To
compete in the Ponycar and muscle car market, Chrysler designed the Dodge
Challenger. It was designed to compete
against the Mustangs, GTOs and the Camaros but other manufacturers had a
three-year head start. To make things
worse, by the time the Dodge Challenger program was approved, the Ponycar was
into it’s second generation.
The Dodge Challenger was not an original design from
scratch, Chrysler management would not allow the new development costs. The first step for PERFORMANCE reasons was
to allow all of the Chrysler engines to be put in the Challenger. In order to accomplish this, Chrysler
borrowed the K member support from the “B” body Charger and put it in the
Challenger. With this support, they
could now put the big block 440 and the 426 HEMI in the Challenger. The intent was to use the “A” body Barracuda
frame but it wouldn’t allow the K member to fit, so some redesigning was done
that widened the frame. Along with this
came the idea to redesign the outer body for a sleek long look to complement
the widened stance. Its stance was 5
inches wider than the Ford Mustang. The final wheelbase was 110” on the
Challenger, and 191 inches in length, 2 inches longer than any other Ponycar. It was in production for only 4 years, 1970
– 1974.
The
Vanishing Point movie with the white Challenger R/T equipped with the Hemi
engine and the 4 speed Hurst pistol grip shifter helped promote sales of the
Dodge Challenger.
Also the 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible
was chosen to
be
the Pace car for the 55th Indianapolis 500 Race.
1970-1971 FEATURES
Finally, in the 1970 model year the Dodge Challenger was
presented to the public. It had 6
models - hardtop, convertible, and SE in both Challenger and Challenger
RT. There were more than 60 options for
the Challenger including 9 engines, 18 colors, 16 trim options and 3 different
stripe configurations in up to 6 colors. Some of the unique options were the
shaker hood, go wing rear spoiler, A833 4 speed gearbox with Hurst 4 speed pistol
grip shifter, wood steering wheels, and rectangular chrome exhaust tips. Also
there was the slapstick auto transmission that allowed you to shift gears when
you wanted to and high impact colors for exterior paint. The paint color names
were Plum Crazy, Sublime, Go-Mango, Top Banana, Hemi Orange, and Panther Pink.
RT (Road & Track)—this option gave you a three spoke wood steering wheel, and heavy duty suspension.
SE (Special
Edition)—this option gave you leather bucket seats, a small rear window and
an overhead console.
T/A (Trans Am)—this option would give you a fiberglass hood, side chrome exhaust and a beefed up 340 engine with a six-pack carb. The T/A was also a limited production model during 1970 only.
1972-1973
FEATURES
The 340 engine was the largest engine allowed during this two year period, NO BIG BLOCKS, no R/T, no convertibles, no RT/SE, no more shaker hoods. Even the engine compression on all engines had been lowered to meet emissions standards. The only reasonable option left was the Ralley Package that included the 340 engine, 150-MPH speedometer, tachometer as part of the ralley gauges, side strobe stripes and heavy duty suspension. 1972 was also the start of the Carter Thermoquad carb replacing most other carbs. Get the picture, all of the fun was taken out of the Dodge Challenger when the 1972 production year came around. You’re probably asking yourself why did all of these happen, part of the reason was the gas and oil crunch, and high car insurance premiums on performance cars.
1974 FEATURES
The 360 V8 replaced the 340 engine while all other items stayed the same. The only thing that radically changed was the halting of the manufacture of the Dodge Challenger in mid year, and the production numbers were way down compared to previous years.