The late 1960s were a wild time in NASCAR. Automakers were going big to win races, with the aero wars front and center in vehicle design. Back then, the line between race car and road car was much thinner than today, with homologated versions of these powerful machines available to the public. A recent barn find discovery uncovered several high-powered race cars for the road.
The collection includes several American-made models from the late 1960s. A 1969 Charger Daytona finished in B5 Blue paint with a white stripe and a blue interior is an early standout in the video and is already being restored, with work on several of the other cars also underway, but there are rarer cars in the barn to see. The big-winged coupe packed a 440 cubic-inch V8 engine that was paired with an automatic transmission.
The collection also contains a few Plymouth Superbirds in various stages of disarray with big wings and aerodynamic noses. One specimen is already being worked on, with the vinyl roof removed and the nose gone. One even featured a four-speed gearbox, while the others packed the 440-cubic-inch V8 and automatic gearboxes.
There was also a line of 1969 Ford Torino Talladegas, a more aerodynamic version of the car. Mercury sold its own variant, the Cyclone Spoiler, which is also in the collection. Rumors point to Ford making fewer than 800 of them over the first couple of months of 1969, making the few in the barn quite rare. They were available in three colors and came with power steering, power brakes, and an AM radio.
Not all the cars in the collection are destined for a new life. A burnt-out, numbers-matching Superbird will continue to sit, a bit too gone for restoration. However, many of the vehicles in the barn are in decent enough condition to receive a second lease on life.
There are likely more NASCAR-related icons hiding in barns across the country. It’s quite astounding the number of vehicles owners have tucked away that are simply abandoned or forgotten, which is sad and tragic. Some of these vehicles still have life and can bring new drivers joy. They might need some work, but few are completely lost causes.
