DODGE CHARGER
HIGH PERFORMANCE, SHARP PRICING AND NASCAR WINS MADE THE CHARGER DESIRABLE
If the car you visualize whenever ‘Charger’ gets a mention is orange with its doors welded shut then you are missing out on a lot that these sporty Dodge products have to offer. The Charger was created as a rival to Pontiac’s GTO and appeared late in 1965. It was based on the mid-sized Coronet but had a unique fastback shape, special interior with folding rear seat and concealed headlights.
At a time when most large US cars typically used separate body and chassis construction, the Charger had a ‘unibody’ and was 100kg lighter than others of its size. With the 6.9-litre ‘street Hemi’ V8 an option, it also delivered more performance than any other full-sized US model being sold in 1966.
Despite or perhaps because of the Charger’s spectacular shape, sales during its first two years were disappointing and it took a complete makeover to unleash the model’s full potential.
The ‘cigar shape’ 1968 car maintained a fastback profile but with an inset rear window for improved rear vision. This change unwittingly altered the aerodynamics and created problems for those who had been enjoying spectacular Nascar success with the previous model.
Although early cars were available with 3.7-litre six-cylinder engines, virtually every Charger that came to Australia was V8-powered. Most popular seems to be the 6.3-litre, 383 cubic-inch version coupled to a three-speed automatic transmission.
Front disc brakes were optional on basic cars and from 1968 became standard on the big-engined R/T. These had a 280kW ‘Magnum 440’engine with three-speed automatic transmission. Four-speed manual was an option, costing $188 more.
Critics liked the Charger’s combination of performance and price but complained about the basic levels of trim. To shut them up, Dodge introduced an SE (Special Edition) pack which covered the seats in leather, put fake timber on the dash, added extra interior lights, map pockets and new hubcaps.
Available from 1970, the triple-carburettor ‘440-6 Pack’ engine added just $119 to the price of a basic 440, yet just 684 were sold during their introductory year.
A restyle introduced for 1971 blunted the Charger’s visual impact but did minimal damage to sales. 1970 had seen 49,800 Chargers built, with that number falling to 46,183 during 1971. By 1974 though, numbers were down to around 30,000 units and the model was withdrawn for 1975.
More than half a million Chargers were built in the space of eight years and most are to some extent collectable. That is due in part to the Dukes of Hazzard television programme but also the model’s Nascar track prominence where Chargers and the derivative Dodge Daytona/Plymouth Superbird enjoyed great success.
Genuine 1968-70 R/T cars are rare in Australia and usually cost more than $100,000. Finding a genuine V Code 440 6-Pack will be even more difficult and expensive, with high-quality cars selling in the USA at US$120-140,000. 1971-73 Chargers are 30 percent cheaper than earlier versions with the same mechanicals.
Like most ‘muscle’ models of the 1960s-70s, corners were cut to get cars out the factory door at low prices. To help B Body Mopars like the Charger hang together, companies in the USA are now retrofitting full chassis to stop these cars quite literally coming apart as they age.