Dodge Charger
By the mid 1960's most of the American automobile manufacturers had already staked their claim to belonging to the flourishing muscle car market, and it began to look as if Dodge had missed their opportunity. But, to those people who felt this way, there was a surprising and magnificent awakening when, in 1966, Dodge unveiled it's new power-horse, the soon to be famous Dodge Charger.
However, in the early three years of its life, there was some doubt as to whether the Charger would every find a niche for itself in this competitive market. Sales were disappointingly low, despite the fact that the Charger base model, which developed 230 hp with other models doing even better, a power base that surpassed both models of the Ford Mustang. Dodge, behind closed door, then performed a complete rethink and redesign on the vehicle. The result was the 1968 Charger, which was significantly different from its predecessor. It had wider wheels and sat closer to the road, the lines of the new bodywork shape earned it the fond nickname "coke-bottle styled," and there was also a vinyl-roofed version, which proved popular. The engine range was the same as before, with a 318, 383 and 400 version available.
Hoping to slightly exceed the lowly 30,000 sales of the 1966 model, Dodge were staggered when the all new Charger sold in excess of 95,000 units in the first year. With an eye on the Daytona Production car races, in 1969 Dodge produced a road going version called the Charger Daytona 500. On the racetrack this new Daytona left the others standing and helped to reinforce the Charger name. Small cosmetic changes were made for the 1969 and a new smaller engine, low cost version of the car was made for those who wanted the style without the cost, although this was not very successful.
Around 70,000 units were sold in 1969 and this dropped to 50,000 in 1970, mainly as a result of aggressive competition from Chrysler and Plymouth, who both brought out similar powered models in this year.
Thus, in 1971, Dodge unveiled yet another versions of the car, dropping the coke bottle design in favour of a slightly smaller car with slightly less distinctive lines. In all there were six models in the range to account for all tastes, from the base and hardtop models, to the SE, R/T and Super Bee. The basic Super Bee was the fist of the Charger models to successfully combine power and relative cost efficiency.
Nevertheless, sales continued to decline and in 1971 the Charger lost its way, becoming little more than a poor resemblance of its sister, the Cordoba. Finally, in 1978 the Charger disappeared, sunk by ever more stringent transport and emission performance regulations.
However, it appears than all is not lost. In 2005 Dodge announced the imminent release of an all-new charger. So perhaps, once again, this powerful muscle car may grace the roads of the US.
