Second-generation redesign boosted Dodge Charger’s popularity

It was black, it was bad, and I wanted it. No, that's an understatement. I wanted to be it.

In fact, "it" was the first "real" car I ever remember wanting to drive.

I was 6.

One dusty, overcast summer day I was pushing my shiny purple banana-seated two-wheeler to the top of a hill to coast down and try out my freshly healed kneecaps. As the crest neared, a low-pitched drone from behind became increasingly audible. Not paying much attention, I plodded along up the hill, but the rumbling became louder with each step.

Stopping to see what the heck was making all the racket, I turned, staring head long into the front fender of a sleek black car, the likes of which I had never seen. Aside from the sound, I don't remember much about "it" except for three things: the sunken rear window; the insignia "Charger R/T" mounted to the grille, and four little letters -- H-E-M-I -- stuck to the fender.

I was instantly hooked -- I was officially a car guy.

By age 10, while every one of my friends was spending their Sundays watching TV and building forts, I was knee-deep in Hot Rod magazines and souping up the lawnmower engine ... again.

Dodge's second-generation Charger left an indelible impression on me. It made me the car lover I am today. And for Dodge, it was also just the beginning. The brand was hip deep in anything-but-hip cars. The year was 1967, a time when you were no one unless you were hip and cool.

The fastback boatlike 1966-'67 Charger was met with only marginal success as a sporty vehicle and it's no wonder. Basically a warmed-over gentleman's Coronet, the best thing the first-generation Charger had going for it was luggage space, full-length floor console and big engines.

From a styling standpoint, Chrysler was getting its tail kicked all over town. The answer would be found in the second-generation B-body chassis that would also be used for the new-for-'68 Plymouth Road Runner.

Styling cues included the now famous "Coke-bottle" profile, flying-buttress C-pillars with recessed rear window (not unlike the Corvette introduced the same year), flush grille (with recessed hideaway headlights) and chrome external flip-top gas filler cap.

To make the two-door-only second-generation Charger appeal to as wide a group as possible, it was offered with a choice of five different engines over its three model years: 225 cubic-inch Slant Six; 318-cubic-inch V-8; two versions of the 383 V-8; two different 440 V-8s; and, of course, the mighty 426 Hemi. With a price range of between about $3,000 and $5,000, Chrysler succeeded in its goal of making a Charger for just about everyone, as long as they didn't need four doors.

Trim levels were as much to do with the price difference as the power teams. Options included the sporty R/T (Road and Track) package that offered heavy-duty brake and suspension components in addition to the hot-rodded V-8s found under the hood. Ranging in horsepower from 335 in the 383 to 425 in the Hemi, the R/T Chargers had not only boosted Dodge's performance image, but added some much-needed street appeal. Tack on the deluxe SE trim package and you had one of the rarest, most desirable and most expensive Chargers produced.

As usual, with just about any car built over the span of several years, the 1968-'70 Chargers were not identical. The '68 cars could easily be picked out of a crowd by the round taillights and side markers. The '69s -- made popular (or unpopular, depending on your point of view) by the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series -- were the only Chargers to have a grille split in the middle by a vertical upright. For 1970, the Charger received a "loop" front bumper that encircled the entire grille opening. Small changes, indeed, but to a Charger fan, they're huge. My personal favorite is the '68 because of the open-mouth grille and the round taillights.

The Charger was redesigned again in 1971, made longer and wider while still trading on the Coke bottle design of the previous generation.

The new redesign, coupled with a countrywide decline in the horsepower race put the '68-'70 Charger in a special category of cars that made the muscle car era what it was. It and the Challengers, Chevelles, Camaros and Mustangs of those heady days are the cars we'll remember and cherish forever.

Jeff Melnychuk is Wheelbase Communications' managing editor. He can be reached on the Web at www.wheelbase.ws/mailbag.html. Wheelbase supplies automotive news and features to newspapers and Web sites across North America.