Rathgeb was inducted into the Mopar Collector’s Guide Hall of Fame in 2012, which pointed out that he became the head of Chrysler’s Special Vehicle Group in the 1960s. He built numerous winning stock cars, and, in their words, “took the Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird from fantasy to reality.”
Larry Rathgeb was the lead engineer for racing development on the Dodge Charger Daytona.
He was instrumental in breaking the 200 mph stock-car speed record, and a major force in Plymouth’s domination of NASCAR for nearly a decade.
According to John Wehrly, the family will have a memorial “after the pandemic or when appropriate. Larry will be cremated.”
— AllPar.com —