DODGE CHARGER
As a testosterone-charged example of a muscle car, the Charger couldn’t be bettered.
Flex your biceps and leap into a 1966 Dodge Charger.
It wasn’t the first muscle car on the block, but rather a hasty mid-year introduction to compete in a market crowded with performance cars like the Pontiac GTO, Chevelle SS 396, Buick Gran Sport, Olds 442, Plymouth Barracuda
and Ford Mustang.
A concept car had been presented at auto shows in 1965, which Dodge claimed would only be built if interest was high. But that was a gimmick – production was already approved and, having been slow away, #Dodge was soon up to top speed.
1969 Dodge Charger - By CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4672256
The wide, low Charger with its sweeping fastback had a beautiful state-of-the-art interior with bucket seats front and back and a console that reached to the back seat, plus a choice of V8s going all the way up to the 7 litre Chrysler 426 Street Hemi plant developed for NASCAR racing.
This connection was no accident – national stock car racing was (and is) the premier American motorsport.
The Charger was the first production car to boast a rear ‘spoiler’, added to make it competitive – race cars had to be based on production models which were so streamlined that they acted like an aircraft wing and lifted at speed. It worked – a Charger secured a NASCAR win in 1966.
1971 Dodge Charger - GPL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=383346
This made it a big seller – success on the track immediately translating into brisk sales that topped 37,000.
Few changes were made for 1967, but competition was always cut-throat in America and the plethora of existing muscle cars were soon joined by the Chevrolet Camaro. Novelty value exhausted, Charger sales started to slide and a major revamp was ordered for 1968.
This produced the ‘Coke bottle’ Charger whose sinuous lines replicated the famous beverage container, and the Charger series would continue through numerous modifications until 1978.
1975 Dodge Charger - By Bull-Doser - Own work., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18826429
DID YOU KNOW?
The Charger wasn’t just a boy racer’s dream – despite the high-quality interior finish this was also a very practical vehicle, with rear seats that would fold flat to create a long load space.
NASCAR versions of the Charger had a top speed of around 150 mph (241 km/h).
The 6.3 litre road car could go from 0-60mph in 6.4 seconds.
Some text taken from 501 Must-Drive Cars published by Bounty Books with permission.
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