In 1968, Chrysler shipped two brand new 1969 Charger 500s to Hot Rod magazine for drag strip tests where the B-5 hemi 4 speed knocked off a quarter mile in 13.48 seconds. Then it was stolen. It eventually was the car that cracked 200mph closed course

Later, it was found missing its Hemi, its interior and driveline. Chrysler could not repair and sell the B-5 car. They decided to turn it into an engineering test car. The shell was shipped as essentially a body in white to Nichels Engineering in Griffith, Indiana.

Nichels rebuilt the car to NASCAR standards, including raking the body nose-down. They installed the bars inside the engine compartment from the firewall to the radiator support to stiffen the front end. They put in a roll cage, a race Hemi and matching drivetrain, and numbered it DC 93.

Paul Goldsmith drove it at the 1969 Daytona 500, and along with Bobby Isaac and Charlie Glotzbach completed a 1-2-3 sweep in Charger 500s.

Chrysler decided to go to the next level and install the ultimate aero package – the nose cone and the wing, making it a Charger Daytona.

The test results convinced Chrysler higher ups to make the winged cars and sell them to the public so they could be raced in NASCAR. While Chrysler worked out the logistics of building the 500 cars necessary for the public, Chrysler racing made the wings and nose cones available to teams racing the Charger 500s. None of the teams would race actual Charger Daytonas; they would merely add the modifications to the 500s they were already running. The newly configured cars would make their first track appearance at Talladega in September 1969.

Technically, a Chrysler-owned car could not race in NASCAR. As he had at Daytona, Nichels entered the car at Talladega as if he owned it. The car was outfitted to look like a Nichels-owned racer and the number “88” was applied to it.



The first day of practice at the track led to the headline: “200 MPH Certain At Talladega Track.” P Isaac was driving the K and K Daytona and Glotzbach predicted he would be even faster on race day. He was slated to sit on the pole – and then the Professional Drivers Association walked out.

On March 24, 1970, DC-93 ran its “transmission test” where here it broke 200 MPH with Buddy Baker at the wheel. The speed was a NASCAR record and world record for a closed course. After the Talladega record runs, the car was sent to Chelsea where Chrysler continued using it for tests.

https://speedwaysightings.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/how-a-stolen-car-became-nascars-fastest-and-ended-up-in-a-field-decades-later/