The Lost Charger

Podcast Episode: 0055
What happened to our beloved king of the muscle cars, The Dodge Charger?

      Back in 1999, we knew the bad news about the Charger nameplate, but how could we know that its rebirth could bring so much joy to the world.  We dive deep into the past to see what else went wrong with the Charger throughout its life in the automotive world.  From Muscle car king, to performance sedan, we cover it all.

​   Born out of necessity, the Charger started life out as competition for the Mustang and the newly formed Muscle Car segment.  Although it was much bigger, the Charger was still a dominate player in the muscle car ring against its rivals.  But as time dragged on we got to see the true colors of Chrysler Corp., as this once great model slowly disappeared into the large coupe segment.

   Revived again in the 80's to fill the growing performance coupe market, the Charger once again became a national letdown.  Utilizing a K-Car platform, the Charger for the 80's was nothing to gloat about.  And even with some help from Carrols Shelby, this little model was destined to fail.
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     Flash forward a few years and you will find yourself face to face the future of the Charger nameplate, a 4-door sedan concept from 1999.  This would inevitably become its future and give us another change to see what Dodge could do with this name.
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      With its rebirth came a new age for this once great muscle car.  Sure, it wasn't the big burly performance car from the Dukes of Hazzard, but it was a big and powerful monster of a sedan.   This sedan wanted to rule the full size market and it soon became the first car in Chrysler's history to stay on its well laid out platform.  Guess someone finally learned a lesson from the competition.

    The Charger we all loved is gone, but its name still carries on, on a demon of a sedan, bringing to life a new king.  The king of the Muscle Sedans.

Everett J.
​#autolooks