The new rear glass lay at 22 degrees versus the standard Charger’s 45-degree backlight. Although a fastback Ford Torino driven by David Pearson won the championship in 1969, Superbirds and Daytonas won 38 races in 1970 and Daytona driver Bobby Isaac took the championship. Plymouth acolytes bristled when Dodge introduced the winged Daytona in 1969, and with high-profile racers like Richard Petty signaling their desire for a similar weapon, Plymouth responded with the Superbird. Two 440 engines and the 426 Hemi were available. The standard engine on the 1969 Dodge Daytona and the 1970 Plymouth Superbird was a 440-wedge with a 4-barrel. On the high banks of Daytona and Talladega, this gave the Daytona an advantage of somewhere between 1–3 mph over the Superbird, which was significant in competition, and especially so over the course of a 500 mile race. One of the reasons that both cars received streamlined rear windows was due to the aerodynamics. Because it really is. Remember, to satisfy NASCAR, Plymouth had to build almost four times as many cars as Dodge did Daytonas. NASCAR rules only required 5… According to Motor 1, the car will sell for just under $40,000. Let’s bust this myth first: Some say the wings of these cars were 23.5 inches tall to satisfy a NASCAR regulation that demanded their sizable trunk lids would fully open. The shape and size of the Daytona’s spoiler was refined using a three-eighths-scale model at Wichita State University’s wind tunnel, while full-size testing took place at Lockheed’s wind tunnel in Georgia. The difference was so significant that the Charger Daytona, as well as its corporate cousin, the Plymouth Superbird, was banned from NASCAR. The Daytona and Superbird look quite similar to each other but Plymouth made some changes. Besides that, they objected and wanted to make the car look different. Daytona's workers completed the bodywork around the plug and managed to paint the roofs, but Plymouth had to build almost 4 times the amount of cars than Daytona for NASCAR. 1970 Plymouth Superbird vs. 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. They are perhaps the two most recognizable classic NASCAR racers as well. The fenders on the Plymouth did not have a hole on the fender. Production for the Daytona was in 1969, whereas the production for Superbird was in 1970. Plymouth designers wanted to make the Superbird look different, so one of the changes that they made to it was putting the air inlet under the nose cone. Production is limited to 501 units. See all … Plymouth didn’t just stick a Daytona nose and spoiler on its 1970 Road Runner; the parts are unique to each car. Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird book. In 1969 a Hemi-powered Dodge Charger Daytona won the Talladega 500, its first race, and it became the first stock car clocked at over 200 mph. Sign up for the latest automotive news and videos—in short, everything for people who love cars. RELATED: 13 Surprising NASCAR Facts That Recently Came To Light. The first use of the Daytona name on a car was on a version of the … After all, the two cars are practically identical at first glance. Speed: Daytona is the faster car. And dominate they did. The optional was a 426 Hemi. : Mopar Muscle Cars Cars Trucks Plymouth Cars Hot Cars Cars Mopar Cars Mopar Classic Cars Muscle Cool Cars The two cars look similar, but they’re actually quite different. ! Here are a few key differences between the two, and a few other facts about Mopar’s “Winged Warriors” every enthusiast should know. But those changes hampered the car's performance. The vehicle is the culmination of over 50 product changes, designed and produced by HPP and its partner companies. These radical cars were homologation specials, created only to legalize their aerodynamic shapes for NASCAR competition. 1. 2. They wanted to make the car look drastically different because they weren't satisfied with how the Daytona looked and wanted their product to be different. The Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Daytona are two of the most recognizable classic muscle cars in the world. The Daytona was built as though it was an option package, thanks to a low budget and last-minute modifications to win races. There were several changes that the designers of the Superbird made so that the car could look like an enhanced version of the Daytona. Driver Marshal Teague lost his life at Daytona in 1959, the same year construction of its high banks was completed. Considering that the Roadrunner was a more stripped-down vehicle than the Charger, the Superbird was available with fewer options than the Charger Daytona. I have studied the development of the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and the 1970 Plymouth Superbird for more than a decade. Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird car construction. Deck lids must be fastened with 2 pins, one on each side.”. Dodge ensured that their cars had a small hole beneath the scoop. Reply 52. One of the important aerodynamics features that both manufacturers ensured was the reverse facing air scoop on each front fender. Turn Four Restorations keeps Brickyard relics race-ready, Smithology: You are never missing anything, Where the NSX succeeded, these 3 mid-engine Japanese moonshots failed, RUF and Luftgekühlt team up for 8-car Petersen exhibit, BMW injects next-gen M240i with 47 extra horses, stiffer chassis, Vincent Rapide, Velocette Venom, and 5000 other motorcycles | Barn Find Hunter – Ep. Dean’s machine: My long pursuit of Dean Jeffries’ custom Dodge van. This required leaning back the wing spoiler slightly more. Ford was kicking them off the race track every single lap at Talladega and Dodge had to come up with a … Here's How The Dodge Daytona Compares With The Plymouth Superbird - Flipboard Plymouth wanted to ensure that race driver Richard Petty had an aero car, so they built the Superbird to meet NASCAR's requirements. Besides the performance that was different between the two cars, there were some design differences that might've seemed minor, and yet, they were implemented. Dodge had impressed the market with the Charger, but the American automaker wanted to take the brand to the next level. During the production, they ended up making 1935 units, according to Golden Eagle. Both Daytona and the Superbird won 33 races in total, with the return of Richard Petty after Plymouth released their Superbird model. Whereas with the Daytona, the air inlet was on the leading edge. The Daytona’s tall rear spoiler hampers the full opening of the trunklid, Superbird … “At the time, NASCAR rules only allowed body modifications for certain situations, one of which was for tire clearance.” The lie also kept the competition misinformed of the modification’s true benefit. Dodge Daytona or Plymouth Superbird. Although shaped differently, the nosecones of both cars are sheet metal with fiberglass headlight covers and aluminum rear spoilers. 3. NASCAR’s rulebook had no such regulation. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Plymouth designers thought differently. To homologate their wind-cheating body modifications, including their pointed noses and massive rear spoilers, 503 Dodge Daytonas were put on the street in 1969 and Plymouth sent dealers 1290 Superbirds, although some say that number is 1935. These two cars look the same, but upon closer inspection, there are interesting differences any car expert should know. One of the important aerodynamics features that both manufacturers ensured was the reverse facing air scoop on each… At 18 feet long, these cars are massive. The designers also made several other minor adjustments to the Superbird. The reason that Chrysler managed to produce a faster car was due to focusing on the aerodynamics because they wanted a fast car to compete in Daytona. The pointy nose was redesigned and the tail was put further, making the car slower compared to the Daytona. A 440 wedge with a 4-barrel was the standard engine in both the 1969 Daytona and the 1970 Superbird. If a lower spoiler worked better aerodynamically, Pointer would have attached it to the decklid in some fashion. The Plymouth’s nosecone design increased drag enough to make it noticeably slower than the Daytona. And the Dodge car was actually faster than the Plymouth one. Sure, the dealers weren’t happy about it, but Dodge and Plymouth didn’t really care. Before the 1970 Daytona 500 was won by Pete Hamilton in a Superbird, a rookie named Talmadge “Tab” Prince was killed driving his Dodge Daytona in a qualifying race when his Mopar collided with another. As for Daytona fans, Dodge has resurrected the car for a 2020 model. On the Charger 500s and Daytonas, workers at Creative Industries carefully finished the bodywork around the plugs and repainted the roofs. Also in the pursuit of aerodynamics, both the Daytona and the Superbird received streamlined rear windows. Nosecone: Plymouth designers weren’t fans of the Daytona’s nosecone, so they made a few minor adjustments to it. The Dodge Daytona and the Plymouth Superbird are no different. 5. Dodge would go on to win the manufacturer's championship in 1970, with Plymouth following that up in 1971, albeit without the benefit of the Superbird's aero advantage. Today, NASCAR may be seen as a spec race driven more by personalities than cars, but back in the ’60s, it truly was “stock car” racing. A large plug was installed to fill the space between the buttressed C-pillars of the standard Charger R/T. Plymouth designers made minor changes to make the Superbird more aesthetically pleasing. While many registries and databases exist, no one really knows exactly how […] To save resources, every production Superbird got a vinyl top to cover up the mess. hotcars.com - 1968 was not the best time for Dodge in Nascar. When the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird were new, they were considered so ugly that many of the big winged muscle cars sat on dealer lots for months and were sold after heavy discounts. 1934 Chrysler Airflow: The car of the future that arrived a little too early, The 2014 SLS AMG Electric Drive was a battery-powered supercar ahead of its time, Amber Turner’s ’88 Suzuki Samurai captures the soul of grassroots off-roading. That wasn't the case with Plymouth. If you're a Plymouth Superbird fan and were hoping to see the latest model on the road soon, then you'll be disappointed. NEXT: 15 Sick Photos Of The Dodge Challenger SRT 392. The Plymouth Superbird and the Dodge Daytona made more impact on NASCAR rules than any other car in history. After the success of the 1969 Charger Daytona, which was shaped in the wind tunnel, Plymouth’s designers began to work on the Superbird, tweaking the design of the Dodge’s 18-inch nose cone and the tall rear spoiler. Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition delivers a blow-by-blow account of the biggest races between FoMoCo and Chrysler, along with telling the rich stories of the development of these cars. “The tire clearance story had to be told to keep NASCAR’s czar, Bill France, from deeming the cars illegal,” he wrote. The Superbird’s beak isn’t as pointed and its rear spoiler leans back quite a bit more than the Daytonas. A plug was also used to reshape the rear glass of the Superbird, but after building the Daytonas, all that finishing work was determined too time consuming and expensive. It looks different from the 1969 model, and you can order one if you want. Although Plymouths designers thought the Superbird looked better than the Daytona, their design was considerably less aerodynamically efficient. From a distance, one would say that the two cars are identical, but closer inspection showed that the two cars had quite a few differences. Availability: Superbirds tend to be much more widely available than Daytonas. They didn't want the nosecone and the massive wings, so they adjusted the design. On the race cars the fenders were cut out underneath the scoops. There aren't any definite plans for resurrecting the car at the moment, but it could happen. For the U.S. market, Dodge produced 503 units and only 40 for Canada. Creative Industries had also built the streamlined but less radical Charger 500s for Dodge in 1969, but it did not build the Superbirds for Plymouth. Of course, the big dogs of the Plymouth lineup is the 426ci Hemi 'Cuda, however, there is a long slept-on competitive rival to one of Dodge's most infamous vehicles. Park the two cars next to each other and the differences are obvious. The designers also applied other changes, which made the Superbird slower. They weren't so concerned about the massive wing and the car's appearance. Although it’s been reported that this was the first fatality at the speedway, it was not. Whatever, NEXT!! The result of their tireless efforts was the Dodge Charger Daytona. There are also marked differences between the two. The unsung hero of American spaceflight is … a van? The other adjustment was to the tail wing, which leaned it back a bit more than Daytona's. Every Superbird got a vinyl roof. Some say this was for tire clearance, but the truth lies in the air management. Plymouth saw that the time and expenses to do something similar to Daytona wouldn't be worth their while. To fill the gap between the C-pillars, Dodge used a plug, which was also used to reshape the rear glass of the Superbird. Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition delivers a blow-by-blow account of the biggest races between FoMoCo and Chrysler, along with telling the rich stories of the development of these cars. The truth is that the 58-inch-wide, cast-aluminum rear spoilers on these cars were placed so comically high—essentially even with their rooflines—to get into the “clean air,” according to its designer John Pointer. Plymouth had built a 716 Six-Pack into the Superbirds, capable of producing 390 horsepower, according to Hagerty. It was the factory's follow up stock car racing design, for the 1970 season, to the Dodge Charger Daytona of 1969, and incorporated many engineering changes and modifications (both minor and major) garnered from the Daytona's season in competition. And some of their exploits have become legendary. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. Not true. HPP’s interpretation of the “new” Dodge Daytona or Plymouth Superbird was initially displayed at the 2009 SEMA show. They were the first aerodynamic car designed specifically for NASCAR and completely dominated the track until their design was "outlawed" by NASCAR. Besides producing fewer vehicles than Plymouth, Dodge also produced the Daytona before the Superbird. Dodge built 503 Daytonas back in 1969; just a hair over the 500 units required to allow them into NASCAR competition. This Superbird is one of just 58 Hemi 4-speeds. These were an important part of their aerodynamics package. The Dodge Charger Daytona and the Plymouth SuperBird went permanently out of production less than eighteen months after the first one rolled off the assembly line. A Superbird has a .31 coefficient of drag while a Daytona’s drag coefficient is .29—about a 20-percent increase in aerodynamic efficiency over the standard Charger. They were built to dominate on the sanctioning body’s superspeedways—Daytona and the newly constructed, 2.66-mile Talladega International Motor Speedway with its 33-degree banking. Deck lids must be equipped with a self-holding device so as to keep lid up when open. 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