Dodge Charger

The Dodge Charger has been redesigned for 2011! It is a major upgrade from the current Dodge Charger style which has not changed styling since 2006.

2012 Dodge Charger SRT8®

The 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 is powered by the new 6.4-liter HEMI® V-8, upping performance to 465 horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque, with increased torque in the low end of the RPM range. A active valve exhaust system has been redesigned allowing the cylinder cutoff system to engage over a wider range.  This results in improved gas mileage.  The new active intake manifold and high-lift camshaft with cam phasing provides the increased low-end torque.

The 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8® was unveiled at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show.  Some of the new features include the “all-new paddle-shift technology and a two-mode adaptive damping suspension, Charger SRT8® delivers intelligent performance, ride and handling, as well as interior and exterior styling.”

Dodge Charger Advertisements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RyPamyWotM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYLtSl6RiPQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQI5oEi-8uY

The Charger was officially introduced by Dodge with a mid-1966 model year introduction. We will focus on the classic Dodge Chargers of 1966 – 1974. Just as a side note, there were approximately 180 Darts produced with the Charger name in 1965 and they were available for sale only as a conversion kit (to upgrade the Dart into a Charger). Dodge also produced 300 kits that dealers could install on the Darts themselves.

Classic Dodge Charger

1971 – 1974 Dodge Charger

Unfortunately, 1971 was the begining of the end for all muscle cars because of stricter emission standards and higher insurance costs. Despite those factors, the ’71 Charger stayed alive and actually received a major redesign. From this time onward, Chargers and Coronets share the same body style. The difference being the Chargers were two-door cars while the Coronets were four-door cars. In previous years, the Super Bee package was available only under the Coronet, but now that they shared the same body style, and the Charger being the two-door verison, the Super Bee was produced under the Charger name. This would be the only year that the Charger Super Bee existed. This would also be the last year of the 426 Hemi. All of the other engines received “detunings” because of the new, stricter emission standards.

On a positive note, a new rear spoiler and “ramcharger” hood were now available on the option lists. A new scoop was mounted in the middle of the hood directly above the air cleaner and if the driver wanted to put clean air directly into the carburetor all they had to do was pull a lever under the dash and the scoop would pop open. This scoop was available only the Coronet R/T and Super Bees.

From 1972 to 1974, Dodge moved the Charger from the performance category to more of a luxury car. The main reason was because of the stricter emission standards and insurance costs. As a result, they could no longer market performance anymore. The Hemi was no longer available and the engines once again received engine “detunings” through 1974.

1968 – 1970 Dodge Charger

With a major drop in sales during 1967, it was clear that the Dodge Charger needed a major redesign for its 1968 model. The new Charger had what is refered to as “coke bottle” styling. The front fenders and rear quarter panels are what gives the Charger the “coke bottle” styling, because they resemble the curves of a coke bottle. The full length tail lights were removed and replace by “Corvette-like” tail lights. Dual scoops were added to the doors and hood to compliment the redesigned Charger. In 1968 the Charger received the R/T (Road and Track) badge. The R/T model was the high performance version of the Charger. It came standard with the 440 Magnum which was rated at 375 hp. A total of17,665 Chargers were produced during this production year.

The 1969 Charger is almost the same as the 1968 from a cosmetic viewpoint. The grille on the Charger received modification and now included a center divider. The tail lights also recieved modifications. In addition to the R/T version, another special version of the Charger was produced starting 1969 called the SE (Special Edition) version. The SE package was not a preformance package, but rather focused on a luxury package which could be bundled with or without the other R/T version. A new engine was available for 1969 including the Slant Six. This new engine wasn’t very popular because everyone wanted more power with a V8. A unique optional feature was the sunroof, which by todays standards is very desirable yet a rare option for its time. Two new Nascar editions of the Dodge Charger were available including the Charger 500, which had improved aerodynamics over the standard model. The second was the Dodge Charger Daytona which was specially designed for Nascar. It sported a front nose and a larger tail wing. In total, there were

69,000 Chargers produced during 1969. Evidently, this Charger was well recieved.

In 1970 the Charger took on some more cosmetic changes. For starters the front end received the addition of a chrome wrap around bumper. The Charger, along with the Challengers and Barracudas, were available in awesome new colors such as Plum Crazy Purple, Sublime Green to name a few. The R/T version of the Charger received a simulated reverse body scoop on the doors which sported the R/T logo. The Charger 500 version was still around for 1970, but it lacked the high preformance features of the 1969 models. The 440 Six Pack was the only engine addition for 1970, but certainly not a minor one! The 440 Six Pack sported 3 two-barrel carburetors and was rated at 390 hp. Even with all these hot new additions, the production of the Charger fell to only 49,768, most of the lost sales were because of the new Challenger.

1966 – 1967 Dodge Charger

In 1966 Dodge jumped on board to compete with the Plymouth Barracuda and the Ford Mustang. They created the infamous Dodge Charger, which was based on the midsized Coronet platform. The base price on the Dodge Charger was $3,122. The interior was considered state of the art for the time. Not only did it have two bucket seats in the front, but it went the next step and put two more in the back! The console was not restricted to the front either. They designed the console to reach all the way to the back seat! The standard engine was the 318 V8, but most buyers upgraded to a 383 V8. Other options for the Dodge Charger were the 361 V8 and the debuting street 426 Hemi! The 426 Hemi upgrade cost an extra $1000, causing only 468 on them to come off the production line for the year. Comparing this with the total number of Chargers produced in 1966 (37,344) made the Hemi option not only desirable but also rare.

With its successful, mid-year introduction of the 1966 model, the 1967 Dodge Charger require few if any changes. One minor exterior change was the addition of turn signals that were mounted on the tops of the fenders. In addition, the full length console was replace by a regular-sized console. Two new engines were available including the new 440 Magnum included in 660 Chargers. The second new engine included the 383 2 – barrel, which replaced the 361 V8. Even though the Charger was a huge success in 1966, the Donge company only produced 15,788 units in 1967. That was roughly half of what they sold the previous year. The “fastback craze” was coming to and end and the time had come for Dodge to redesign their Charger.