rather than fiberglass, as you might think from the beginning. It replaced the traditional vertical grille and bumper. This streamlined design added 46cm of length to the American car in front of it, and the full length of the car was as much as 5.8m. The weight of the Dodge was 1725 kg.

For a sports car, it weighs a lot, because such weight slightly slows down the Daytona during acceleration, but on a straight high-speed road it was out of competition. However, the nose part together with the anti-wing gave the car the opportunity to add additional stability and downforce on the high-speed routes.

Interior

Opening the door of this powerful coupe, you can see the obvious minimalism. But there shouldn’t be any other way, because this car is designed mainly for big races, and the driver has no time to think about the details of the interior. Nevertheless, on the dashboard you can see various round sensors.

Interestingly, on the speedometer Dodge Charger Daytona coupe, there is a maximum speed mark of 200 miles or 322 km/h. For those times it is a huge speed. As with the standard Charger, a pair of separate seats and a floor handle of the gearbox were installed in front.

Technical characteristics

The Dodge Charger Daytona coupe was equipped with a standard version of the 440-magnum with a volume of 7.2 liters and an output of about 375 hp. If this wasn’t enough for the consumer, he could buy a 425-strong 7.0-liter engine at an extra cost and a perfectly modernized 426-nd engine from Hemi, capable of squeezing out as much as 620 horses at 7.0 liters.

The latter is very much appreciated among collectors’ society, because only 70 out of 503 cars were produced with Hemi engine. All engines were equipped with V-shaped eight cylinders. The above mentioned engines worked together with manual 4-speed gearboxes and 3- or 4-speed automatic gearboxes. Specialized modifications in the body were used to cool the brakes.

Complections and prices

Buy Dodge Charger Daytona coupe is available for about 17 000 000 rubles. The price will depend on the general condition of the car, the installed power pack and other trifles. And there are not so many similar cars, only 503 models. The American was equipped with an engine from 368 hp to 620 hp, which bore the famous name of Hemi.

We sum up

To sum up, we can safely conclude that the Dodge Charger Daytona coupe is one of the strongest children of the Dodge company. Unique appearance, incredible power and speed for its time (and even the possibility of rivalry with modern high-speed cars). A large number of awards and tournaments won give him only honor.

We advise you to read the article: Dodge history

Dodge Charger Daytona photo

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