1969 Dodge Daytona Charger’s 426 Hemi creates a hood-lift phenomenon that modern car owners wouldn't believe
- This rare 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger has a 426 Hemi under its hood
- Its spring green metallic finish and black tail stripe are unique
- However it’s the engine noise that really got people excited
Published on Sep 04, 2024 at 4:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Sep 04, 2024 at 7:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger with a 426 Hemi under the hood is a hyper-rare American car.
In fact, only 39 are known to exist with the original engine still in situ due to low production numbers.
While it’s spring green metallic finish and black tail stripe make it unique – there’s something even more remarkable about it.
Namely, the noise it makes when you lift the hood.
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1969 Dodge Daytona Charger
Featuring its original 426 Hemi engine, owner Tom Lembeck walked auto-enthusiast content creator, Lou Costabile, around the stunning car.
The car is in a highly original condition, including the paint, undercoating, and parts – which isn’t the norm for a Hemi Daytona.
Lembeck reveals he’s had the car for five to six years.
However, its heyday saw it shredding tires at 322km/h (200mph) all over the USA.
While the host and his guest are putting it through its paces for the content, it’s usually stored in a museum after being resurrected, restored, and repainted by Nicolay Auto.
The 426 Hemi
However, despite its good looks, it’s the noise emanating from beneath the hood that’s raised eyebrows- specifically in the comment section.
“A real motor makes noise! This kind of noise!” said @BrewBlaster.
Others agreed, with Costabile himself replying: “It’s a good sound for sure.”
The 426 Hemi of the 1960s was an engine produced for use in NASCAR and was not initially available to the public.
Chrysler introduced the ‘Street Hemi’ in 1966 for its intermediate range of cars and sold it in the Charger from 1966 through 1971.
In an attempt to soup up his Charger, one man decided to supercharge a 1968 Dodge Charger after it had been parked up for more than 30 years.
To bring this story up to date, the Dodge Charger EV has a special feature to convince purist fans to try them.
While boasting an electric engine capable of producing 355 horsepower, it will sound like its forebears.
In fact, it’s considered the world’s first electric muscle car.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
