It was my very first article in Hot Rod Magazine! HOT ROD: Daytona on the Farm
Also here is the original blog: Daytona on the Farm
Every year since I saw the car, I always go and visit the family and talk with them. Sometimes they have time to talk and catch up. Other times I catch them at the worst of times, like the middle of a child's birthday party. But the one thing remains constant, the Daytona. And now I know why!
I shot the original pictures in Summer 2011. This is late Spring 2012
I had another "barn find" to shoot locally, so I went over in Fall of 2012 on a lark to say hello and follow up on a few pictures I had missed out on. Of course I showed up when they were having a children's pirate themed birthday party. But they were still wonderful as always and allowed me to do what I needed.
After some digging, the owners found the original mesh nose piece, a little dented but in good shape. As well as the missing original valve covers for the 440.
EVERYONE is always asking why the Daytona is not in the garage behind it. I was wondering as well. Well after a close inspection a few years ago (before I saw it) the garage was deemed unsafe and had a possibility to collapse in upon itself because of rotted beams in the roof. So the family did not want the car to get crushed, so they pulled it outside to save it. Here is what is currently in the garage, until they are able to fully mend the rotted beams and put the car back in the garage.
That leads me to Fall 2013. With constantly writing and traveling, I only got to the Daytona one time, and when I was there was a very rainy and warm summer, so the plants went WILD. I could not get to the car without a machete!
And again this past Fall of 2014 I went back again.
For being where it is, it is safe for now. Yes it is still rusting, but there are plans in the works to get it out of the elements. We shall see. I can't wait to get out there in 2015 and see the car!
Ryan Brutt
The Auto Archaeologist
TheAutoArchaeologist@yahoo.com
www.BarnFinds.org
5 comments:
Why would someone let this car go to wrought like it has??
Hope they save it or sell it to someone that will before it gets to far gone..
These people need a reality check! Don't they know that the longer this car sits out in the elements the worse off it gets? And the more it'll cost to restore? I don't understand! Why don't they at least put it up on blocks inside a tent garage? At least that might prolong the inevitable! And the fact of the matter: how long has that garage been falling down? Several years? If they don't have the money to fix their darned garage, then (barring an inheritance) how will they ever have the coin required to restore a Charger Daytona?
I agree it is a shame that it sits and rusts like it is but they have owned it for many years and I can relate to them not selling. I had a wing car that I bought and had torn down for restoration when life got in the way. I had many offers to sell and several people say it was a shame that I would do that to such a car. The price on the cars got way beyond what I could ever pay if I wanted to replace it with another one. I kept it always saying that one day I would restore it. I lived in a $6000 trailer and had a $50,000 car tore apart. Sometimes the pressure was pretty strong but I endured and kept it. My wife was a saint and put up with my addiction to the old car. It sat for close to 20 years while we worked to get ahead. Today we live in a comfortable house and the car has a new house to stay in as well. It sits inside, fully restored and enjoyed by myself and the family. If I had sold it back when I could have made double my money it would be long gone and all I could do is talk about the one that I sold for 1/10th of what they are worth today. There is no way I can afford to buy one now unless I want to sell my house and shop and live in a trailer for the next 20 years.
What a diamond in the rough. I remember one of my friends had a Dodge Charger when we were teens - we all had a lot of fun in that car. The new Dodge Charger is great, too. A shame this fell into such as state of disrepair, but what a find!
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