A Brief History of the Dodge Challenger

A vast number of muscle cars have been created through the years, but among the most successful has been the Dodge Challenger. The Dodge brand is under the ownership of Chrysler, a firm who has worked hard to build the best products.

The Dodge Challenger life began in 1970, with the 1st generation Challenger. From that point, Dodge carried on to build the second generation Challenger in 1978 and more recently the third generation car in 2008.

The Beginnings, 1970 to 1974,1st Generation

Many folks pondered which other vehicles the Dodge Challenger would be competing against. As soon as the specs and design of the Challenger were released, it soon became clear that cars such as the Ford Mustang and the Camaro were to have a huge challenge to deal with. The advantage they had though; these muscle cars were by now very established.

Dodge got to work building the most perfect muscle car they possibly could. Whilst it was to be compared with the Mustang, it had a greatly shorter wheelbase. Dodge definitely tried to do things differently, building a vehicle that was much more well equipped, giving drivers much more desirable extras.

Following on from their previous experience building the Charger in 1966, Dodge assumed that Carl Cameron would step up to the job of styling the Challenger. Without doubt, he did an extremely good job.

Obviously the balance of style and performance was effective. The company managed to sell over 165000 Dodge Challengers during its 1st generation.

Continued Success, 1978 to 1983,Second Generation

Dodge clearly realized quickly that they had struck gold and with good reason were not about to abandon that. The styling was good, the power delivery was great and they soon had a huge fan base. They left it 4 years and they developed the second generation Challenger ready for 1978.

The main element that was noticeable here was that the new Dodge Challenger was essentially no different to the Plymouth Sapporo. That being said, Dodge made sure they produced this vehicle their own way by updating the inside and exterior styling to distinguish it somewhat as more luxurious and ensure that it offered a much sportier look in comparison.

Another thing to take note of was the engine set up. Rather than a large block, they chose a 2.6L 4 cylinder unit that while small, gave the Challenger a respectable amount of power.

The Rebirth, 2008 Onwards

Obviously modern businesses like to keep with new trends, and Chrysler were aware that they had a great opportunity with the retro markets going big, so did not want to stop back in the 1980s. 2008 therefore saw the release of their third generation Challenger to many highly anticipating followers.

With the new Challenger, the Challenger name lives on, and followers of the vehicle worldwide can own modern classic.