In previous posts, I’ve discussed the histories of the Ford Mustang and the Chevy Corvette. This time I’ve decided to take a break from that rivalry. Too much time being caught up in it can convince you these are the only two marques that exist. This time, I’m looking at another American icon, and one of the most famous Chrysler cars of all time: the Dodge Charger. When you look at an early Charger, its brutish looks are still striking today. This is a car that could break your jaw if you looked at it funny. It’s unashamedly aggressive and powerful, as every muscle car should be. Then you look at an older one and it looks like something you’d see out on a school run. What was its progression from one extreme to the other?

The Charger was conceived during a tempestuous time for Chrysler’s staff. The new manager, Lynn Townsend, wanted to take a structured approach to competing with Chrysler’s rivals. Under his scheme, Dodge would compete directly with Pontiac, while other brands would have their own specialized niches. This is not what Dodge dealers wanted: they wanted their brand to be taken seriously, and to compete with Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouth directly. This argument got so heated that on one memorable occasion, Townsend gave the dealers an ultimatum: they could either stick to the new plan or go to another brand. The Dodge dealers got up and left. The Charger was the child of these issues. It was designed to stand alongside the Plymouth Barracuda on the nation’s forecourts and to fill a niche which sat between Ford’s Mustang and Thunderbird models.

The very first Charger was built as a derivative of the Dodge Coronet, but it looked like nothing else Dodge had on the market. Swept back, with a jutting body and the slightest hint of fins, it heralded a departure from the conventions of the time. After a prototype was shown at car shows in 1965, the first cars were introduced on January 1, 1966, with an intensive advertising campaign backing it up. During the 1966 Rose Bowl, the Charger was marketed as a sea change for Dodge. It’s also important to note that the very first Chargers weren’t particularly performance-orientated, aside from if you plumped for the 426 Hemi, which had been introduced in 1964.

Sales in 1966 were decent, with 37,000 Chargers being bought by keen consumers across the country. These then abruptly plummeted by over 50 percent in 1967, with sales falling down to 15,000. Its racing career wasn’t all that it could have been either, with the car performing poorly at high speeds until a spoiler was added.

In 1968, it was time for a redesign. This new model wasn’t to be a simple derivation of an existing Dodge model, no, this was going to be a totally new car. The only thing that was to stay the same was the base B-Body. Built with a goal of shifting weight to the rear wheels, the car was squatter and had an integrated spoiler. Inside, the design emphasized speed and power, with integrated bucket seats and a curved design to the interior suggestive of an aircraft cockpit. What could you pair these squat, muscular looks with other than a Hemi? The 1968 Dodge Charger was available in either the standard or R/T version, with the R/T featuring the 440 as standard. Sales in 1968 skyrocketed. So many were sold that production had to be tripled at Dodge’s Michigan plant, and another production line was installed in St. Louis. Sales for 1968 were 460 percent what they were in 1967. This new design was clearly having the intended effect.

Only a few small changes were made for the 1969 model year, with the most obvious being the chrome divider over the radiator grille. In addition to the standard and R/T versions, the high-performance Dodge Charger 500 was also introduced that year. This version packed one of two Hemis, nothing else. It was essentially a NASCAR machine for the consumer market, and was priced at $3843. The last second-generation Chargers were produced in 1970, with only minor changes being made, once again. This time, the biggest change was a much larger bumper which wrapped all the way around the car’s front.

Thanks to emissions regulations and rising prices of gas and insurance, the third-generation had to be scaled back a little. While the 1971 model (with the split grille making its return) was still available in the 500 and R/T versions, these were gone in 1972. The 440 Six Pack engine had also gone to the headsman’s block, leaving the new Rallye package to fill the performance space. The Rallye was intended to serve someone who had “grown up,” and had to mix performance and practicality. This quote from the brochure makes their attempt clear.

“Okay, drivers, how do you see yourselves? The sports-car-buff-turned-family man? Or the conservative who likes the look, but remembers the insurance costs?”

To try and meld these two seemingly-opposing concepts together, the Rallye package made some interesting choices. Handling was paramount, with the suspension modified for the model, but performance was still there for those who wanted it. The smallest engine available was the modest two-barrel 318 V8, but they ranged all the way up to the 440. The Rallye also had exclusive access to the four-barrel 340, which output a respectable 240 horsepower. Of the 75,600 Chargers built in 1972, 4351 were Rallyes.

For 1973, new sheet metal was used in the Charger’s construction, and safety regulations required Chrysler to install new five mph bumpers. All other changes made were minor. The grille and taillamps were changed, and the rear of the SE cars now rocked a triple “opera window” arrangement with vinyl surrounds. Sales in 1973 hit a record of 108,000. Not much changed between 1973 and 1974 models, but the 340 engine was dropped and replaced with a 360. A handful of new rear-end ratios were also made available, but it was much of a muchness. Perhaps because of this, sales dipped back down to 68,000.

In 1975, the final generation of the B-Body Chargers hit the road. The new Chargers were getting further away from the muscularity of the 60s, replacing it with a newfound sense of luxury. Thanks to this, the new Chargers now shared their body with the intermediate Chrysler Cordoba, and model types were reduced to just the SE. Engine options were also reduced, with the sizes now only ranging from the 318 to 400s. The problem was, the Cordoba was now dramatically outselling the Charger, with sales of the Charger falling sharply to 31,000. Dodge hoped to tackle this with the introduction of the performance-orientated Charger Daytona in 1976, with sales increasing up to 53,000 that year. The other changes made were once again small, and this continued with the changes made for 1977 and 1978.

The Charger as any kind of performance car was dead by this point. It would be five long years before there was any hint of performance on a Charger again, and it was to be very different indeed. In 1983, the Dodge Shelby Charger arrived, putting 107 horsepower into a subcompact. It was no NASCAR racer, but it was fun. Real, bulky performance wouldn’t be back on the menu until the 21st century rolled around.