Here at Darling's, we don't just sell and service cars - we love them! It's probably no surprise we have a lot of auto enthusiasts on our team. From vintage muscle cars to custom race cars to antique trucks and everything in between, we love vehicles of all makes, old and new. In this series, we'll spotlight a team member and their unique ride.

Meet Nate Webster's Daytona

As a fan of '80s movies, music, and styling, it was only natural that Nate Webster, a Graphic Designer on our Marketing team, would also fall in love with cars from the Decade of Decadence. So when he saw a red 1988 Dodge Daytona for sale from a Facebook seller in Greenbush, he felt it calling to him. It was a 5-speed manual as well, and Nate hadn't owned a stick shift vehicle for over a decade but missed driving one. He couldn't resist, and went to pick up the Daytona in December 2017--after the seller dug it out of a snow bank.

As Mopar fans know, the most desirable Daytonas are the ones equipped with turbocharged motors. Nate's Daytona is a base model equipped with Chysler's common 2.5L naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine. While not incredibly fast, it's still a lot of fun to drive-and the pop-up headlights alone were worth the price of admission.

 The Daytona is equipped with T-tops and power windows, which makes it somewhat of a rarity among base models. Unfortunately, Nate says, it was never equipped with air conditioning. He drives it regularly from spring through fall.

"Sometimes it's a daily driver if it's not too hot. It's hard to try to look cool when you're sweating," Nate jokes.

Nate describes himself a "late bloomer" when it comes to being a gearhead. Before he bought the Daytona, he had never so much as changed his own oil before. Through learning maintenance on the Daytona, he now changes his own oil, fluids, brakes, plugs, coils, and more on all his family's cars.

The list of repairs and maintenance on the Daytona are long: lots of paint touch-ups, new exhaust with Dynomax Ultra Flo muffler, new front brakes, new fuel filter, and power window switch, to name a few.

Last spring, Nate traveled deep into western Maine to purchase a rear spoiler and louvers from a turbo model from an elderly man after seeing an old ad on Craigslist. After getting creative with installation, the wing and louvers really transformed the look of Dayton. He also applied black matte vinyl himself to the hood, which created a unique and sporty look. Along with the upgraded exhaust, the Daytona at least looks and sounds like it's ready to tear up the pavement.

"Looks fast, sounds fast, is NOT fast," Nate says with a laugh. "As a bonus, I get to horrify my teenage daughter when I make her ride in my 'old' car."

Since Nate is a devotee to classic heavy metal music, the car's vanity plate reads "JDS-PRST" as an ode to legendary band Judas Priest. Nate's future plans for the Daytona include just keeping it well maintained for years more of enjoyment.