Classic 1969 Daytona Emerges After 45 Years in Storage

Amazing Find

As barn hunting becomes more and more popular across the U.S., we often wonder - how long will it be before all the rare old muscle cars are found? After all, there are only so many of them out there hiding in storage. Regardless, we clearly haven't found them all, as this amazing 1969 Dodge Daytona was recently unearthed in Central Pennsylvania after sitting for 45 years. And Hot Rod was able to tell its incredible story from the beginning to the present day.

Photos: Hot Rod

Inherently Rare

Dodge obviously didn't build very many Daytonas, and the only reason they did was to satisfy NASCAR homologation rules. Thus, 503 road-going examples made it to production, packing either a 440 Magnum or 426 Hemi, backed up by either a 727 Torqueflite automatic or A833 four-speed manual transmission. 

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

Impractical Daily

From the time this car was originally purchased in 1969 up to 1974, little is known about its history. But Hot Rod managed to track down the second owner and get some info from him. At the time, it had 37k miles on the clock and it was sitting on a used car lot in New Jersey. He was attracted to the unusual shape of the car and bought it as a daily driver. Originally green, he painted it blue. But the Daytona proved to be a handful for daily use, and after only a few hundred miles, he wound up parking it.

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

Big Money Proposition

The car sat all the way until 2003 when the owner moved from New Jersey to central Pennsylvania. He brought the Daytona along, but it just moved from one storage facility to the next. Eventually, in 2019, the second owner began to think about selling his Daytona. And after seeing the crazy prices they were going for, he figured that selling it at auction would be his best bet.

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

Making a Deal

Meanwhile, the person that owned the storage facility had been telling his friend Ronnie Belletieri about the car for years. Belletieri was quite interested in buying it and wound up negotiating a price with the seller that would make that deal finally happen. Afterward, he immediately started looking around to find a shop that could give the Daytona the type of restoration it deserves.

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

Perfect Fit

After doing some research, Belletieri came across American Muscle Car Restorations, who had previously restored a Daytona that landed on the cover of Hot Rod. It seemed like the perfect fit. And after seeing the car for the first time, AMCR owner Mike Mancini couldn't help but walk away impressed. "It's a legit car. It is amazingly clean," he said. "It doesn't seem like there is any rust on it anywhere. We put it on the lift, and it is bone dry. It's as clean as it could be. It's unmolested, except for that dismal repaint."

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

Back in the Limelight

Personally, we think this Daytona is cool as-is and would be awfully tempted to leave it that way. But we also can't blame Belletieri for wanting to restore it to its original condition. At the end of the day, the most important takeaway here is that it's a good thing this poor old Daytona is back in the limelight, as it should be.

Photos: Hot Rod

>>Join the conversation about this 1969 Daytona right here in the Dodge Forum.

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