The mid 1960's saw the American public fully entranced with the "Muscle Car Movement." Bigger, meaner and faster was the mantra of the day. With the Mustang, Camaro and others fighting for dominance of the street Dodge decided that 1966 was the year to really take a stab at the Fastback market. Up to that point the segment was basically dominated by such classics as Plymouths' Barracuda and Fords' famous Mustang.
Right out of the gate the Charger was intended to be a powerhouse with a 318 V-8 power plant in it's base model. Buyers had a few options including a 383 or the now famous 426 Hemi engine. The 1966 version of the 426 was a dream come true for the average guy on the street. Pumping out around 500 horsepower this put some serious power on the pavement and helped fuel the muscle car boom for the remainder of the decade.
Buying the big package for the 1966 Charger was not cheap however. To run with the big boys on Main Street it would cost you an additional $900 or so. When looking at a base model for only $3200 this is one heck of a price increase!
There was another drawback, besides the price increase, to buying the big engine package. Seems the boys up at Dodge knew exactly what the kind of person who was going to buy the 426 was going to do with it. Can you remember what the warranty was on the big engine car model? Only a 1 year or 12,000 mile! This only 20% of the warranty the base and 383 models had!
With the big price jump and the less than stellar warranty it's not a big surprise that not a whole lot of the high end1966 model sold. Of over 37,000 Dodge Chargers built that first year less than 500 featured the 426 Hemi. Most of the guys looking for power opted to go for the 383 and tweak more power out of that rather than spending big at the dealerships.
So what could this hemi do? How about get to 60 in less than 6.5 seconds and get to just under 100mph on the quarter mile. Not too shabby for an out of the box motor in 1966. The Charger went on to be a real success and brand builder for Dodge for the remainder of the 1960's. As the '70's rolled around and harsher emission controls were put into place the Charger saw smaller and less powerful engines into the middle of the Disco Decade.
Will gets a kick out of old Dodge models of all kinds. Be sure to check out DodgeRestoration.com to see photos and find more information. Thanks!
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