It’s a new record…
A new record has been set for a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona sold at auction. Previously, the record stood at a lofty $900,000 but it was blown away by the recent sale of a very clean example, which at the hammer sold for a whopping $1.3 million. This goes to show that classic American muscle cars still command big bucks in the collector world.
The old saying was “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” but the Dodge Charger Daytona didn’t exactly wow people looking for a cool ride to cruise up and down Main Street. With the huge rear wing and crazy nose cone, many found the muscle modified for high-speed tracks to be clownish, performance be damned. That attitude hasn’t aged well at all, because these days the Dayton and its Plymouth sibling, the Superbird, obviously command high prices at auctions.
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The upper limit of the auction house’s estimate for the selling price of this ’69 Daytona Charger was exactly $1.3 million. If paying that much for a Dodge Daytona sounds insane, just think about how the lower limit of the estimate was $1.1 million.
Not only does this classic Mopar muscle car have nostalgia going for it, there aren’t exactly a bunch of these floating around. While there were only 503 of the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytonas made, this one is rare even among those few cars. It’s 1 of only 70 Hemi Daytonas made for 1969, plus it’s 1 of only 22 Hemi Daytonas with the A833 4-speed manual transmission.
As you’ve probably already guessed, this is a numbers-matching example with the original 426 Hemi V8. It even comes with the 4.10 Super Track Pak and dual Carter AFB 4-barrel carbs. But that’s not all, because this thing is loaded with all kinds of bells and whistles like the C6G Green vinyl bucket seats, N51 Max Cooling Package, remote left-hand mirror, A01 Light Package, C16 woodgrain center console, power steering, and so much more. In fact, it’s the most highly optioned Hemi Daytona on the books. Now you have a better idea of why it’s estimated to go for so much.
This 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was part of the Mecum Auctions Indy 2022 event, crossing the block on May 20. Check out the lot listing for yourself here.
Photos via Mecum