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Rare Dodge Daytona found in barn heads for auction

An American icon is headed to Mecum's Kissimmee, Florida auction next January. Charlie Lyons, owner of a restoration shop focused on old Chrysler products, got a lead on a two-owner 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that had been sitting in a barn in Glenwood, Alabama for decades. Dodge built 560 Charger Daytonas (Canada and US production) to homologate the model for NASCAR racing, and then that car and the successor Plymouth Superbird terrorized NASCAR tracks for 18 months. The production car, however, 18 feet long and considered ugly, wasn't popular at the time, so many were beat up or simply disappeared. Around 385 are thought to exist today. Lyons said the first owner of this car was the town judge, who bought it for his wife. In 1974 the second owner - just 18 years old at the time - bought it for $1,800 so he could drive it to Panama City, Florida, for Spring Break, and had flames painted on the front fenders and the scallops trimmed in white. Otherwise this barn find is complete and stock, with matching numbers throughout, R4 Charger Red paint and a white tail, bucket seats, center console, three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, and 20,553 miles on the 440-cubic-inch Magnum V8. Hot Rod has the long story of how Lyons found the car and convinced the owner to sell for what he jokingly called "a shoebox full of folded money." Hagerty says a concours-worthy model can command $262,000. Mecum's pre-sale estimate for this Charger Daytona is $150,000 to $180,000. That sounds steep, but Mecum did sell another perfectly restored Hemi-powered 1969 Charger Daytona for $900,000 at this year's Kissimmee auction to actor David Spade. Related Video:

The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will come with a crate full of goodies

Dodge released its latest trailer for the upcoming 2018 Challenger SRT Demon, and it's all about the extra stuff that comes with the car. Each Demon will be delivered with a custom-painted crate, complete with metal serial tag with the car's VIN and the name of the owner. Inside the crate are 18 items, which will help make the Demon a dual-purpose vehicle. The company says that "each customer can decide at the time of order, or once they own the car, or even at a moment's notice that they want their car to favor street performance, drag strip performance, or something in between." Dodge announced that the crate contains matching spare wheels and Demon-branded tools. In the trailer, we can see some of the tools, including a jack, impact gun, socket wrench, and a tire-pressure gauge. We imagine that part of the plan is that owners can have an extra set of tires, perhaps some even stickier drag slicks, and have everything on hand to swap them out quickly. Dodge also revealed that it will include a "Demon Track Pack System" and "Direct Connection Demon Performance Parts." These items present more of a mystery, since the trailer only shows the wheels and tools. One of the official images (pictured above) shows the crate opened up, and what may be portions of a racing harness. So the Demon may include some safety parts that could be installed or removed to make it safe on track, or comfortable on the street for the driver and passengers. Assuming that any passenger seats are left in the car. Related Video:

Watch Jay Leno drive an ex-highway patrol '61 Dodge Polara

The latest vehicle to swing by Jay Leno's Garage is a 1961 Dodge Polara. This one was used by the California Highway Patrol half a century ago, ordered specially by the state police instead of the Darts that were usually used by law-enforcement. After sitting out in the sun for a few decades, it recently underwent a comprehensive, ground-up restoration by the historians and craftsmen at the Automobile Club of Southern California. As you can see for yourself, the result of the restoration is really quite stunning. The ACSC apparently spared no expense, bringing the 413-cubic-inch V8 back up to working order, along with the emergency lighting, radio, certified speedometer... the works. In the process they even found the engine cranked out more than the factory quote of 325 horsepower, recording 332 hp and 406 pound-feet of torque on the dyno. The Polara CHP cruiser hadn't even been back out on the freeway since the restoration was finished. But after getting the full run-down from the guys responsible for its resuscitation, Jay wasted little time in bringing it back to its natural habitat.