1966 Charger

Although it resembled a Coronet with a fastback the production Charger carried design cues from the Charger II concept car. Both maintained the swoopy fastback that was very popular duing the mid-sixties. From the cowl forward and mechincally-wise it was similar to the Coronet but everything else was pure Charger and pure performance. The electric shaver grill used fully rotating headlights that when opened or closed made the grill look like one-piece. Inside the Charger used four individual bucket seats with a full length console from front to rear. The rear seats and console pad also folded down which allowed for more cargo room inside. The instrument panel was exclusive to the Charger. Four electroluminescent dash pods housed the tachometer speedometer alternator fuel and tempature gauges. In the rear the full length tailights carried the Charger name. The engine selection was all V-8s. A six cylinder engine didn't make the option list until 1968. In 1966 four engines were offered. The base-model 318ci 2-barrel V8 the truck sourced 361ci 2-barrel the 383 4-barrel and the new 426 Street Hemi. In 1966 Dodge took the Charger into NASCAR in hopes that the fastback would make their car a winner on the high-banks. But the car proved to have rear end lift around corners which made it very slippery on the faster tracks. The lift was because the air actually travelled faster over the top of the car than under it causing the car to act like a giant airplane wing. Drivers would later claim that "it was like driving on ice." In order to solve this problem Dodge installed in a small lip spoiler on the trunk lid which improved traction at speeds above 150 mph. They also had to make it a dealer-installed option in late 1966 and through 1967 because of NASCAR rules (with small quarter panel extensions in 1967). The 1966 Charger was the first US production vehicle to have a spoiler. David Pearson driving a #6 Cotten Owens-prepared Charger went on to win the NASCAR Grand National championship in 1966 with 14 first-place finishes.