The Charger 500 was a limited-edition production Charger that Dodge produced in an attempt to compete with the Ford Torino and Ford Talladega models that were cleaning up in the NASCAR circuits. The first prototype Charger 500 was a 1968 Charger R/T with a 426 Hemi under the hood mated to a Torqueflite transmission. Production numbers for the standard 1969 Charger totaled 89,200, of which only 500 were the special Charger 500. Most of them came standard with the 440 Magnum engine with the 426 Hemi available as an upgraded option (only 67 of 500). The Charger 500 was designed to be a little more are dynamic than the standard Charger and had a flush-mounted front grille proudly displaying exposed headlights and a slightly modified rear window which was mounted flush with the trailing edge of the roof.
Even though the Charger 500 doesn’t have the high wing of either the Daytona Charger or Superbird, it is considered to be one of the 3 wing cars. It was all about aerodynamics on this car.
This car has an original broadcast sheet, which is a remarkable story in itself. The owner that restored this car before I bought it had sent in a rubbing of the fender tag to Galen Govier, the noted Mopar historian. He wanted to have the car authenticated and decoded. To his great surprise, he received a call from Galen about a year later. Galen explained that a collector in Texas was restoring his own Charger and found a build sheet that clearly didn’t belong to his car. He wisely sent the build sheet to Galen, and Galen recognized that the build sheet belonged to this car. Galen sent the build sheet to the owner, and the car and build sheet were reunited.
MCG 06-03 2-page
