5 Classic Chargers (and a Coronet) to Celebrate the Model’s 60th Today, we know the Dodge Charger—vintage and modern—as a performance car with serious street cred. Did you know that when the concept version debuted in 1965, the Detroit Free Press was most impressed by its “futuristic streamlining”? A year later, when the nearly identical production version debuted, newspaper ads proclaimed it the “fabulous new fastback from Dodge,” highlighting not the optional Hemi engine but the four bucket seats and center console. Car and Driver pointed out that the Charger was basically a jazzed-up version of an existing model, the Coronet (Dodge’s full-size sedan)… and Dodge didn’t try to hide the fact. Clearly, in the 60 years since the model first went on sale, the Charger has come into its own. Last weekend, Dodge facilitated a gathering of Chargers old and new to celebrate the model’s anniversary at the annual street-legal drag-racing festival that is Roadkill Nights. The event returned to M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan, and on our way to watch the tire-smoking antics on Woodward Avenue, where the new, Hurricane-powered Charger was well represented, we strolled around the “Anniversary Alley” pavilion to appreciate the classic Chargers that set the tone for the model. Check them out below! 1966 Dodge Charger Hemi “Lawman” This particular first-gen Charger led a globe-trotting life. Used as a pre-production promotion car, it was never sold through a dealer, and as late as February 1999 didn’t even have a title! As the livery proclaims, this Charger packed a 425-hp, 426-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 and belonged to Al Eckstrand (inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991). Originally a lawyer, Eckstrand began working for Chrysler Corporation in the mid ’50s and got into drag racing on the weekend with a bunch of Chrysler engineers later known as the RamChargers. He made a name for himself in the “stock” classes of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in the early ’60s, even enjoying personal sponsorship from a Chrysler VP for a few years. Eckstrand ended up with this car after he realized that American servicemen returning from the Vietnam War were sadly out of touch with all the cool stuff happening in the American auto industry. He decided to take some American muscle to them, and went on an international tour with this first-gen Hemi Charger (and also a Boss 429 Mustang) into the ’70s. This Charger didn’t come back to the U.S. when Eckstrand did, however, because higher-ups didn’t want to pay to ship the car across the Atlantic. A mechanic in the UK named Ian Frankland was the steward of this car until the ’90s, when Eckstrand himself restored it and brought it back to its home country. 1966 Dodge Charger Hemi A keen eye will spot the patina’d paint on this first-year Hemi Charger, an unrestored example wearing its original coat of AA1 Buffed Silver over a red interior. The color combination is striking. The 426-cubic-inch Hemi was an expensive option, which is why only 468 were made for 1966. Most buyers chose manual transmissions, making this automatic-equipped example even more unusual (one of just 218). All Hemi-powered ’66 Chargers came with dual four-barrel carbs, heavy-duty shocks, bigger brakes, and a warning that the 12,000-mile, 12-month warranty would be invalidated by “extreme operation” or any modifications. Now, who on earth would do such a thing? 1968 Dodge Charger “Red Bull” The “Red Bull” Charger enjoys a visit from Dodge CEO Matt McAlear. If this car looks like a wide-body ’68 Charger wearing a ’69 front clip, you’ve got a good eye—but that’s only the start of what its owner, Steve, has done in his garage between 2009 and now. (Actually, according to the build thread, he started this project in a dirt-floored tent.) “Red Bull” is powered by a dry-sump, 5.7-liter Eagle Hemi backed by a custom-built Tremec T-56 with M6 gear ratios and a McLeod 10.95 “cheater” clutch. That power is split front/rear by a GM transfer case (NV149) coordinating with a Chevy Trail Blazer differential up front and a Trutrac diff out back, both with 4.56:1 gears. The wheel/tire package is square, with 18×10.5 Koenig wheels wrapped in 315-width Falken tires on all four corners. The suspension is computer-controlled, with custom control arms in front and a three-link with a Watts link in the rear. The brakes are Wilwood, and the parking brake calipers are taken from … an Aston Martin, believe it or not. This car is a true labor of love. Hats off to you, Steve! 1969 Dodge Charger R/T This beautiful 1969 Charger R/T belongs to Marc and Darlene Rozman of Royal Oak, Michigan, and is loaded with options: power windows, steering, and brakes plus air conditioning, chrome wheels, red- streak tires, a solid-state AM/FM radio, and the Special Equipment package, which added leather seats and lots of wood trim effects. It doesn’t lack for power, either, thanks to a 440 Magnum V-8 rated at 375 hp with a column-shifted TorqueFlite 727 automatic. The 440 was the default engine for the R/T model, which also boasted heavy-duty suspension and brakes, dual exhaust, and tail stripes. It’s pretty much everything you could want in a late-’60s Charger, wrapped up in a look-at-me-shade of Bright Red, as is only appropriate. 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee Remember what we said about the overlap between the Coronet and the Charger in the model’s early years? The first Super Bee (in 1968) was a Coronet, not a Charger. Same for this 1970 model, easily identified by the separate chrome openings in its grille. The first Super Bee went on sale for the 1968 model year as an add-on to the Scat Pack, marketed as the budget alternative to a Pontiac GTO. Available only as a two-door hardtop, it came standard with the 383-cubic-inch V-8 but could be ordered with the 426 Hemi. You also got dual exhaust, heavy-duty suspension, and a power-bulge hood. The Super Bee name didn’t appear on a Charger until the 2000s, as a limited-run model. It reappeared for 2012 through 2024 as a budget alternative to the SRT model, paralleling its place in Dodge’s 1960s lineup, then disappeared until last weekend, when Dodge resurrected the Super Bee name for 2027 in a shade of yellow that hews very close to lime green. The soundtrack for the reveal was Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow.” Perhaps “sort-of yellow” would be more accurate? 1971 Dodge Charger 500 In 1971, the Charger enjoyed some long-awaited separation from the Coronet, which came as a sedan or wagon but left the coupe and two-door hardtop models to the Charger. This particular ’71 Charger has the 500 package, which included bucket seats and fancier trim. It belongs to Jason Abdelnour, an electrician living in Detroit who bought the car in Texas for $5500 when he graduated high school. In the 26 years he’s owned the car, he’s only replaced one thing—the top—and has only buffed the car’s paint twice. He loves driving it and has taken his Charger from Detroit to the Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio for 10 or 15 years running. “I’m not a trailer person,” he says. “It’s more nerve-wracking on a trailer, I feel, than just cruising around driving it.” The odometer has turned over—he estimates it has around 120,000 miles. “Most of it’s doing burnouts,” he says, brushing a hand inside the rear wheel well and producing a shower of black rubber. Now this is a muscle car living its best life. Bonus: “General Lee” Replica Would it be a proper Charger car show without a Dukes of Hazzard tribute? We’re not so sure. Flip through the gallery below and tell us: Which is your favorite?