Would You, Could You Restore This 1969 Daytona Charger?
Source: Everything Is Restorable—Even This 1969 Daytona Charger
Would You, Could You Restore This?
One of the most valuable muscle cars ever is the 1969 Daytona Charger. Just 503 were made, of which 70 came with the fabled 426 Hemi. We don’t know what options this particular Daytona had, but nonetheless it is a bona fide, ultra-rare, and desirable Daytona Charger. Now, the question is, would you restore it? Honestly, we at HOT ROD have seen worse, but this has got to be one of the most desperate ways to have a Daytona Charger. As a shrine to what was, this mass of sheet metal and rust might be more valuable the way it is, as a spectacle to a period when cars of this ilk were junked and stripped because they weren’t worth much.
We didn’t ask whether the car (in an Alabama wrecking yard) was for sale, because we’ve seen some of the asking prices for once valuable but now wasted Katrina flood Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars, and can’t believe how high those prices are relative to the effort, time, and money it would take to revive them from their salt water soaking. Which is a shame.
So here’s a little HOT ROD tip you’ll be glad to know: look at the images, compute what you think it would take to restore this Daytona, multiply both the time and money you think it would take by four, and you might be in the ballpark.
And next time you go to your garage and look at your own project—whatever condition it is in—remember this forlorn Daytona and be relieved it’s not your project to finish.
Colins Place 