Re: RE OT-Dodge Charger-was: A few photos.

[Paul Stenquist]

You're right. I should have said it was the first full bodied car to 
exceed 200mph. On Feb 23, 2004, at 1:52 PM, Raimo K wrote:

What do you mean by saying that "A Charger Daytona was also the first 
car to
exceed 200 mph on a closed circuit -- anywhere in the world, any type 
of car
other than a dragster".
German Mercedes and Auto Union streamliner GP cars exceeded 200 mph 
even
before World War II on racing circuits like AVUS.
All the best!
Raimo K
Personal photography homepage at:
http:\\www.uusikaupunki.fi/~raikorho

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Stenquist" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 1:01 AM
Subject: Re: RE OT-Dodge Charger-was: A few photos.

A Charger Daytona was also the first car to exceed 200mph on a closed 
 >
circuit -- anywhere in the world, any type of car other than a
dragster. It happened at Talladega in 1970 during transmission 
testing.
Buddy Baker was at the wheel. The near stock 7 liter hemis were said 
to
be putting out 625 horsepower. The car that set the record was later
given to a dirt racer in Iowa to settle a debt that Chrysler
motorsports had owed. At the time few recognized the significance of
the record. A few years later NASCAR asked Chrysler if they'd put the
car in the stock car racing museum, so Chrysler made a mock up of the
original. A few years ago, a lower level tech guy at Chrysler heard 
the
story of the record car and set about looking for it. He called the
dirt track racer it had been given to, hoping only to get a lead on
where it might have ended up. He asked him if he knew where it was.
"Yup," the dirt racer responded. "Well, where is it." the Chrysler 
tech
asked. "Out behind my barn." was the answer. Well, the tech guy was
amazed that it was that easy to find and  hustled his butt off to 
Iowa.
He purchased the rusted remnants of the car for $30,000 and brought it
badk to Michigan. He's now restoring it in the garage behind his 
house.
He has apparently been barraged with offers to purchase the car. Some
of them in excess of a quarter million. it pays to be curious.
On Feb 22, 2004, at 5:17 PM, frank theriault wrote:

I liked the Charger Daytonas, with the high rear wing and the
"nosecone".  One of the more outrageous cars that Detroit has ever
produced.
IIRC, the Dodge Charger Daytona, and it's corporate sister, the
Plymouth Roadrunner were produced in relatively limited quantities to
get around NASCAR restrictions about body style (any stock cars had 
to
be "production" cars back then, with only certain mods allowed).  
With
their aerodynamic slipperyness (compared to any other Detroit boxes 
of
the day), those two cars wiped up on the stock car circuit.

cheers,
frank