Dodge Charger History: Every Generation Since 1966

In 1949, Oldsmobile produced what is often considered the first-ever muscle car, the Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Powered by a 303-cubic-inch (4.9L) V8 making 135 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque, it won 10 of the 19 races in the 1950 NASCAR season. Oldsmobile continued to develop the Rocket 88 until, by the early 1960s, the fuse it lit exploded into a glorious burst of V8 mayhem and timeless auto design.

The introduction of cars like the Ford Mustang, Pontiac Tempest GTO, and Plymouth Barracuda in the early '60s revealed insane demand among youth for powerful vehicles with V8 power. Other auto manufacturers scrambled to keep up. What followed was nothing less than a golden era of American auto-manufacturing that produced some of the most timeless and desirable vehicles of all time.

By 1966, Dodge was ready to enter the ring. Its prize fighter was a curiously designed and aggressively monikered mid-sized muscle car. Through a career spanning nearly six decades, the Dodge Charger has had its ups and downs. But while its future may be cloudy, it has earned a place in the pantheon of iconic American muscle.

The Charger arrived for the 1966 model year with a bit of an identity crisis. Dodge designers lifted the Mustang's popular fastback design for its medium-sized two-door muscle car. An awkward mix of old and new design, it looked something like a Dodge Polara with a fastback welded on as an afterthought. Nonetheless, the two-door Charger aimed to capture the market salivating over Chevelles and 442s. Tipping the scales at 3,500 pounds, it couldn't hang with lighter pony cars (a 1966 Mustang weighed between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds).

Dodge offered five engine choices, starting with a 318-cubic-inch (5.2L) that made 230 brake horsepower. The middleweight engines ranged from 361 cubic inches (5.9L), making 265 horsepower, to 383 cubic inches (6.3L), making 325 horsepower. These were respectable numbers for the day, but the star was the top-of-the-line 426-cubic-inch (7.0L) Hemi that put a pep in the Charger's step to the tune of 425 horsepower. Hemi engines had been in the lineup since the early 1950s, but in the Charger, Chrysler would find a vehicle (pun intended) that would carry the beloved engine deep into the 20th century.

Still, the first-generation Charger was a sales disappointment. Between 1966 and 1967, Dodge sold approximately 53,000 Chargers, while Competitor Chevrolet sold over 400,000 Chevelles in 1966 alone. The Charger had a steep hill to climb, but it was up to the challenge. Paltry sales notwithstanding, Chrysler gave Dodge the green light for a second generation.

It was evident from the start that the first-generation Charger had room for improvement. After an ultra-short two-year run, Dodge released the second generation for the 1968 model year, and it make some progress. Out was the somewhat stodgy first-gen design ethos. Though Dodge kept the fastback, the rest of the vehicle presented squared-off lines, muscularly curved haunches, and an aggressive stance that suggested Dodge was finished messing around.

With a broader array of engine options, including an available in-line 224-cubic-inch (3.6L) six-cylinder making 145 horsepower up to the 330-horsepower, 383 cubic-inch(6.3L) V8, the king of the heap was still Hemi. By the 1969 introduction of the Charger Daytona, which came with a 439-cubic-inch (7.2L) Magnum V8, buyers willing to shell out the extra cash for the upgrade could score the more powerful 425 horsepower Hemi 426 (7.0L)package.

The Charger was still a hog — the 1970 model weighed 3,800 pounds — but it was unapologetic about what it was. It fit in nicely amongst the Skylarks, Chevelles, and GTOS of the day. The second-generation Charger is arguably the most iconic; the average used sale price for one hovers around $150,000 today. Dodge hoped to move 35,000 of the new model in the first year and ended up selling over 96,000. The Charger name had caught on, but world events were about to turn the muscle era on its head.

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As the third-generation Charger made its debut in 1971, it marked a significant transition in the automotive landscape. The era of high-displacement muscle cars was waning, largely due to the impact of government emission regulations such as the 1970 Clean Air Act. This legislation effectively put an end to the "no-replacement-for-displacement" philosophy, signaling the onset of a new era of automotive design and performance. The looming oil crises of the '70s and '80s further underscored the changing times.

The third-gen Charger was a worthy last gasp of an unforgettable era. Though Dodge kept a 110 horsepower in-line six option in the works, performance honks gravitated toward the V8s, which remained very much in play despite the burgeoning governmental restriction. The Daytona was out as a performance model, replaced by the Road and Track (R/T) for 1971 and 1972. The top-tier performers could muster up to 390 horsepower via one of the most well-regarded and fondly remembered V8s of the day: a 440 -cubic-inch (7.2L) setup with the vaunted "six-pack" — a trio of double-barreled carburetors — feeding the engine.

The glory days of muscle were fast fading by the time the final third-generation Charger rolled off the assembly line, but Dodge had worked hard to earn the Charger a name in the game. They weren't about to give up on the nameplate altogether.

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With the prime muscle car era coming to an end, Dodge shifted its vision for the Charger. The last of the B-body vehicles would pivot toward the luxury segment. Only a faint aesthetic echo of the previous generation remained. The 1975 Charger looked more like something that would blow up with a mobster inside than a true-blue muscle car. Dodge gave buyers of its reborn luxury coupe options, including a landau (think vinyl, but classier) roof, a wood grain interior, and a body that stretched 10 inches longer than the previous iteration despite retaining the two-door design.

The mid-'70s were in full swing, and the result was a collection of Chargers that lacked the electrifying charge of their predecessors. The Daytona made a comeback between 1975 and 1977, albeit in diminished form. The powertrains sounded appropriately muscular with engine options including 318- (5.2L), 360- (5.9L), and 400-cubic-inch (6.5L) V8s, but even the top-tier 1978 SE model with the 400-cubic-inch engine managed a measly 190 horsepower against a curb weight of 4,184 pounds.

The fourth generation seemed to be the beginning of the end for the Charger. Pollution regulation had eviscerated the American V8, and the 1979 oil crisis was right around the corner. After 1978, the nameplate went on hiatus. It would not be until 1982 that it reappeared in a drastically different form.

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If the fourth generation abandoned what made the Charger great in the first place, fans would barely recognize the nameplate upon its return in 1981. At first glance, the new Charger resembled the third-generation Ford Mustang. Based on the "Omnirizon" platform that served as the base of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon, the reborn Charger was anything but.

The engine compartment harbored a dark secret: a transverse-mounted four-cylinder sending between 62 and 94 horsepower to the — brace for it — front wheels. The nameplate that offered only V8s in 1966 offered 1.6 and 2.2L four-cylinders in 1981, but there was a glimmer of hope in the form of Carrol Shelby. With his help, Dodge introduced the turbocharged, manual-only Shelby Charger for the 1983 model year. Making 107 horsepower at 5,600 rpm, it claimed a top speed of 117 mph, quarter-mile time in the 16-second range, and, crucially, achieved 22 mpg.

It wasn't bad for what it was. While the Mustangs and Camaros of the world tried to retain some semblance of V8 power, the Charger simply went another route. Chrysler needed a car it could sell to the masses en masse, and fuel efficiency was the name of the game. After squeezing what it could from the platform, Dodge discontinued the Charger once again after the 1987 model year, and this time, it looked like it was for good.

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The Dodge Charger wore many hats throughout its spotty career. It arrived late to the muscle car party with outdated styling, morphed into a piston-thumping, asphalt-shredding Mopar legend, relaxed into a luxury car, and sipped gas as an efficiency coupe. As much as the Charger evolved, it had always been a coupe. Until Dodge announced its return, promising "modern coupe styling with four-door functionality." The new Charger would rise from the dead as a sedan. The move may have angered purists, but at least the Charger was returning to something resembling its old form. Technology had finally caught up with emission and regulatory demands, and affordable, powerful vehicles with large-displacement engines were possible again.

From 2006 to 2010, a Charger worthy of the name returned to the fold. The base 2006 iteration hit the streets with a 2.7L V6, making 193 horsepower, a vast improvement over the 1980s vintage. It even offered a return to the Hemi with an available 348-cubic-inch (5.7L) V8 Hemi with 345 horsepower. Dodge's iconic performance division, Street and Racing Technology (SRT), had finally coalesced into a single unit, and it had plans for the Charger.

By the end of the generation in 2010, the top-of-the-line Charger SRT-8 made 431 horsepower via a 372-cubic-inch (6.1L). Even better, the Charger finally found its place. After many iterations, the 7th generation Charger would prove the most successful of all time.

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The Charger's outsized role in automotive history belies its shifting identity. The first generation lasted only two years, and even the longest-running Charger lived only six years between 1981 and 1987. The Charger found its footing as a sedan, and Dodge was determined to make the most of it. As the Charger forged into the second decade of the 21st century, it received cosmetic and functional changes, including interior upgrades, a more aggressive profile, and better visibility. 

The engine packages for 2011 included a new 220cubic-inch (3.6L) Pentastar V6, making a respectable 292 horsepower, up to an R/T model with a 348 (5.7L) Hemi. However, it would be the SRT division that defined the generation. The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat arrived snorting 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. For the next decade, the Charger Hellcat set the standard for affordable American power at levels bordering on lunatic. SRT kept on with its collective madness until the 2023 model, by which time the Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye put down 807 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque to anyone willing to plunk down the money.

After a 12-year production run that doubled the length of any previous iteration, Dodge put the seventh generation, but not the nameplate, to bed.

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Now that the Charger had finally settled into its identity as a sedan, Dodge did what it has historically done and changed everything. In March 2024, the 8th-generation Charger hit the scene in a variety of flavors, including a coupe edition and all-electric versions. The Charger Daytona R/T and Daytona Scat Pack returned as EV-only coupes. The more powerful Scat Pack edition promised 670 horsepower. Never fear, fans of internal combustion; the latest Charger also comes burning old-fashioned gasoline, though not via the good ol' Hemi V8 that served it so well. Instead, a twin-turbo in-line six-cylinder offers two versions, the more powerful of which achieves 550 horsepower. Dodge expects to put out the ICE and sedans beginning in 2025.

Fans of the Charger, whether from the pavement-pounding days of the late '60s or the tire-shredding versions that arrived in the 2010s, can expect Dodge to continue offering powerful Chargers, even if they make power in an entirely different way. The Charger has proven malleable over the years. It celebrates its 60th birthday in 2026, production interruptions notwithstanding, and has changed nearly as much as the auto industry.

If the Charger has proven anything over its illustrious career, it's that there will always be a place for cars that pack a punch. Its enduring appeal, marked by a surprising and perhaps unnecessary amount of power, is a testament to Dodge's commitment to producing high-performance vehicles.