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Discussion Boards => Charger Discussion => Topic started by: odcics2 on September 20, 2019, 07:30:02 AM

Title: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: odcics2 on September 20, 2019, 07:30:02 AM
Last year Richard Petty sold his 1974 Daytona 500 winning Dodge Charger.

The latest MoPar Collector's Guide has a story about the 1974 Daytona 500 winning Charger
being discovered and is now restored.

Anybody shed more light or proof as to who is correct here??  I remember one car in Victory Lane, not two!

Any vintage pics to prove this one way or the other?    I'm sure there are third generation fans that would know.

:cheers:
Title: Re: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: odcics2 on September 24, 2019, 06:35:28 AM

So.....   No Petty Charger experts here???

I guess I can't understand why a real Petty Daytona 500 winning car would not be restored as such.
The car in MCG is restored to a combination that never was.  Should have left it as a Buddy Arrington Magnum!
Title: Re: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: 73chgrSE on September 24, 2019, 07:03:40 AM
I thought Petty found and restored the car decades later.

Did they have back up cars back then like they do now?
Title: Re: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: odcics2 on September 24, 2019, 10:22:53 AM
In 74 for example, Petty had speedway car, short track car and a road course car.
maybe a generic back up too.

They would build new cars for the next year. How many ???  Who knows!

In 1975 I was at the Firecracker 400, and saw Petty win.
At the Volusia Shopping Mall, there was a Petty Charger roped off on display.

Bottom line: there were a lot of "74" looking Petty Chargers over the 73 to 1977 timeframe.

That's 5 years of the same basic style.  So, maybe 15 - 20 cars total???   And he did build a few for other teams, like Woody Fisher in ARCA.
Title: Re: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: Aero426 on September 25, 2019, 02:52:48 PM
Quote from: odcics2 on September 24, 2019, 06:35:28 AM

So.....   No Petty Charger experts here???

I guess I can't understand why a real Petty Daytona 500 winning car would not be restored as such.
The car in MCG is restored to a combination that never was.  Should have left it as a Buddy Arrington Magnum!

The car as reclaimed had been shortened up to be a Mirada or Cordoba, as I recall.    They had to put some toothpaste back in the tube.
Title: Re: PETTY CHARGERs -Which one won the 1974 Daytona 500???
Post by: odcics2 on October 03, 2019, 07:04:36 AM
Quote from: Aero426 on September 25, 2019, 02:52:48 PM
Quote from: odcics2 on September 24, 2019, 06:35:28 AM

So.....   No Petty Charger experts here???

I guess I can't understand why a real Petty Daytona 500 winning car would not be restored as such.
The car in MCG is restored to a combination that never was.  Should have left it as a Buddy Arrington Magnum!

The car as reclaimed had been shortened up to be a Mirada or Cordoba, as I recall.    They had to put some toothpaste back in the tube.

That's understandable.  Have to do whatever you need to keep a car "legal" or to fit the latest body.