| Dodge Muscle Cars |
| Written by Muscle Car Tech | |
| Wednesday, 02 January 2008 | |
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Even though Dodge was the last to enter the pony car marketplace, they have been pretty well represented over the years. Both the Challenger, and the later entry the Dodge Charger came well after the trend established by the Barracuda and the Ford Mustang, but both entries by Dodge into the pony car party were well received.
Even though Dodge was the last to enter the pony car marketplace, they have been pretty well represented over the years. Both the Challenger, and the later entry the Dodge Charger came well after the trend established by the Barracuda and the Ford Mustang, but both entries by Dodge into the pony car party were well received. The Challenger roared on the scene with different available engine configurations, from a mild mannered slant six to the more aggressive 426-hemi engine. It was the things that dreams were made of, many a car enthusiast now would give anything to own one of the original Dodge Challenger, and restored versions of the vehicle are worth a lot of money. The Charger was more popular, and better known. It had a wider production issue, and was based on the Dodge Coronet. The Charger was launched in 1966 and was an instant success, based on a number of things. The sales peaked in the 1970s, but it was a serious competitor in the Muscle car arena. With its dramatic and aggressive body style, the Charger packed a wallop with its stock 318 V8 engine, to the optional 426 Hemi like its sister muscle car entry, the Challenger. At last the folks from MOPAR had an entry to the ball. Despite waiting until 1966 to become involved, the entries by Dodge were serious performance vehicles. The Charger had an impressive roofline, awkward at first until modified with the addition of C pillars that swept back. It also featured full-length taillights, and hidden headlights. Available consoles were present in both the front and back seat, and it was state of the art for the time with its four-bucket seats. With the rear seats folded down the Charger had a cargo space about seven feet long. But it was under the hood that the Charger was the most impressive. The stock engine on the Charger was the V8 318 engine. Many of its owners went for the more powerful 383 V8. But in 1966 the Charger was to make muscle car history with the debut of the 426 Hemi Engine. Hemi engines had been available since the early 1950s, and the 426 engines had actually been around since 1964, but with the Charger came the advent of the street version of the 426, an engine that finally the average car owner could utilize. The 426 Hemi Engine was powerful, listed at four hundred twenty five horses, it often came closer to 500 horsepower when tuned up for the street. If you chose a Hemi engine as one of the available engines back when the Charger came out, you would pay about a thousand dollars more for the price of the vehicle, but it was well worth it in power and performance. The Dodge Charger was one of the more impressive offerings that Dodge has ever had. Many people know of the Ford Mustang, or Barracuda for their establishment of the muscle car and pony car lines. But the Dodge Charger for its time was impressive in its own right. |