Last Update on 7/2/97
As fastbacks were rapidly climbing the popularity charts in the mid-Sixties Dodge decided it should have one also. Rather than building one on a compact chassis like the Mustang and Barracuda, Dodge followed AMC Marlin's lead and designed a sleek new roof for the Cornet's chassis and body. It was called, a gusty name unlike other predatory Mother Nature name trends, CHARGER. The year was 1966.
In doing so Dodge joined the ranks of the rest of the Big Three, GM and Ford, in the art of cloning, a trend that still continues today, and copying each other not wanting to be out done by the other. American Motors soon followed what at best could result in a "boring" array of clones; at worst, for AMC's case anyway, disaster. At the end of the fastback fad, to Dodge's credit, the fastback Charger was replaced by one of the most beautiful cars of the decade in 1968, while maintaining a high performance tradition. This lasted until 1975 when Dodge product planners followed Chrysler into personal-luxury market cloning the Cordoba. The man responsible for the fastbacking the Cornet was William Brownlie, Dodge's chief stylist, advanced autoholic and motorcycle hobbist, who hated the idea. As prescribed, the first 1966 Charger had all the customer turn-ons: dummy knock-off wheel covers; wall-to-wall tailights; vinyl top option; buckets-and-console; fake wood steering wheel; floorshift; big round white-oon-black instruments, including tach; and hidden headlights which were Chrysler Corporation's first since the '42 DeSoto. Legroom was ok but typical of fastback design head room lacked requiring a midget for the rear seat. Each rear seat and the center armrest folded to give an acre of room for skis, fishing poles, stilts but nothing bulky due to the low decklid. The Charger was advertised as the "new leader of the Dodge Rebellion"
With its sporty lines, it looked rebellious and became downright ornery when ordered with the largest engine. The aging small-block 318 V-8 came standard. (The lightweight 318 came in 1967.) Most Chargers though were equipped with the 325 hp. 383, capable of doing the quarter-mile in 16 seconds at over 90 mph, 0-60 mph in 8 seconds and a top speed of 120 mph. Between the 318 and 383 was the 265 hp. 361 and were called the "Demi/Chargers" by Dodge and for the power hungry the 426 Hemi "Magna/Charger" waited. This new generation of the pathfinder Chrysler V-8 of the fifties had been designed in 1963 to help win races after re-entering into competition. The 426 Hemi was rated at 425 hp and did the quarter-mile in 13 seconds at about a 100 mph, and jumped from 0-60 mph in six seconds flat.
The performance legend began. Four-piston caliper, vented front disc brakes and the heaviest of heavy-duty suspension pieces were mandated for the Hemi-Chargers. Front torsion bars (.92 inches) were the largest on the shelf; the rear semi-elliptic springs carried two more than standard; the anti-roll bar was thicker yet than the torsion bars. With suspension technology being basic as it was back then the car rode like an unsprung buckboard but did keep the Hemi from being airborne over 20% of the time. The cost of one of the brutes were around $5,300 (about $17,000 today) meager for such high-level performance. The Demi/Chargers were about $3,500 ($10,800 today).
With design lead time as it was the 1968 Charger was already on the drawing board when the '66 debuted which was a good thing. In the first year output top 37,000 the little-changed '67 model (turn signal indicators on the front fenders) output was under 16,000. The public had tired of the fastback design. The production numbers ranked fifth in the 1966 model year production, the highest finish Dodge had since 1948, due to the kind of management, like general manager Byron Nichols, that Lee Iacocca could only have wished for.
Stylist Brownlie started over with a clean sheet for the '68 Charger although if you look at the VIN of any Charger it will be classified as a Coronet to which some resemblance remained. The new body had a graceful, slippery shape that still looks up to date. The broad, clean front end and smoothly curved sides, the flowing roofline (which was one of a few that looked good in vinyl) and elegant rear deck with its faint spoiler stood out as unique and beautiful. Car and Driver said the only thing that came close to challenging its stylish lines was the '68 Corvette. Ironically the Corvette aged fast but it has lasted 17 years while the Charger body lasted only three.
The '68 Charger's base engine was the famous Slant Six but V-8s powered the vast majority with the 383 putting out 335 hp. The hottest version, the Charger R/T (Road & Track), came with the 375 hp 440 Magnum standard or the optional 426 Hemi. Charger R/Ts can be recognized by their badges but not necessarily by the "bumblebee" stripes usually running across the rear decklid because they were optional. It is said that gentlemen left them off and it took a gentleman not to use the muscle of the 440 R/T. It did the quarter mile in 14 seconds and terminal velocity of 100 mph, which was better the some Hemis. Performance varied, of course, with the final drive ratios and the Hemi-Charger's lower gearing usually gave it an edge. The handsome new Charger was a whopping success with over 96,000 built (and almost 90,000 in 1969).
Bob McCurry, who replaced Byron Nichols, was a dynamic, hot to race guy actually got the credit for the numbers though. Bob was personification of the "Dodge Boys" as was also responsible for implementing "build them bigger and sell them for less" idea at Dodge and the 1968 "Scat Pack" (Coronet & Charger R/Ts, Dart GTS) as well as the jumbo engines and racy body sytles for which Dodge was known for then - and competition efforts. McCurry, being a drag race enthusiast, set up dragster clinics at dealerships using popular names but his main goal was turning the Charger into a national stock champion. It was here that Dodge had its work cut out. Chrysler's racing effort was a Plymouth-and-Richard petty show since 1963. Since Dodge had the same basic mechanics, it had to resort to assists like aerodynamics. Especially since one of the reasons for the fastback design was to hopefully add some mph but the '66 Charger qualified at only 172 mph at Daytona compared to winning 178 mph notchback Plymouth of Petty's. (One mile per hour is about equal to the length of a football field at tracks like Daytona.)
The '68 Charger's new body was slippier but the inset backlight (rear window) and recessed grill slowed it down. Later the design got the nick name of the Coke bottle design. The Hemi-Charger qualified at 185 mph at the Daytona 500 compared to Cale Yarborough's fasback Mercury Cyclone which did 189 mph. So in answer the Dodge Boys came up with a special '69 Charger 500 that had a flush grill, flush backlight, higher decklid spoiler and a two-inch lowering job. Dodge just built over 500 of them to qualify as "stock" according to NASCAR rules. Hot Rod magazine did a 13.48 quarter mile at 109 mph and people loved it but Gary Romberg, dynamic engineer, said "basically we didn't do enough to the shape..." and he was right. That year at Daytona Lee Roy Yarbrough's Ford won easy. Dodge needed more. Enter the unforgettable Charger Daytona also known as the Winged Avenger! (Do you see clues to the names of the Mopars of the eighties and nineties here!)
John Pointer, engineer, described the Charger Daytona's wind-cheating features: " a shark-like nose, a Charger 500 backglass, and biplane wings mounted on two oversized 1957 Plymouth fins." (Those '57 tailfins had t be good for something.) Pointer ran off a hasty sketch of this creation and showed it to Bob McCurry, sales vice president still, who said "If it'll win races, build it!" with hardly giving it a glance. The Dodge Boys went racing on Sundays in the late Sixties hoping that buyers would run to the dealers on Mondays to grab the latest offerings from the "Scat Pack".
Dodge built only 505 which was just enough to qualify as a "production" car with NASCAR although there were over 1200 orders. Officially the Charger Daytona cost $4000 and, unofficially, Chrysler lost $1000 to $1500 on each one but that didn't matter. Their sole purpose was to win races. The racing Daytona was equipped with a Hemi and a close-ratio four-speed with Hurst shifter. Driver Bobby Isaac remarked that it idled "like a coffee can full of rocks [but] as far as acceleration is concerned, the Hemi sure turns on where others shut off." A late modification added to the front fenders looked like air extractors which were really were blisters added to prevent tire scrub during hard cornering.
The Charger Daytona debuted in September 1969 at Talladega, with Richard Brickhouse setting a new official world's closed-lap speed record of 199.996 mph during qualifying, and breaking 200 mph in the race. Ford, the chief opposition, was a disappointment by not running. A month later when the Fords showed up at Charlotte they walked all over the Chargers, which had to ease of to preserve their tires. According to Larry Rathgeb, "Firestone could not-and Goodyear would not -build a ire that could stand up to 200 mph. After five laps you were out of rubber." Finally, at the Texas 500 in December, Bobby Isaac's Charger Daytona topped up the Fords with a 144.277 mph average. Over the course of the season, Charger Daytonas won 22 Grand Nationals, only four less than Ford. Thirteen drivers on five major circuits compiled a record of 82 Dodge wins in '69. Unfortunately, it was the first and the last year for the Winged Avengers. Late in '69, Plymouth wooed Richard Petty back from Ford not by giving him a winged Charger like he wanted but by promising him his own Winged Warrior, a 1970 Plymouth "Roadrunner", the Superbird.
The regular line of 1969 and '70 Chargers remained mostly unchanged in design or equipment, including about 500 per year equipped with the Slant Six. Hi-Performance Cars, in early 1970, tested a Charger R/T equipped with the 440 SixPack, which consists of three big specially tuned 2 bbl. Holley carbs on a high-rise manifold, four-speed manual, and 3.54:1 gearing. It devoured the quarter-mile in 13.95 seconds at a speed of 101 mph.
Also available was an SE (Special Edition) option that consisted of genuine leather and vinyl buckets seats, simulated walnut sports-type steering wheel, pedal dress-up kit, light group, deep-dish wheel covers, and map and utility pockets in the door panels. R/Ts came with two stripe packages (optional at no cost): bumblebee or longitudinal tape stripes.
For 1971 the Charger received an dramatic facelift that resulted in the kind of Charger beloved by Chrysler's traditionally short-sighted sales department: a car that felt bigger than it really was although it was already more than enough. Although the wheelbase and rear overhang were trimmed, the width and weight increased. The changes didn't affect on the feeling you were driving around in a true full-sized behemoth rather than a spirited intermediate. The '71 looked like combination of a Pontiac front end and a mid-sized Ford elevation with a humpy look over the back wheels. Gone was the nimble elegance of the '68 -'70 generation although to the contrary the '71 sold better: with over 82,000 units verses about 50,000 for '70.
Four different trim stages were offered now, giving the Charger six different classes. There was the baseline coupe (fixed rear side windows and B-pillar) and the hardtop, both came standard with the six, then came the V-8s: 500, SE (with a handsomely customized roofline), SuperBee and R/T. The SuperBee was still a nod to the "greasy kid" market. It came with rock-hard suspension, heavy-duty brakes, three-speed floorshift (otherwise know as the Slapstick), needle instruments, oversize battery, and a 275 hp 383 that burned regular gas instead of unleaded. For a few bucks more, one could be had in eye-grabbing colors like Citron Yella, Green Go, Plum Crazy and Hemi Orange. The best part was that is started out a little under $3,300 which was $500 less than the top-of-line R/T. It was described as a "great-looking piece of man's iron that knows how to live on a budget," by Dodge.
The 440 Magnum and the 426 Hemi could be ordered on the Super Bee and the R/T, with the 440 as standard issue on the R/T. When equipped with the Hemi, a fully outfitted Super Bee was still less than $5,000, a real bargain. Motor Trend published the best figures for the '71 Charger, it being a Super Bee with a Hemi, automatic, and 4.10:1 gearing: 0-60 in 5.7 seconds, the quarter mile in 13.73 seconds at 104 mph.
It was still clear though that Dodge's emphasis on the Charger had changed. They called it a "money saver [with] family-sized room," and as "a great personal car, a great family car, a great economy car."
The year 1972 is a depressing year us "muscle car" Charger fans because the 426 Hemi (and the 383) disappeared from the options list as well as the Super Bee and R/T. That left only the economy coupe, hardtop and the SE to carry the legend's banner. The Hemi, defanged by emission controls, was dropped as the 383 apparently for the same reasons. The engines weren't seen on vehicle's option lists. Although all was not lost, still left was a wide range of V-8s consisting of the 318 2bbl., 340 4bbl., 400 2bbl., and 400 4bbl., all available on all models. Dodge then said,"Now, men, it's time to separate," pointing out that the hottest mill, the 440 4bbl., and the 440 SixPack, came optional only with the Rallye package. The 318 was the standard Rallye and SE engine with the 225 Slant Six standard on the coup and hardtop. The Rallye also included heavy-duty suspension with jumbo sway bars front and rear, F70X14 whitewall tires, Rallye instruments, louvered taillights, power bulge hood, and other styling marks, such as humongous oblong dummy extractor vents stacked on the doors like little enemy flags on a fighter plane's fuselage. They were referred to as "restrained" by Dodge.
It was said one of the best articles on muscle cars was "Sayonara Super-car," by Jim Brokaw in the June 1972 Motor Trend, a group test of the Charger, Heavy Chevy, Ford Torino Gran Sport and Pontiac GTO. After a capsule history of the breed and a critical look at their pros and cons, Brokaw announced the Charger the best of the survivors. "The butt-grabber buckets are placed to give you a near perfect driving position, response is as good as can be had, and with that combination of front torsion bars and rear leaf springs of the correct dimension, augmented by the anti-roll bars, one can envision a number 11 or 71 on the door as you give it the Walter Mitty action of the San Diego Freeway. Even the pipes sound good." The Charger Rallye's 0-60 time was 8.2 seconds. It did the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds at 89 mph. The flame was flickering, but it hadn't gone out entirely yet.
Jim Brokaw's piece probably packed the best piece of worldly wisdom about the Charger and its peers. He pointed out that the Charger never suffered from hasty engine stuffing like so many other muscle cars. "One had to remove the master brake cylinder to change the last spark plug on the Boss 429 Mustang. The 440-6 (and Hemi) in a 'Cuda produced so mush torque steer that a manual steering system was too slow to keep the car under control at higher speeds." The Charger was just a good job all the way. What killed it was what killed most of its contemporaries.
"It wasn't that so many Supercars crashed," Brokaw pointed out. "It was more that when the crash did happen, it was like a B-52 going down on Staten Island. [So] automotive insurers hit the big red button and cranked out Supercar surcharges faster than a runaway Gattling gun. The decline, brought on by overkill in the horsepower department, was rapidly accelerated by surcharges. The Supercar had been mortally wounded. Mercifully, the government stepped in and put a bullet in the brain with smog regulations."
Author Don Vorderman once said that the owners of Hudson Hornets mat take pride in knowing they're driving a retired and respected champ. The same thing can be said the fast and good-looking Dodge Chargers. Clones they may have been - but they're about as fine as an example of their genre as can be found. I'd love to be turned loose with a [insert color][insert, preferably, any 1968-70 R/T model] in the middle of the night on I-89 with all the cops on holiday.
The Dodge Charger as a product still remained a success. Production didn't even drop out of sight like that of so many of its rivals. The 1973 model year, with the same basic drivetrain lineup and clumsy styling facelift, set the all-time Charger production record of nearly 120,000 units. The '73 featured a new grille (no more hidden headlights), 22-segment taillights, revised rear quarter windows, and on the SE a stand-up hood ornament and six opera windows to go with the landau vinyl roof.
In 1974, the oil boycott year, Dodge managed to put out nearly 75,000 Chargers. That was not bad considering that, except for grill and taillights, the '74 looked nearly identically to a well-decorated '73, which meant slightly better than a Ford Torino. In 1975 the Charger name joined the ranks of the personal-luxury Cordoba clone and the dwindling flame finally went out.