Art-ology

A vast number of muscle cars have been built through recent decades, but one of the most successful is the Dodge Challenger. The Dodge range is owned by Chrysler, a firm who has aspired to build the best brand.

The Dodge Challenger life started during 1970, with the first generation Challenger. Then from there, Dodge carried on to produce the second generation version in 1978 and finally the third generation version in 2008.

In The Beginning, 1970 to 1974,1st Generation

It was very obvious what cars would be the main competitors for the Dodge Challenger. The development of the Challenger was considered to be Dodges answer to the competition from the massively popular Ford Mustang and even the Camaro, both cars that had put their stamp on the muscle car market in the 1960s, with the Mustang being responsible for creating the muscle car ,or Pony car genre.

Dodge got to work developing the most perfect muscle car they possibly could. While it was to be put up against the popular Mustang, it had a much shorter wheelbase. Dodge certainly tried to do things differently, developing a car that was much more luxurious, giving owners much more desirable extras.

Following on from their prior experience designing the Charger during 1966, Dodge took for granted Carl Cameron would step up to the job of developing the Challenger. Clearly, he did a very good job.

Obviously the combination of design and performance worked. Dodge was able to sell over 165000 Dodge Challengers throughout its first generation.

Onwards and Upwards, 1978 to 1983,Second Generation

Chrysler clearly realized quickly that with the Challenger they had hit a gold mine and with good reason were not about to abandon that. The styling was good, the performance was right and pretty quick they had a huge fan base. They left it 4 years and they developed the second generation Challenger for release in 1978.

The most obvious element that was clear here was that the new Dodge Challenger was essentially the same as the Plymouth Sapporo. That being said, Dodge made certain they produced this Challenger their own way by updating the inside and exterior styling to separate it somewhat as more luxurious and ensure that it had a much sportier look in comparison.

Whilst Performance was an area in which the old Challenger did not lack, the second generation Challenger did shock a few folks. It had a 2.6L engine, which looked fairly small. That being said, it only had 4 cylinders, so the engine, given its dimensions and weight, was sufficiently adequate for the job and it was long before it was well known for being a fantastic track car.

The Second Rebirth, 2008, Third Generation

It was unlikely that Chrysler was going to let their hard won Challenger gradually lose its dedicated following. So 2007 saw Chrysler take deposits for the upcoming third generation version. A selection of models were to be built, not the least of which was a storming SRT8 which was inclusive of a hugely powerful 6.1l engine.

With the new version, the Challenger name lives on, and followers of the Challenger across the world can own modern masterpiece.

Jake Dean writes guides on various topics including automotive pieces. Next Concept Cars is the greatest place for news, reviews and information on the latest concept cars, muscle cars and the latest on the Dodge Challenger.