1968-1970
While racing was important to Dodge, selling cars was the toppriority, so the Charger was given a major styling overhaul in 1968.
The newly designed '68 Dodge Charger was leaner and meaner than theoriginal model as evidenced by these two shots of Buddy Baker's No. 3Ray Fox Charger.
Thenew car featured a 117-inch wheelbase and new model designations likethe Charger 500 and Charger R/T. The R/T package came with a 440 Magnumengine, dual exhausts, bigger tires, and beefed up brakes andsuspension--all standard. The late Bobby Isaac gave the newly configured'68 Charger 500 its first win in a 100-mile event at a half-mile trackin Columbia, South Carolina, on April 18. The car went on to win fiveraces in 1968, including the World 600 at Charlotte in October withCharlie Glotzbach handling the driving chores.
One of the earliest converts to the Dodge Charger was Dave Marcis, shownhere battling Junie Donlavey's Ford at Richmond in 1968. Marcis wouldeventually win four races behind the wheel of a Charger.
One of the most unique cars in NASCAR history, the '69 Dodge ChargerDaytona featured a bullet nose and a wing rising above the rear decklid.The aerodynamic refinements boosted the car nearly 10 mph from the yearbefore. Here, Bobby Allison puts the car through its paces.
For 1969, the Dodge boysfaced the dilemma of competing with the ultra-sleek Ford TorinoTalladega and the Mercury Cyclone. These cars had a significantaerodynamic advantage over the blunt nose Chargers. In an effort tocompete with the Fords and Mercurys, Dodge introduced one of the mostunique and legendary cars to ever race in NASCAR--the '69 ChargerDaytona. Attempting to improve the car's aerodynamics, Dodge engineersbuilt a scale model of the Charger 500 and tested it in a small windtunnel at Wichita University. The installation of a pointed nose on thevehicle dropped the drag coefficient 23 percent on the front but totallydestabilized the back of the car. To give the car balance front to rear,the engineers installed a wing that extended well above the back deck ofthe car. The wing provided up to 650 lbs of downforce on the back of thecar. The total package gave the Charger Daytona a miniscule 0.35 dragcoefficient, a significantly lower number than any other NASCAR vehicleof its day. While the aero design elements improved the Charger bynearly 10 miles per hour over the same car and horsepower package usedin 1968, the '69 Charger Daytona had limited success on the racetrack.The Ford Talladega, outfitted with the Boss 429 engine package,dominated by winning 11 races, eight of them by Richard Petty.
Richard Brickhouse scored his lone NASCAR Grand National win in thecontroversial 1969 Talladega 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Brickhouseand Bobby Isaac drove the only two Charger Daytonas in the race as manyof NASCAR's regulars boycotted the event.
The '69Charger Daytona's most memorable win came in the Talladega 500 at thefreshly constructed Talladega (Alabama) Superspeedway. The ProfessionalDrivers Association, a new organization led by Petty as its president,voted to boycott the race. The PDA maintained that the Talladega trackfeatured rough track conditions and presented questions about tiredurability. Only 13 Grand National (now Nextel Cup) cars started therace, with the rest of the field filled by cars that raced in the Bama400 NASCAR GT event (Camaros and Mustangs) the day before. RichardBrickhouse, driving the No. 99 Ray Nichels prepared Charger Daytona, wonthe race, which was slowed seven times for 35 laps. The win turned outto be the only career victory for Brickhouse in NASCAR's top division.
Buddy Baker became the first driver to push a stock car past the 200-mphlimit on a closed course when he wheeled his Dodge Charger Daytona to alap of 200.447 on March 24, 1970 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Few sights were as thrilling as seeing a fleet of Dodge Charger Daytonasand Plymouth Superbirds hustling through a corner at high speed. Here, aquartet of the winged wonders, including Bobby Allison (22 Dodge) andPete Hamilton (40 Plymouth), roar around the banking at Daytona.
Based on the potential of the Charger Daytona, Plymouth introduced theSuperbird in 1970. While similar to the Charger Daytona, the car had ashorter nose and taller rear spoiler. The Charger Daytona won threeraces in 1970, with the last coming in September when Buddy Bakertriumphed in the Southern 500 at Darlington (South Carolina) Raceway.Baker also was the first man to break the 200-mph barrier when he touredthe 2.66-mile Talladega oval in a Charger Daytona at 200.447 on March24, 1970. In all, the 1968-1970 configuration of the Dodge Charger inboth the 500 and Daytona body styles won 43 events, but changes on thedrawing board at Chrysler corporate would again take the car in adifferent direction for the 1971 NASCAR season.