1969 F6 Green Dodge Daytona
This F6 Green Daytona is the 16th Daytona built and is littered with cool options like 6-way adjustable drivers seat, hemi suspension, rear axle package and tic toc tach to name a few. Sold new at Palmer Dodge, it was sold to a woman, however a man seemed to be driving it most of the time. With more than 82k miles racked up in the first three years of ownership, this poor Daytona sure got around. Legend has it that it was used for running moonshine around the hills of Kentucky to Indianapolis. One sad night in 1973, this Daytona hit something flat, head on, ending its life on the streets. Sent immediately to the junkyard, it was stripped of most of its savable parts and placed inline for crushing. With only 3 cars ahead of it to be crushed, it was saved, placed in dry storage and given the name “Bulldozer Daytona”. While in storage, NOS parts were purchased so that a future restoration would be easier. Purchased in 2013 by Muscle or Performance Auto Restoration with all of the NOS parts, we quickly got to work and drove it un-restored to the 2013 Mopar Nats. After returning home from the Nats, a full rotisserie restoration began. Follow along to see its progress as we return this rare wing car to its former glory.
Update: The Daytona has made progress since our last post. Unfortunately, we had to sand down and repaint the entire car. Some blemishes were unable to be corrected with wet sanding and buffing, so the decision was made to paint again.
Once repainted, assembly began and went quickly. The 472″ Hemi was installed as was the rest of the restored components in a mere 32 days. We were on a tight timeline to finish before the 2019 Wing Car Reunion. The night before the reunion, the Daytona was started for the first time and was trailered down to the alignment shop.
The next morning we left for Atlanta Motor Speedway! Once at Atlanta, the reunion began with laps around the speedway. The Daytona performed flawlessly even though this was the first time it was driven after its extensive restoration. It shifted into second and third gear for the first time on the track! Once the party was over at the speedway, we gathered at Tim Welborn’s house for a Wing Car only show. We had a great time and got to meet Bobby Allison and Larry Rathgeb, the father of the Daytona.
Once back home from the reunion, the Daytona was covered up and readied for its time on the auction block at Mecum Kissimmee 2020. We were sad to see it go to a new home but with so many projects awaiting their turn, we had to let her go. Sold to a collector out west, I was told the F6 green Daytona resides in a private museum next to other rare classics.
