I Dare Ya

If you dare someone you better be ready for what happens. In the late 1960s Detroit took up the call being put out by consumers for fast, powerful machines. The muscle era was in full swing and all of the Big Three were pushing their versions of light weight cars with monster engines. Fuel economy be damned as people wanted to squeal tires and get from zero to whatever in the blink of an eye.

Ford and Chevy were seemingly leading the way but the folks at Dodge took the muscle dare to heart and turned out a masterful car of their own. The Challenger.

True, the Challenger badge actually existed as a limited edition vehicle in 1959. The Silver Challenger came equipped with either a straight six or a V8. It was only available as a two door coupe and only in silver. But once the limited run ended the name was retired. That is, until 1970.

The Challenger, and its Plymouth twin the Barracuda, were built to compete against the market monsters that were the Mustang and the Camaro. A tough challenge indeed as these two "pony" cars were sucking up buyers as fast as they flew down the roads. The Challenger sported a longer wheelbase and a more luxurious interior than those two but didn't really lack for power. The first year it was offered with one of two straight Slant 6 engines (198 cubic inches or 225 cubic inches) or a 325 cubic inch V8 and even an optional 340 cubic inch V8 Hemi. Those power plants would get bigger over the years going all the way to a 440 cubic inch RB V8 Six Pack that fired off 390 horse power and 490 foot pounds of torque. Muscle indeed.

There were some rather distinctive lines to the Challenger that immediately set it off against the rest of the competition while turning heads as it roared down the street. Another attention getter was the fact that it managed to score a number of top three finishes in Trans-Am competition, no small feat. But with the likes of Sam Posey and Ronnie Bucknum driving for the team it is little wonder.

As with most muscle cars of the era, the Challenger suffered greatly from a barrage of setbacks. Gas prices began to soar thanks to OPEC embargoes and the government decided to instill new environmental rules that caused the cars to have to be de-tuned for less power.

1974 saw the last of this first true generation of Challengers come off the lines. The second generation running from 1978 to 1983 were essentially Mitsubishi Galant Lambdas in disguise. The latest generation, which bowed in 2008, has done a pretty good job of recreating the original and while those cars have a mean looking body design, they still don't live up to the dare of those early 1970s Challengers.