A very rare color photo of the car. Notice the light green striping treatment.

This is a much sharper black and white version of the color photo seen above. The loop at front served as a bumper, which was required on all 1970 vehicles.

The unusual paint scheme (two side stripes, striped wing and painted hood) can be seen very clearly here.

Notice the standard Charger rear window - it's not a "real" Daytona. A 1969 dealer plate is also clearly visible in this photo.

The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was one of the most dramatic shots fired during the late 1960's stock car Aero Wars. Originally envisioned as a 1970 model year offering, Chrysler rushed the car into production early because of the lack luster performance of its predecessor, the 1969 Dodge Charger 500. Stock car sanctioning body rules allowed all cars (including Daytonas) to race for more than one season, so it was not then necessary to manufacture any significant number of race or street Daytonas for 1970. Besides, Dodge's sister division Plymouth was producing its own winged car for 1970, the SuperBird.

According to winged car aficionado Greg Kwiatkowski (who provided all of the photos found here), the car at left was built for Bob McCurry, then Vice-President and General Manager of Dodge. It is thought to be perhaps one of three 1970 Dodge Charger Daytonas produced by Chrysler - or what was as close as they could come at the time. Most winged car "experts" don't really consider this a true Daytona, as it's missing at least one very important part that "real" 1969 Daytonas had - the special rear window treatment.

And what of the other two cars? An In-Violet purple car resides at the Wheels and Spokes Museum in Hays, Kansas. There are rumors that the third car was blue, but little else is known about it.

Let's finish by reviewing excerpts from newsletters of the two national winged car clubs:

• From the Winged Warrior newsletter, October, 1977: "Chrysler tells us they made 503 Daytonas, and some sources say 505. Maybe the 505 account partly for the 1970 models. A 1970 Daytona? Yes, there were at least three of them produced. Two were for prominent doctors in the country, and one belonged to Bob McCurry who was the Godfather of the Daytona at Chrysler Corporation. These had every option available for the Charger line, plus R/T door scoops, side marker lights (the bodies were '70's, not '69's), electric sunroofs, vinyl tops, custom front bumpers (looked something like '63 Vette front bumpers), and were powered by Hemi's. As for the whereabouts of these cars, McCurry supposedly still owns his, the doctor who resided in Baltimore, Maryland sold his to someone in Maryland, and the whereabouts of the third Daytona is still unknown."

• From the Daytona-SuperBird Auto Club newsletter, May, 1997: "With respect to 1970 Daytonas; there are no true 1970 Daytonas. However, there are a handful of 1970 Chargers converted to Daytona sheet metal by Creative Industries at that time. The one documented car is Plum Crazy with a 440 6-pack and loaded with options like a sunroof. It has the R/T door scoops. This car is missing the one thing that makes a true Daytona - the back window. It was owned by a doctor in Indiana from new and was sold in the late '70s to a man in Hays, Kansas. I believe the car is still there."

• From the Daytona-SuperBird Auto Club newsletter, August-September, 1999: "There were a few 1970 model Daytonas made. We first made mention of the rumor of such a car in May, 1977. A member approached Ray Nichels about these cars, and Ray confirmed that 'maybe one, two or three' had been made. They were built by Creative Industries who did the Charger 500 and 1969 Daytona conversions for Chrysler. Ray's opinion at the time was that Creative was hoping Chrysler would consider keeping a good thing (work and business for Creative) going and produced a few cars.
  
  In 1978, we got a call from member...in Ohio...[who] told us he knew the owner of one of these 1970 Daytonas. About three days later, the owner, Dr. David Jackson called and told us his story about the car. In 1969, Dr. Jackson was working at the Navy hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Around this time, he bought a '69 Dodge convertible. He had talked to a dealer in the Washington, DC area about a Daytona. But, most of the ones in the area were relatively stripped down without power steering (?) or brakes. The doctor called Chrysler and some how managed to reach the head man of Dodge, Bob McCurry. McCurry told him that they would not be making any more 1969 Daytona models, but that they were making a small run of Daytonas on 1970 chassis. There would be one for each district that Chrysler had, which would make 30 to 35 cars. Always the salesman, McCurry asked the doctor if he would be interested in taking the car for the DC and Maryland area, which of course he agreed. He sold the new Dodge convertible when it was a week old. Three weeks later, he talked to McCurry again. At this time, McCurry stated that there had been a change of plans and that they had canceled the production run. But...since he was having a 1970 Daytona made up for himself, he agreed to also have one made for Dr. Jackson.
  
  At this time, Dr. Jackson was taking pictures for the American Red Cross at stock car races in the southland, and putting together slide shows for patients. The order for his car was processed through a dealer, and he picked up the car in Detroit in February, 1970. Dr. Jackson drove it straight to Daytona for the 500. He met Ray Nichels there and also the folks at Grey Rock brakes. And in 1971, the car was the Grey Rock parade lap car for the Daytona 500.
  
  You've probably heard how the winged cars were banned in DC and Maryland for not having front bumpers. At this time, Dr. Jackson had a specialty body shop fabricate up some front bumpers modified from a 1963 Corvette. In 1973, the car went to Nichels Engineering in Indiana for some mechanical work. The engine was blueprinted, reassembled and dynoed at 450 horsepower. In 1979, the car was sold to Jerry Jueneman in Hays, Kansas. It was cosmetically restored and showed up at the Wing Car National meet in Michigan that year. The car is still owned by Jueneman and is reported to be currently on the market.
  
  The 1970 Daytonas were loaded. Dr. Jackson's car was equipped with a factory sunroof on a black vinyl top, leather buckets, six way seats, and stereo. The car also has the 1970 Charger R/T door scoops and 1970 side marker lights and tail lights. These cars do not have a fastback rear window plug. [It was] left off by Creative due to the extra labor required. Dr. Jackson's car does not have an 'XX29' serial number.
  
  We've seen photos of two 1970 Daytonas. Early photos of Dr. Jackson's Plum Crazy car exist, as well as another loaded out car shot at Chrysler with small bumperettes. The timing of February, 1970 delivery seems right, as the Chrysler car is sitting on a wet parking lot of road salt. The third one which was rumored to have gone to actor Robert Goulet hasn't popped up on film yet..."

NOTE: The Winged Warriors/National B-Body Owners Association site has information about another of the 1970 Daytonas.