1970-1974 Dodge Challenger
The new Dodge Challenger is an undeniably nice piece of equipment. With a stiff rear-wheel-drive platform and two powerful Hemi engines shared with the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and the late, lamented Dodge Magnum, the Challenger brings burly and belligerent American muscle to the performance car table. It is faster and more comfortable than the legendary original--and can actually change directions from time to time.
And yet ... and yet, it still doesn't hold a candle to the original.
Born in 1970 as Dodge's incredibly late entry to the pony car market dominated by the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, and populated by the Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Marlin, Pontiac Firebird, and Mercury Cougar, the Challenger made up for its lateness with raw power and what passed at the time for luxury.
The Camaro could be had with a big-block 396, and the Mustang sported the incredibly sweet 428 and 429 Cobra Jet engines--hero engines all. With the Challenger, however, Dodge went nuclear. Sure, a customer could purchase a Challenger armed with Mopar's conventional weapons--various derivations of the 318, 340, 360, and 383 engines--but the real news was the availability of the legendary 426 Hemi and the 440 Six Pack.
This sledgehammer thrust powered a car slightly larger and more luxurious than the Mustang and Camaro of the day, a car more comparable to Mercury's Mustang-based Cougar. The package was cloaked in some of the prettiest, most iconic American performance car styling of all time. Blunt and brutal--yet somehow graceful--the Challenger produced the visual horsepower to match the thunder under the hood.
In response to the Camaro Z/28 and Mustang Boss 302, Dodge released its own small-engined lightweight street Trans Am racers--the Challenger T/A. The T/A sported a unique six-barrel 340 V-8, an upgraded suspension, some interior upgrades, and a flat black hood. The T/A didn't handle as nicely as the Z/28 or Boss 302, the Trans Am race car wasn't particularly successful, and the small-displacement engine meant it wasn't as fast in a straight line as its big-block brothers, but its rarity has made it popular in the collector market.
The similar Plymouth Barracuda gets more play among enthusiasts, but to me, the Challenger's lovely looks put it in a class of its own among American cars of this era. Both in the 1970-1971 original and 1972-1974 "sad face" grille styles, and whether in full wild-color-and-stripe regalia or understated solid colors, the Challenger looked bad.
Unfortunately, Dodge's timing could not have been worse. The 1970 model year is widely considered the apex of the muscle car era; pollution standards, rising insurance rates, and gas shortages made big-engined performance cars rapidly extinct. Like every other muscle car and pony car, the Challenger's performance was rapidly eviscerated in the early 1970s, leaving behind a lot of show and very little go.
The new Challenger has the benefit of 38 years of technology, but it still can't touch the original's gravitas. Consider the glowering, threatening presence and the raw, viscera-scarring sound and potency of the Hemi or Six Pack. Sure, pavement-warping performance was central to the muscle car era, but intimidation was just as important. The original Challenger had intimidation in spades.
Purists will grit their teeth at this, but there was yet another Dodge Challenger--a rebadged Mitsubishi-made Plymouth Sapporo that graced the United States with its anonymous four-cylinder presence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I have a predictable soft spot in my heart for the Sapporo Challenger, but by any rational measure that car was an awful stain on the proud Challenger name.
The top two photos come from Flickr user Mustang_V8, and the last "sad face" Challenger photo comes from Flickr user Spooky21.
--Chris H.
isitacrossfromchris on September 17, 2008 at 04:14 PM
So if the Sapporo Challenger is an awful stain on the Challenger name how would you classify the 80's Charger on the Stain-O-Meter*(TM)? The Shelby Charger should be the equivalent of a stain of a fine vintage of wine while the Sapporo Challenger would be a skidmark on the underpants of automotive history. Just my two cents.
*Stain-O-Meter used with permission of HAF-MATCH! Industries.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 17, 2008 at 06:18 PM
I've always liked the Challenger and the contemporary Barracuda. The styling is clean and understated, and it goes as fast as it looks.
TurboDave on September 17, 2008 at 07:38 PM
Minor point from an AMC enthusiast - the AMC pony car was the Javelin, which also spawned the shorter 2-seat AMX. These were built from 1968-1974 and 1968-1970 respectively. The AMC Marlin that is cited was more of a personal luxury coupe built from 1965 to 1967 - too big to be a pony.
Rob the SVX guy on September 17, 2008 at 08:55 PM
Yeah, the Marlin looked a lot like a 66-67 Charger. Anywho, the Challenger T/A and Cuda AAR also had some groovy side exiting exhausts, and the hood wasn't just flat black, but it was made from that 'racing' material called "fiberglass". :) I love E-bodies, even if the interior door panels were all made from a type of plastic that disintegrates into fine powder, and even if auctions have inflated the prices of these cars to completely insane, unattainable levels....
but what I cannot find love for is the new Challenger. At all. At the time, the original Challenger was cutting edge, by most standards. It shoved a monsterous engine into a fairly SMALL chassis and wrapped it up with a gorgeous body. The new challenger is powered by an engine that represents everything wrong with America... it sucks gas like crazy, makes decent power, but is heavy and thirsty. C'mon dodge. You have plenty of turbo experience from the 80s and 90s, and you proved it when you kicked import ass with the Neon SRT4. And worse yet, the new Challenger is HUGE. It is not by any means a small car. It's massive!
The saddest part is that the new one achieves about the same performance as the old one, both in acceleration, and miles per gallon. So in forty years of progress... we have... not much. The new challenger should have looked retro, been about 15-20% smaller, and had a boosted 4 banger or boosted 6 cylinder to compete with Evos, STis, and other modern performance cars. Plus, seeing a Challenger compete in the WRC would be AWESOME. :)
RacerS3 on September 18, 2008 at 06:24 AM
I have always liked the 70-74 challengers (and Barracuda/Cuda’s). They are great looking cars with a wide selection of drive trains to back up their tough looks. It is to bad they were so late to the pony car market. Its my opinion that you can see it reflected in the styling, which looked more like an extension of, or the evolution of the 67-69 Camaro, rather than something new and fresh. But never the less they are still awesome looking. I always say looks are subjective, but you can see that GM was leading in the styling department in those years. It’s too bad that GM has fallen so far behind now in the pony car market. The new Mustang has been out for several years and the new Challenger is out and looks cool. GM’s Camaro won’t be out for almost another year, and I am already tired of its looks since I have seen it in every magazine (and in movies) since the concept car was introduced years ago.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
SwedishMetal on September 18, 2008 at 09:43 AM
RobSVX:
I see your point, but the Challenger is supposed to be a pony car, not an attempt to play the turbo/hot-hatch/rice-burner game. possibly a new model, maybe a Avenger SRT should be competing in that market.
But i like your distillation of what a pony car is: a powerful engine in a small, tight coupe chassis. and today, that could be easily served with a wicked high-revving NA inline 4 or 6 in a small RWD coupe (think about the same size/weight as the early Supras and rx-7s). dang, i would buy such a machine.
Rob the SVX Guy on September 18, 2008 at 03:08 PM
Swedish: That's just it. You define it as a pony car... I define it as a potent engine in a small chassis, which is exactly what the EVO and STI are. It wouldn't be playing their game, it would be playing the game the challenger played 40 years ago: Actual performance, not some retro homage to the past.
Anthony Cagle on September 19, 2008 at 09:54 AM
I actually prefer the challenger to the 'Cudas of the time, especially with the T/A package. Too bad it was so much bigger and heavier than the Mustang/Comaro/Firebirds, as I have a real affection for the Trans Am series cars. I think if this thing had a 5.0L or smaller engine and could run with those other models, I would love it far more than I do.
Plus this one has the added allure of being featured in a motion picture, Vanishing Point, which has two pieces of trivia associated with it: 1) The car that crashed in the final scene was actually a Camaro shell, and 2) It was the first movie where I saw actual (female) breasts. My parents were aghast.
Slick on October 06, 2008 at 04:51 AM
This has to be the first look at the 1970s challenger without any reference to Vanishing Point. I think that this is a shame, Vanishing Point was a fantastic film. Solely because of this magnum opus, i really want a 1970 dodge challenger rt in white and sporting a 440/4-speed combo (hurst shifter would be nice but that goes without saying). i would have one now if it were not for two factors: the international trafficking of organs (this drives the price for kidneys down somewhat) and baby-boomers getting nostalgic (bastards).
Jason Carpp on December 02, 2008 at 10:32 AM
I've always loved the styling of the older Challenger. It has a better looking body and front end than the Charger of the time. The new Challenger may be better quality and probably more reliable than the old, but it's just not the same as the older Challengers and Chargers.
Coach C on December 04, 2008 at 02:49 PM
I wanted a big block, until the prices went out of sight. I settled about three years ago for a 1974 "White Hat Special" with a 318, 36000 original miles. I always laugh when i either get the "only a 318" or "hey there's a muscle car". In short not the 1970 I wanted, but a great fun and prestine Mopar. I will keep it the way it is, instead of making it something it's not.
Bob on July 05, 2009 at 12:04 PM
As an owner for both a 74 Challenger (panther pink with a white vinyl top and white interior, 4bbl 340 etc) and a 2009 Challenger Classic (B5 Blue, subdue black striping and interior, 5.7 HO Hemi)...can tell you these a GREAT cars to own and drive. They will hold their own again most everything - old or new -..Side by side, or separate, their distinct style grabs one everytime over the others.......