This sleek black Daytona belongs to Mike and Toni Svec of Richmond, Ohio. Mike had always wanted a Daytona since he was ten years old. When he found this "dream" car, it was more of a nightmare, as it was a basket case!

The Daytona was found in New Somerset where the original owner had parked it in his yard in 1973 after blowing up the transmission. Instead of being a road-ready Winged Warrior, this Daytona was a condo for several families of mice. The engine was totally corroded and the interior was being used as a storage shed for garden tools!

Even though the Daytona was, as Mike puts it, "one small step away from the strip pits", it still took him six months to convince the owner to sell it to him. Finally, in May, 1985, Mike became the second owner of a large collection of rust that with a lot of hard work, time and tender loving care would eventually become this beautiful Winged Warrior once again.

The restoration project was begun with Mike doing the grunt work. Brother Gary handled the bodywork, final prep and paint work. Virtually every piece of sheet metal on the car had to be replaced and since Mike's choice of paint was the glossiest black you've ever seen, the bodywork had to be perfect.

Gary's talents were put to the test and he did a wonderful job, as you can see here. Before long the body was ready for the many coats of black. The car was originally red, but since most of the Daytonas that he had seen show up at meets had been red, Mike wanted something more unique. The black with white wing is definitely a stand-out paint scheme. Bob Donaldson of B&B Racing in Stuebenville rebuilt the Daytona's 440 powerplant and since this is one wing that is driven to all events, Mike can attest to its reliability.

The restoration took about two years to complete. Since that time, Mike has upgraded the brake system to discs all around. Since he feels the need for speed at times and has had the Daytona up to 130 mph, the discs were necessary to slow the winged beast down. Mike's Daytona carries the rare C5X interior code which designates the black cloth seat inserts. Only nine Daytonas are documented with this code.