The Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona

If you got here by mistake and were looking for the 2006+ Dodge Charger Daytona, click here.

Truth: Aerodynamic bodies make cars faster and more fuel-efficient.

Myths: The technology for aerodynamic cars wasn't around until the late 1980s.

Wind is a funny thing, and few people understand exactly how it works. Some things that look very aerodynamic aren't; some things that don't look aerodynamic are.

One of the more interesting chapters in technological history was the 1969 Dodge Daytona. This vehicle had a drag coefficient (cd) of just 0.28, better than most cars made today. It would have produced even less drag, if it weren't for the tall spoiler (added to keep the rear wheels on the ground at high speeds). But, despite its 200 mph speed record (set by Buddy Baker on March 24, 1970, at 200.447 mph around Talladega), the car didn't sell well at some dealerships because people thought the aero look was ugly! The price, about $4,000, was high, but not exorbitant (it was also cheaper without the Hemi engine...the standard 440 was probably enough for most people...).

Compare the Daytona with some modern cars. The $55,000 Viper, with its aerodynamic shape, has a cd of over .5; the 1994 Plymouth Duster had a cd of .42. ; the mid-1990s Eagle Talon had a cd of .36. Even the sleek Eagle Vision had a drag of .31.

The 1969 Dodge Daytona set a speed record that held for 13 years, to be broken by about 1 mph in 1983.

The Daytona's rear wheels tended to lose their traction, until that massive spoiler was put on, because it carried a standard 440 cubic inch, 375-hp engine. The optional powerplant was the fabled 426 Hemi, a 425-hp (plus) monster designed for racing.

The Daytona wouldn't have been complete without at least one quirk, and it picked a good one. Driven too slowly, it would shortly overheat. Increasing speed (or switching to the next-year's Superbird) took care of the problem ("I was just trying to cool it down, officer!"). Unlike many muscle cars, even the Hemi Daytona is well-behaved and quiet at idle.

The Daytona was built as though it was an option package, thanks to a low budget and last-minute modifications to win races - indeed, existing Chargers were converted to become Daytonas. Take a Dodge Charger (440 or Hemi), stick a wedge over its nose and a three foot metal spoiler on the rear, and you've pretty much got a Daytona (this is an exaggeration, as Petty Enterprises' Kurt Romberg pointed out to me. There was also an under-nose spoiler, vertical stabilizers, and a backlight modification, which he notes "are integral parts of the package").

A year later, Plymouth took a Road Runner, and gave it the same treatment (with some changes so it wouldn't overheat at "low" speeds, such as 55 mph). The Superbird was a little slower at top speed, but it had huge cartoon graphics that made 160 mph just a little more fun.

The Daytona and Superbird were considered ugly at the time, but 20 years later, they seem graceful, and maybe even commonplace (except for that spoiler - and their 18 foot length - and whoosh! Where'd it go?).

Early aerodynamic development

Russ Shreve wrote:

In the 3 June 2002 issue of AutoWeek there is an article by Jeff Allison regarding Chaparral, and their pursuit of aerodynamics in race cars. This is the story of how it all started.

In 1964 I was involved in the design of a very advanced race car concept for JC Penney. Penney wanted to get into International Sports Car racing as a way to rid themselves of their stodgy image, and attract younger buyers to their clothing lines. One of the key features of the car would be better aerodynamics. In early 1965 I rented the University of Michigan wind tunnel for extensive tests. I hired University of Michigan-associated aerodynamicist Jim Amick to manage the tests and compile data into a report. Ron Martin built the wind tunnel models, and worked with Amick between runs making changes. Amick's final report had a unique solution...The Wing.

Penney did not continue their interest in a race car, and following a breakup with my partner, he took a copy of Amick's Wind Tunnel Report to Jim Hall in exchange for a job.

In 1972 Larry Chinoda stopped by my house to spend an afternoon talking about MotoCross racing. You may recall Chinoda was with GM, and directly involved in the GM association with Hall. I showed Larry the original Amick report. Larry confirmed my partner had given the wind tunnel report to Hall. He also told me Hall was skeptical. Per Larry, he himself had been thinking of similar ideas, and when he read Amick's report realized they had been proven in a wind tunnel. It was Chinoda that convinced Hall it was worth a try.

There is little doubt Hall and Chaparral took race car aerodynamics well beyond Amick. However, I think it is time the world recognized the idea did not originate with Hall. The credit should go to Jim Amick.

Development (by Curtis Redgap)

Excerpted from Curtis' excellent article on Chrysler's NASCAR efforts

Department heads from Plymouth and Dodge were called to get together for a meeting on ways to improve their NASCAR racing cars. Either they had to find 85 more horsepower out of the Hemi engine or they had to decrease drag by 15% to achieve enough speed to put the Fords in the back of the pack.

It was already well documented that the Hemi in NASCAR racing form was developed as much as it would ever be. So, the answer to more speed was to cut the drag. The answer to that was already sketched out by two different designers totally independent of one another. The amazing thing is that their respective designs had the nose of the proposed car nearly the same! The rear wing on one design was a two stage affair, while the other resembled the final result of the proposed Dodge Charger Daytona. ...

Plymouth made their commitment to build a winged car. Their own version. This was based on Richard Petty's commitment to return to Plymouth to drive that creation. ... Someone thought that doing the Plymouth version would be easy. Just send a Belvedere two door over to Creative Industries Inc., where the Dodge Daytona for the commercial street market had been built. There they could hang a sloped nose and rear wing on the Plymouth and go racing with it. Having to build 2,000 cars for commercial sale prior to January 1, 1970 didn't leave Plymouth much time.

The aerodynamic engineers warned Plymouth that it wasn't going to be anywhere near as easy to get a winged car with the Plymouth. Scoffing, Plymouth went ahead and had Creative Industries literally hang a nose on the front and put a wing on the rear of a stock Belvedere. It was awful! It looked terrible. In that form, it was some sort of monster.

Locked out of the styling of the Dodge Daytona, the styling department at Plymouth made sure that they were involved with the creation of the wing Plymouth all the way. When they saw what Creative Industries had done, they threw a fit. Faced with having to build 2,000 cars since NASCAR had upped the ante to get in, commercial acceptance was vital. Something had to be done and done quickly.

A proposal to hang a Charger front clip on the Belvedere was quickly rejected. The two body styles were vastly different. Trying to tinker with the current Belvedere fenders just didn't work out. Wind tunnel testing showed that by doing that, it actually increased drag!

They also had a problem with the rear window on the Belvedere, which was causing a large drag on the rear of the car. Engineers had the means to cure it, but the surgery to do it stuck out like a sore thumb on the roof. They had some money for development, but to cure the rear window drag would have meant changing the entire rear quarter panels, the rear deck lid, the roof sail panels where it sweep into the truck, and leading edge of the rear window where it went into the roof, the rear window itself, and the back valance where the trunk lid locked down. Essentially, a whole new car. No way, said the top management.

Instead, they concentrated on the rear wing. In the end, the side stabilizer part of the wing were 40% larger than the Daytona. The wing was swept back further, and the stabilizers titled in towards the trunk more. The front "beak" of the Plymouth cut into the air at a slightly higher angle than the Daytona. The front air inlet was redesigned to stop any overheating problems. In the end, what had been achieved without redesigning the entire car was a 99.5% stability rate with a small increase in drag. It was not quite as clean as the Daytona. The numbers looked excellent.

... Coronet front fenders and a Coronet hood were grafted on the Belvedere body. The lines were the same, but the Dodge was more aerodynamic. Once that decision was achieved, it took only a week to clay in the entire car and get that model into the wind tunnel. With results coming in that looked decent, two weeks later a fully operational car was off and running at the Chrysler Proving Grounds at Chelsea. Having achieved that, then the prints and materials were sent over to Creative Industries where the street commercial Plymouths were built. Just prior to that, the model designation was changed from Belvedere to Road Runner SuperBird!

Learn more about the development of the Dodge Charger Daytona, its 200 mph speed record, and its racing history

 

Stories

Tom Murden wrote:

I worked for a Chrysler dealer for many years. I used to love to see a new musclecar come in on the truck for the reaction it caused. In those days, damned near every 20 year old with a job could own a new car, so we were never short of shoppers. My boss came to me and told me we had ONE Superbird coming in and I could have it. As I was already paying for a '69 Road Runner and a '70 AAR Cuda, there was no way I could afford it.

When the car came in, there was almost a fist fight in the showroom over who was going to get the car. The boss made the announcement that whoever came up with the money first, got the car. All but one man ran to the bank in town. The other one called the bank, got approval, and they told my boss they were cutting the check and depositing it in his account. The customer hid out for a couple days.

It was an expensive proposition for the customer, his wife couldn't judge where the nose ended and air began so she ran into a lot of different things! We put 2 snouts on the car, and he ended up putting a GTX nose on it. Unfortunately, he sold the 'bird nose. He ended up selling it for what he owed on it.

The last time I saw the vehicle it was on a flatbed headed for NC. The new owner had broken the rear window, couldn't find a replacement anywhere as they were not a normal B body piece, and sold it to a collector.

After cruising your site again, I went up to the old quarter mile to see if it was still being used. I showed up in my New Yorker, and all that were there were memories and ghosts. But your site reminds me of the good old days.

Curtis Redgap provided a great deal of previously unreleased information on the Superbird and Charger Daytona. Click here to read it (it's near the end.)

Two stories are out there on the rear spoiler. The common idea is that it's three feet tall so the trunk can open. However, it could have simply been mounted on the trunk in the production cars. An interview with the engineers at Chrysler, long ago, included a comment to the effect that as the numbers kept getting better as they raised the spoiler, until it was three feet off the car, that's where they left it.

You may also be interested in reading this new article with far more information on Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird cars.

Dodge Charger Daytona specifications

Track	59.7 f / 59.2 r		Rear suspension	leaf springs
Max Width	76.6		Steering	recirculating ball
Wheelbase	117		Brakes (drum)	11x3 F, 11x2.5, R
Length	226.5		Wheels	14 x 6.0JJ
Height	53.0		Base engine	440 V8
Headroom	37.4 / 36.4		Compression	9.7:1
Legroom	41.4 / 34.1		Horsepower	375 @ 4,600
Shoulder room	58.1 / 58.1		Torque	480 @ 3,200
Hip room	60.6 / 60.4		Carburetor	Carter AFB 4V
Fuel tank	19 gal. (premium)		Valves	hydraulic lifters
Oil	5 quarts		Cam timing	268 in/284 exh.
Front suspension	Torsion bars		Exhaust	Dual
			Gearing	1: 2.45:1 2: 1.45:1 3: 1.00:1 R: 2.20:1

Standard equipment: 440 V8, automatic transmission, vinyl bucket seats, heavy duty brakes, special suspension, rear bumper guards, concealed headlights, carpet, heater/defroster, self adjusting brakes, quick fill gas cap

 

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Winged Warriors page

Supercars : The Story of the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird by Frank Moriarty and Buddy Baker

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