[Diego]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Yes, dealers installed all kinds of things to make a sale, or if the customer wanted to pay extra for them. Sun roofs, pin stripes, mud flaps, etc.

Installing a vinyl top on a Daytona is a completely different breed, especially considering they were not built to have vinyl tops from the factory.

[MikeNoun]

The only reason the Plymouth Superbird was built was because of Richard Petty.

In 1967, Richard Petty dominated NASCAR in his Plymouth. Ford responded in 1968 with the new slippery Ford Torino and Mercury Cyclone GT fastback models. While Petty still managed to win 16 races in 1968, he was getting clobbered on the superspeedways. He asked Chrysler for an aerodynamic Plymouth Road Runner, and Chrysler responded with a Dodge Charger 500. But Petty was loyal to Plymouth, and heading into the 1969 season, he would be facing slippery Fords, and now aerodynamic Dodge Chargers.

He did the unthinkable. Petty left Plymouth and drove a Ford in 1969. The Chrysler big wigs were furious that the biggest star of NASCAR, the face of the sport, and the poster child for Plymouth products, would drive for a competitor.

The winged 1969 Dodge Daytonas did well in 1969 with talented drivers like Bobby Isaac and Bobby Allison. But the championship still went to David Pearson and his 1969 Ford (Petty still managed 10 wins in his Ford). It was a serious black eye for Chrysler as their cartoonish-like Dodge Daytonas were getting upstaged by somewhat conventional looking Ford fastbacks. Chrysler told their Plymouth division to do whatever it takes to get Petty back. They built the Superbird, and Petty returned to Plymouth in 1970.

Fearing 200+ mph speeds would be common, and tire technology had not yet advanced to keep up with those speeds (plus the added downforce of the winged cars), NASCAR changed the rules for 1971, effectively making the wing cars uncompetitive.