70 Charger R/T SE Daytona sunroof project is starting soon.

[chargervert]

Ever since I saw the Jerry Junerman owned 70 Charger R/T SE Daytona sunroof car on the cover of Muscle Car Review magazine back in 1985,I always thought it was one of the coolest Mopar muscle cars that I had ever seen. There has been controversy over wether the car was built as a custom or built with factory involvement, and the Mopar collectors guide said it was done by a custom shop,but there are way too many similarities to the 70 Charger R/T Daytona known as the watermelon Daytona that was shown in factory photographs that were taken at the Hamtramak facility in early 1970 to say for sure that the factory had no involvement in the production of these two one off wing cars! You know what they say about Mopar back in those days, never say never. There are photographs of this plum crazy purple Charger R/T SE Daytona in early 1970 wearing a temporary paper license plate,so if the factory was not involved then this car was customized right from day one. Having a 440 Sixpack, 4 speed manual transmission, a Dana 60 rear axle and the factory sunroof option surely made this car a one of one on its own, before the Daytona conversion, with only 112 Chargers receiving the factory sunroof option in 1970.

 

[chargervert]

So a few years back I acquired a 70 Charger R/T plum crazy purple California roller from a friend of mine who I have known for decades,and have bought many Mopars from. The car is very solid, but I changed out the two rear quarter panels because of damage not rust. They didn't go to waste,because I built my 70 Charger R/T desk out of them. The dutch panel was swapped out too. Other than a small section of the trunk floor, the car needed little metal work. So I acquired from the same friend a 70 HP2 440 Sixpack engine that he was planning to use in this car,and had another friend rebuild an 18 spline Hemi 4 speed manual transmission for the car. I just bought a rebuilt Dana 60 rear axle with 3.54 gears from a member on here. So the parts were trickling in to start the build of a replica of the 70 Charger R/T SE Daytona sunroof car,with a 440 Sixpack, a 4 speed and a Dana 60 rear. I have all the Daytona pieces,including an original wing,and I have a complete sunroof assembly, but it is rusty and needed new cables and a new motor and switch. So I was leaning towards using a modern sunroof assembly from a 90s Volvo that I have. The measurements were close enough that I could have made it work, and I thought that it would be easier to get parts for, but another member on here mentioned that he had a rust free complete sunroof assembly that he might consider selling, so a deal was struck, and today it was placed in a truck for delivery to me! Sweet,I am so excited that I was able to acquire this piece it will make my clone much more authentic! This is the piece of the puzzle that is going to allow this car to be bumped up on my list and get the ball rolling on this build.

 

[440 PHIXX]

Sounds really kool! It will be much more interesting than another factory OEM resto. They’re nice too!

 

[chargervert]

So with this said,I will be getting the parts all together with the car after the Chrysler Carlisle National show,and accessing what I have and what I need to get started on this car for early next spring. This is the sunroof assembly getting put in the truck and soon it will be in my possession!

 

[davek]

 

[chargervert]

Sounds really kool! It will be much more interesting than another factory OEM resto. They’re nice too!

You know me,I love to build one off cars,like the Chargervert!

 

[440 PHIXX]

You know me,I love to build one off cars,like the Chargervert!

That certainly is... one of a kind! I think it would have sold better that the Coronet versions.

 

[chargervert]

This is my canvas,an original plum crazy purple Charger R/T, it was a U code 440 Magnum automatic car. The hardest part is going to be cutting a hole in a perfect roof! I have several Chargers with rusty roofs,and I have to cut a big *** hole in a nice one. Maybe someone can use the piece I cut out to repair a roof someone put an aftermarket sunroof in! I will feel better about it if the piece I cut out gets used to fix another Chargers roof!

 

[chargervert]

I know that the original 70 Charger R/T SE Daytona still exists, I understand that Jerry closed down his car museum in Kansas, Wheels and Spokes,and that about six or seven years ago I saw that he had offered the car for sale with a $250,000 asking price. I don't know if he still owns the car or it has changed owners. The beauty of building the replica is that I am planning to drive this car,and hopefully often, and I wouldn't do that if it was the original car!

 

[chargervert]

That certainly is... one of a kind! I think it would have sold better that the Coronet versions.

I agree,the Coronet convertible production numbers were relatively low! Had the factory built a convertible version like the second generation Chargers designer Richard Sais envisioned I think that they would have outsold the Coronet convertible cars. Richard Sais actually started building his own version of the Charger convertible long before myself or Pete Veight who built his Daytona Charger convertible years before I built mine ever envisioned doing one.

 

[chargervert]

Mark Worman thinks he is the only one who can pull one of these rare factory sunroof assemblies out of his ***,but I say never underestimate us guys here on For B bodies only ! We have some pretty rare stuff too! Thank you Robby for keeping this rare piece in great condition since 1975,and thanks FBBO for helping me acquire this very rare piece! This site and the people on it have been so helpful with all my insane projects and helping me with rounding up parts! And a special thanks to Jim for picking this up for me!

 

[Derwud]

Are those 2 f4 Fenders?

 

[chargervert]

The original sunroof Daytona when new in 1970,note the temporary plate in the back!

 

[chargervert]

I have to look for those door edge guards! I think I have one side!

 

[chargervert]

Are those 2 f4 Fenders?

Just the drivers side. My friend has a 70 Challenger R/T 440 Sixpack 4 speed car in F4 green!

 

[440 PHIXX]

The original sunroof Daytona when new in 1970,note the temporary plate in the back!

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It looks like it has the California noise reduction turn downs. N95? Great looking car!

 

[RemCharger]

I'm trying to get excited about it, but.. it does look like a nice 70 with the Daytona stuff put on.
There would have been extra parts laying around when some of the cars were de-daytona'd at the dealerships.

Will be a cool car no doubt about it.

 

[Derwud]

Just the drivers side. My friend has a 70 Challenger R/T 440 Sixpack 4 speed car in F4 green!

Both of my cars are F4..

 

[furious70]

So with this said,I will be getting the parts all together with the car after the Chrysler Carlisle National show,and accessing what I have and what I need to get started on this car for early next spring. This is the sunroof assembly getting put in the truck and soon it will be in my possession!

View attachment 1310180

View attachment 1310181

I spy a @rhinodart?

 

[chargervert]

I'm trying to get excited about it, but.. it does look like a nice 70 with the Daytona stuff put on.
There would have been extra parts laying around when some of the cars were de-daytona'd at the dealerships.

Will be a cool car no doubt about it.

They didn't "DE"Daytona any Chargers,in fact they all sold with no issues, that story came from one dealership that removed the aero parts from one Superbird that they couldn't sell. A dealership employee saw another employee throwing a Superbird nose assembly in the dumpster. This happened to one car at one dealer,leading everyone to believe this was common practice,that is folklure! If the purple car is a clone,it was the first one ever built,which dosen't make any sense because there were still real Daytona Chargers on the dealer lots at the time this car was built! The 70 Daytona purple car is built exactly like the 70 watermelon Daytona in almost every detail which leads me to believe that they were more likely built with some factory involvement to be factory show cars similar to the Plymouth Rapid Transit caravan cars! The Daytona Stock cars were tearing up the Nascar tracks at the time these two 70 Daytona's were built with the number 88 factory backed Daytona breaking the 200 MPH closed course record in March of 1970. That record stood until it was broken by Bill Elloitt in 1984. My guess is that these cars were built to carry on the momentum of the success of the racecars into the 1970 model year for car shows and dealership visits similar to the Performance clinics,that Dick Landy and Ronnie Sox used to do. There is a photo of the watermelon car in a Dodge racing display at a dealership in 1970. After the aerocars were banned from Nascar competition in 1970,the show car Daytona's were probably sold off like the Plymouth Rapid Transit Caravan cars were after they were done displaying them,with Steven Juliano confirming that all of the Plymouth Rapid Transit Caravan cars had survived and were sold off as well. That was standard operating procedure for Chrysler at the time. I think the reason these two cars are not too well known as factory show cars,is because of the aero cars being banned from competition as well as the impending federal bumper mandate that made the wing cars not in compliance after January 1st of 1970 they had a very short time on the dealer/show circuit before being sold off by Chrysler. The purple car being loaded up with just about every possible option,and in the new plum crazy paint is exactly what Chrysler would have done on a show car in 1970. That car would have cost close to 6 grand new optioned like that with the Daytona conversion,with 69 Daytona's still on the lots at under 4 grand,it would have made no sense for someone to order a car like this in 1970! My guess is that the navy doctor who bought this car saw it for sale when he attended the 1970 Daytona stock car race in February of 1970,most likely at a Dodge Racing display and had to have it. The original green 70 Daytona has never surfaced,but it is believed that the wing from it was found with the shocking two tone green paint under a coat of spray can black primer.