A classic American ‘muscle car’, the Dodge Charger was a full size fastback coupe. With its buttressed rear pillars and tastefully simple front, the twin headlights were mounted behind electric flaps; it was a far cry from the chintzy gin palace American cars of the 1950s. The first car to bear the Charger name a bold, but somehow bland, fastback that was announced in 1965 had lasted just a couple of seasons. The 1968 shell however, was a last with minimal changes, until 1970. Myriad options meant that the Charger could be tailored to customer requirements, some had quite mild 5.2 liter engines but for those in the know it was the 1968 R/T (road and track) model that was the one to have or the one to dream about having. Under the bonnet was a 7.2 liter engine, giving 375 bhp and an abundance of tyre smoking torque. Off the line, the Charger could out pace most Italian exotica with 0-60 mph (96 km/h) time of six seconds, steaming up to 100 mph (160 km/h) in 13 seconds with wheel spin in every gear. If you mashed your foot to the floor, it would eventually wind up to 150 mph (240 km/h).By bolting the heavy duty suspension down rock hard and fitting scaffolding sized anti roll bars, Dodge actually made the Charger R/T handle, too.
Like most American cars, the Charger came as a three speed automatic, but for serious drivers there was also a heavy duty Hurst manual gearbox. The Charger model line lasted until 1978, but its credibility as a performance car progressively faded away as the American industry moved its emphasis from performance to luxury and safety.
