The show car you can now
show in your driveway.

Playboy

May 1966

Playmate of the Year

The complete text of this article is available

Rodding and Re-styling

March 1966

Hemi + Fastback = "tuff enuf!"

Although well-defined contour lines give direction to the lower body mass, it is the impressive are of the Charger roofline that commands the attention.  This arc is accentuated by slender rails that form an outer perimeter for the roof and glass, and continue on through the deck surface.  The outer edges of the rear glass, curl upward to flow into the inner contour of the rails.

The Charger grille has a very deceptive appearance when compared to the conventional grille.  Across the center, it is a one piece die made up of slender chromed bars. Separate die cast head lights housings appear to extend the grille surface without a break in continuity, or be rotated to dual headlights also integrated with the grille. Outboard of the headlights, the texture continues as an overlay for large, concealed park and turn signal lights tucked into either end.

The broad, single tail light is literally six tail lights covered by a single ribbon of red lens.  The lights are mounted behind flaring rectangular funnels mounted side-by-side across the breadth of the lower deck panel. All six are lit simultaneously when the lights are turned on, or automatically during braking. When the turn signal switch is actuated, the tail lights are lit in banks of three depending on the side of the direction of the turn.

Deep-dish wheelcovers are standard equipment on the Charger. They have a large die cast, simulated knockoff of hub within a concave dish of bright stainless steel.

Front seats are full buckets outfitted with the graceful, new clam shell-type structure. The two seats are separated by a broad console that extends back through the rear seating area.

Individual, personalized seating highlights the rear of the Charger seating compartment. Seat cushions are equipped with 1 1/4  inch urethane foam pads for comfort, and seat backs are hinged to fold forward and extend the floor of the utility compartment.

Each front and rear door panel is vacuum formed from a single piece of foam-filled ABS plastic. The panel extends over the upper and lower garnish, and has a sculptured recess across the center overlay by a brushed-finish aluminum applique. The lower portion of the door has a wide band of carpeting.

A new one-piece headlining design and developed exclusively by Dodge engineers is introduced on the Charger. It is made of a single, permanently molded fiber glass panel with excellent sound deadening and heat insulating properties.

Four large round gages are the focal point of the Charger instrument panel.  They are, from left: the alternator and gasoline gauge; speedometer, an electric tachometer that register, up to 6000 rpm, and the temperature and oil pressure gauge.  Individual bezels for each gauge are bright plastic with satin-silver faces. Markings are on each face as well as within the concave recess in the gauge centers.  Electroluminescent lighting provides each gauge and the markings on the bezels with soft, glare-free nighttime visibility.

The utility area behind the rear seats is quite large and fully carpeted.  The carpeting extends up the sides to belt height and includes the surface of the utility panel.

The Charger trunk compartment has a recessed tire stowage area covered over by a masonite panel to keep the floor level.  Carpeting is used across the bottom of the space. The jack bar anchorage is located along the left trunk compartment wall where the bar is hidden behind a removable panel.

Counterbalancing for the deck lid is provided by a pair of special torsion spring hinges designed primarily for Charger use.  Each hinge assembly consists of a mounted bracket, hinge arm, and helical coiled torsion spring.

The body structure of the Charger is designed and built according to well tested techniques that have been developed by Dodge for strong, rigid unit construction bodies.

Customs Illustrated

May 1966

Battle of the fast-backs.

An exiting new fantastic Dodge called the Charger - a low-slung offspring from the show car of the same name - made it debut in the medium-sized car field on New Year's Day.

Unique in styling with its swept-back roof, a full-width grille with hidden headlights, "sculptured" sheet metal design and full-width taillights, the Charger has already been "tested" by more than a million persons.

Its prototype was the "Charger II," and experimental car displayed last year before crowds in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Tampa, Seattle, Indianapolis and Portland, Ore.

"We displayed the 'Charger II' at auto shows in nine major U. S. cities last year for two purposes," said Byron J. Nichols, Dodge G. M.  "One was to how Dodge's styling and engineering excellence; the other was to get the car-buying public's reaction to such a unique car."

"We are convinced of a strong market potential for a sporty car in the medium-size vehicle. Wherever the Charger was exhibited it drew large crowds and thousands of questions as to when it would be available", Nichols added.

Motor

October 1966

Dodge Broadens Coronet Series.

The redesigned powerplant, standard on the Charger and Polara 318, and optional on the Coronet 440 and 500, is now equipped with hydraulic tappets, stamped-steel rocker arms, new strut-type pistons and new manifolds.  The lifters are set at an angle with respect to the push rods.  A new method of casting the block is said to have reduced the weight by 60 lb.

August 1967

[cover page]

Nevada City, on Alder Gulch, was a roaring mining town a century ago. Now restored, it is a prime tourist attraction in Montana and the background for this month's MOTOR cover. The cover car this month is a 1967 Dodge Charger.

Street and Strip

February 1966

No Longer a Prototpe... The Dodge 'Charger'

From whatever angle you view it this Charger is a well thought out, well integrated design that doesn't hint of ideas "borrowed" from other makes.

The complete text of this article is available

Hot Rod

January 1966

Charger

Attention! Beat the troops to station. One if by land, two if by sea, and all that. In case you didn't know it, there is a rebellion underway in our country, aimed at attracting supporters from all factions, left and right.  At least that's what the Dodge boys hope will be the effect of their advertising to allow further flanking movements on the competition in the medium-price field.

Hottest secret weapon in their stratagem bag is a sporty, new, full-sized fastback dubbed the Charger from an earlier machine of the same name that was shown around the country last year. It takes about a season longer to bring out a new design this way, exhibiting an advanced prototype, but it allows the distinct advantage of accurately pre-gauging public acceptance.  The fact of the matter is that some critics assayed the original one-off Charger as a bit too bulbous to a few spots. Evidently word got back to the farm because the finished car that we previewed at Riverside International Raceway early in October appeared to be a happier blend and anything but bulbous.

On a full-sized car with such a profile, there is always hanging on a single stroke of the designer's pencil the danger that the finished form will be mediocre than chic. But when the sheet metal was added to the Charger, it was given clean definition by recessing the rear window and deck area slightly in contrast to thin perimeter "rails" that flank either side.  The outer edges of the glass, then, curl upward, flowing into the "rails."  This tack slims out the top as does radiusing the rear wheel wells to match the front.