Bobby Allison's 1969 Dodge HEMI Daytona NASCAR Is Now a Million-Dollar Classic

Chrysler's desire to trump NASCAR competition with a decidedly radical version of the Charger was the only reason why the Dodge Daytona became a production car. Simply put, the company had to offer it to the public in order to homologate it for competition. More than 50 years later and the Dodge Daytona is a desirable classic that's also quite potent in HEMI trim.

But even though it's rated at a satisfying 425 horsepower, the street-spec HEMI Daytona is nowhere near as powerful as its NASCAR counterpart. Fitted with a race-spec version of the 426 HEMI, the latter usually had more than 600 horsepower at its disposal. And that was more than enough to enable the winged Daytona to exceed 200 mph (322 kph) on NASCAR's high-speed tracks. Which was kind of amazing back in 1969.

Come 2023 and most of the Daytonas that are still around are of the street-spec variety. That's far from surprising since Dodge built 503 of them. But while the company put together far fewer NASCAR-spec cars and some of them were wrecked and scrapped, a few of them have soldiered on into the 21st century thanks to dedicated Mopar enthusiasts. The Red/Gold example you see here is one of those cars.

And it's not a run-of-the-mill "winged warrior" either. This Daytona was previously driven by NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison. He ran this exact car for four laps at more than 200 mph on August 24, 1969. Like most race-spec Daytonas, this car was put into storage at the end of its racing career. It actually spent a lot of time in a barn, but it got lucky and was restored to original specifications, including the Red and Gold Coca-Cola no. 22 livery.

The Daytona is no longer 100% original though. It has a rebuilt 426 HEMI dynoed at 650 horsepower and a heavy-duty Ford differential. But even so, the car won an award at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2005. And as of January 2023, it's also one of only three Dodge HEMI Daytonas that changed hands for more than $1 million.

Specifically, the winged Mopar went across the auction block at Kissimmee 2023 and the bidding wars didn't stop until the hammer fell at $1.43 million (including fees). This sticker not only made it one of only three Daytonas to change hands for a seven-figure sum, but also turned it into the most expensive "winged warrior" ever auctioned. A feat it shares with a street-spec HEMI Daytona that fetched the exact same price at the same event. I'm talking about the world's lowest-mileage HEMI Daytona, a car that was driven for only 6,490 miles (10,384 km) in 54 years.

The lucky winner also got a handwritten letter by Bobby Allison that authenticates the car, the driver's autograph on the dashboard, and a copy of the car's groundbreaking lap time sheet from 1969. On top of a million-dollar collectible that's ready to hit the Concours tour, that is!