HISTORY OF THE DODGE CHARGER
Learn the history of the Dodge Charger, one of America's Most Loved Muscle Cars.
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History of the Charger
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The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car had a remarkable resemblance to the 1966 production version.
There have been several different production variants of Chargers, built on three different platforms and sizes. |
Dodge Hellcat Speed Chase in Houston, TX
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In the United States, the Charger nameplate has been used on subcompact hatchbacks, full-size sedans, muscle cars, and personal luxury coupes. The current version is a four-door sedan. The first of muscle cars to come from the Dodge automaker was actually a sedan that soon transformed into a bit of sports car with pony car power.
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When the Charger was first introduced as a concept in 1946, the national public didn’t care too much for it, and the concept was shelved until 20 years later. The first-generation Dodge Charger was produced in 1966, only six years after the first generation Challenger.
Based off of the Dodge Coronet, the first-generation Dodge Charger was designed to be a high-speed street racer with a fastback roof design and full-width tail lamps. |
Although based off of the Coronet, early Dodge Chargers could easily be mistaken for a Dodge Challenger given that early Dodge Chargers also came with a two-door setup.
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In its seventh generation today, the Charger resurrected the aerodynamic look of its second generation and consisted of only three trims – the SE, GT, R/T, and R/T AWD, all powered by the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6.
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General Lee of the Dukes of Hazard
On November 11, 1978, a stuntman on the Georgia set of “The Dukes of Hazzard” launches the show’s iconic automobile, a 1969 Dodge Charger named the General Lee, off a makeshift dirt ramp and over a police car. That jump, 16 feet high and 82 feet long (its landing totaled the car), made TV history.
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Although more than 300 different General Lees appeared in the series, which ran on CBS from 1979 until 1985, this first one was the only one to play a part in every episode: That jump over the squad car ran every week at the end of the show’s opening credits.
The General Lee was a neon-orange Charger with “01” painted on the doors, a Confederate flag on the roof, and a horn that played the first 12 notes of the song “Dixie.” |
The General Lee
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It belonged to the Dukes of Hazzard themselves, the cousins Bo (played by actor John Schneider) and Luke Duke (actor Tom Wopat), who used it to get out of dangerous scrapes and away from the corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg.
Scenes featuring the General Lee are some of the show’s most memorable: Luke Duke sliding sideways across the car’s hood; the boys hopping feet-first through the windows (the Charger’s doors were welded shut, so the windows were the only way to get in and out); the General flying over ditches, half-open drawbridges and police cruisers.
Scenes featuring the General Lee are some of the show’s most memorable: Luke Duke sliding sideways across the car’s hood; the boys hopping feet-first through the windows (the Charger’s doors were welded shut, so the windows were the only way to get in and out); the General flying over ditches, half-open drawbridges and police cruisers.
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