August 15th, 2022 Chris Phillip

Did you know that the Dodge Charger 500 preceded the Aero Wars of 1969 and 1970, which brought America the high-wing Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird? Even rarer than those HEMI-powered weapons of super-speedway mass propulsion, the 1969 Dodge Charger 500 is one of the most incredible Mopar muscle machines that you may not know the history of.

In June 1968, Dodge revealed the ’69 Charger 500 to the press and pitched NASCAR president Bill France on allowing the car to race in the 1969 season.

One month later, July 1968, Dodge sent a memo to its dealers and announced Charger 500 availability for the upcoming model year.

In August 1968, Dodge featured the1969 Charger 500 in text and pictures in a press kit sent to 18,000 publications throughout the world and in the 1969 Dodge Performance Models four-color brochure sent to dealers. A total of 250,000 of these dealer brochures were printed and distributed.

According to Motor Trend, “Initially, dealers were told the car would only be available with the 426 Hemi. Dodge shipped unfinished 1969 Chargers to Creative Industries and let them install the grille, front spoiler, rear window plug, and chrome a-pillar covers which the engineers had also found helpful in the wind tunnel. Dodge also decided to make the car available with a 440. Base price was $3,843 and a Hemi would bump that up by $648. Most experts think the cars were sold at a loss.”

In January 1969, France approved the Dodge Charger 500 for NASCAR racing. Dodge displays the Charger 500 at Riverside International Raceway and enters it for the first time as a “Stock Car” on the NASCAR circuit.

Only 392 of these 1969 Dodge Charger 500s made it down the production line. Are you ready to put one of these holy-grail muscle cars in your garage? The car. The keys. The title. All yours. This amazing prize package will not be repeated. Click here to enter now.