Official Charger Daytona release
Dodge has officially released the 2013 Dodge Charger Daytona. As with every Charger Daytona made after 1971, it is essentially a cosmetic package with other minor tweaks.
On Friday, we posted Mopar392′s report that the new car would be based on the Dodge Charger R/T Road & Track edition, with the Super Bee’s blacked-out hood; the Charger Juiced’s lower chin spoiler; and a blackout treatment on the roof, spoiler, and front grille. The first batch will come out in Daytona Blue, with later models sold in bright white, billet silver, and black; only 2,500 will be made for model-year 2013.
Missing from our early report were the higher-performance 3.06 rear axle ratio, high-speed engine controller, paddle shifters with sport mode, and performance steering and suspension. The interior has dark brushed aluminum trim surrounds.
The only information released by Chrysler in addition to our early report is the interior, which, as shown in the photo, has black seats (leather with Road & Track, cloth with R/T) with Daytona Blue accents and stitching, with a dashboard plaque, Mopar pedal kit, and Beats audio (ten speakers, 552 watts). The cost is $2,500 above the R/T Road & Track, or $2,995 above the R/T (we did not know that one version would be based on the Charger R/T in our original report). Thus, the Daytona will be $32,990 for the R/T and $36,495 for the R/T Road & Track (plus $995 shipping in the continental United States).
The original Dodge Charger Daytona was a short run of cars built solely to allow Dodge to put an aerodynamics kit on their Charger for NASCAR racing; they set speed records of over 200 mph, and came with a choice of the 440 V-8 or the ultimate muscle car engine, the 426 Hemi. Since that model was dropped, the name has periodically been used for lightly modified Chargers, including the pictured (above) 2006 model and a version of the late-1970s Dodge Charger SE which was visually similar to the Chrysler Cordoba. There was also a series of front wheel drive cars simply called the Dodge Daytona, and a more recent Ram Daytona pickup.
Before Chrysler set the release, artist Susan Rand predicted the look of the car — see if you can tell which photo is the real Chrysler press image, and which is Susan’s prediction, without reading the captions.
