The Dodge Challenger is formally lifeless. After a protracted goodbye that included a particular “Final Name” version for devoted lovers, the Challenger nameplate was formally shelved in 2023 (though the prospect of it getting used once more someplace sooner or later stays increased than zero, based on Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis). A legendary pony automotive that grew to become a family title over the a long time, the Challenger is an icon of American automotive tradition, and its demise indicators a radical shift within the route the US market and the automotive world as an entire are going.
Curiously sufficient, the lengthy historical past of the Challenger title begins with a automotive that’s not a Challenger.
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That’s as a result of Dodge first used the Challenger title on a particular version of the Coronet, dubbed the “Dodge Silver Challenger”. The Silver Challenger was launched in 1959 and solely lasted for a single mannequin yr, because the Coronet went out of manufacturing the next yr and didn’t seem once more till 1965. The primary standalone mannequin to hold the Challenger title made its debut in 1970; over the course of the next 5 a long time, three totally different generations of the Challenger made their manner into People’ garages. Let’s take a drive down reminiscence lane and discover the totally different incarnations of this quintessentially American pony automotive.
First Technology: Final of the Pony Automobiles?
The primary Challenger was launched in 1969 for the 1970 mannequin yr, considered one of two vehicles (together with the Plymouth Barracuda) utilizing Chrysler’s “E-body” platform. The Challenger was a barely late entrant to the horse automotive race, having made its debut 5 years after the arrival of the Ford Mustang, however it nonetheless managed to ascertain itself in opposition to rivals such because the Pontiac Firebird and Mercury Cougar. Throughout its first yr in the marketplace, the Challenger was out there in two variations: a “customary” variant (out there with a wide range of engine selections, the default possibility being a 3.7-liter inline-six) and the Challenger R/T (Highway/Observe), which was outfitted with a 6.3-liter V8. A T/A (Trans-Am) particular version was additionally out there, because the Challenger was a competitor within the Trans-Am championship (extra on that later).
When the Challenger arrived on the scene, the horse automotive market was already previous its heyday. The automotive had barely spent a yr in the marketplace earlier than gross sales started to say no. By 1974, gross sales had fallen so low that Chrysler stopped manufacturing of the Challenger midway via the mannequin yr; the Challenger title can be shelved for 4 years afterward.
From the observe to the street: The 1970 Challenger T/A
Through the mannequin’s first yr in the marketplace, Dodge entered the Challenger within the Sports activities Automotive Membership of America’s Trans American (Trans-Am) Sedan Championship. Based on the championship rules, so as to race, Dodge needed to construct a manufacturing model of their race automotive: the Challenger T/A, named after the Trans-Am racing collection, was born.
The Challenger race vehicles had been outfitted with a modified model of the “340” engine, a slight misnomer because the ensuing engine had a displacement of 303 cu. in. moderately than 340. The T/A, alternatively, got here with a model of the usual 340 fitted with three two-barrel carburetors: this engine was named the “340 Six Pack.”
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Different upgrades included a big air scoop, a modified exhaust system, and different-sized tires fitted within the entrance and rear (the T/A is among the first muscle vehicles within the US to return with two totally different sizes of tires). On the beauty entrance, stripe decals, customized graphics, and fiberglass entrance and rear spoilers distinguished the T/A from the usual Challenger.
The Challenger’s participation within the Trans Am collection was short-lived. After a yr of poor racing outcomes, partly because of a low growth funds, Dodge withdrew from the championship, and the road model of the Trans Am race automotive disappeared from the market on the finish of the mannequin yr. In whole, 2,399 Challenger T/As had been constructed.
Second Technology: A rebadged Mitsubishi?
In 1978, 4 years after manufacturing of the first-generation Challenger ended, Dodge introduced the nameplate again to the market in a barely unconventional manner. The brand new Challenger wasn’t actually a Dodge in any respect, however a rebadged model of the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda coupe, bought on the US market via Dodge as a “captive import” (a foreign-built automotive bought underneath the title of a neighborhood firm appearing as an importer). Whereas Dodge initially marketed the automotive because the “Colt Challenger”, its sister model, Plymouth, bought the identical automotive underneath the title “Plymouth Sapporo” (after the Japanese metropolis of Sapporo, which had made itself recognized to the US public due to the 1972 Winter Olympics).
The Lambda, Challenger, and Sapporo had been mechanically equivalent, powered by a 1.6-liter or 105hp 2.6-liter inline-four engine; the minor variations between them had been largely beauty, akin to inside trim and taillights. Nevertheless, they had been marketed to totally different sectors of the market: whereas the Challenger focused the efficiency sector, the Sapporo leaned closely on the posh facet.
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1981: The facelifted Challenger/Lambda
In 1981, the Lambda/Challenger underwent a redesign. The refreshed mannequin got here with new bodywork, in addition to elevated headroom and legroom for passengers, elevated trunk capability and higher soundproofing. An electrical sunroof was additionally added. The brand new model of the Mitsubishi-based Challenger had one selection of engine; whereas beforehand a 1.6-liter inline-four had been out there, now the one possibility was a 105hp, 2.6-liter inline-four engine. The phrase “Colt” was additionally dropped from the mannequin’s title, making it merely the “Dodge Challenger”.
Third Technology: A Legend Returns
After three years of hype, fueled by Dodge publishing spy pictures and unveiling an early idea in 2006, the third-generation Challenger made it to manufacturing in 2008, twenty-five years after the final automotive carrying the Challenger nameplate rolled off the manufacturing line.
The brand new Challenger took styling cues from the enduring first technology of the mannequin, adapting them for the fashionable period and resurrecting the idea of the horse automotive for right this moment’s drivers; it proved to be a well-liked and enduring mannequin, spending almost 15 years in the marketplace alongside giants of the muscle automotive world such because the Mustang and the Camaro. In 2014, a particular version was launched to commemorate Dodge’s a centesimal anniversary, and the next yr the Challenger acquired a facelift which noticed, amongst different modifications, the introduction of the enduring Hellcat model.
Excessive Challengers: The SRT Hellcat and Demon
The third technology of the Challenger produced two high-performance variants that grew to become family names in their very own proper: the SRT Hellcat and the much more excessive SRT Demon. The Hellcat made its debut for the 2015 mannequin yr, and was outfitted with a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi engine producing 707 hp. One of many options that made the Hellcat distinctive was the “black key/purple key” mixture, with the previous limiting energy output to 500hp and the latter unlocking the automotive’s full capabilities.
Each Hellcat-Powered Automotive Ranked By 0-60 MPH Occasions
Clearly, the Demon 170 is the quickest.
The Demon, a drag racing-oriented variant of the Hellcat, arrived two years later, making its first look on the 2017 New York Auto Present. The Demon’s 6.2-liter engine is fitted with a 2.7-liter supercharger and produces 808 hp (840hp with 100-octane gas). Each facet of the Demon is geared in the direction of drag racing, from the transbrake system (a mechanism that locations the transmission in two gears on the similar time, increase hydraulic strain earlier than launch) to the tires (the Demon was the primary manufacturing automotive to return with a set of drag radial street tires). The result’s a automotive so highly effective and exhausting to regulate that it grew to become the primary manufacturing automotive to efficiently carry out a wheelie.
