Shop ClassicIndustries.com
Classic News Blog - Imagine The Possibilities

1970-1974 Dodge Challenger History: E-Body Mopar Muscle

Dodge_Challenger_history_1970_TA

Back in the heyday of the muscle car, it took Dodge a while to catch up with the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, and Pontiac Firebird, but it's said that excellence takes time. Thanks to the efforts of product planners and designers who gave it progressive styling, tapered high-back bucket seats, powerful engines, and an all-out muscle car demeanor, the 1970 Challenger was the hottest automobile Chrysler Corporation had ever produced. Read on as we take a look back at 1970-1974 Dodge Challenger history.

1970 Challenger T/A photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.

Dodge Challenger History

Dodge_Challenger_history_1970_1

The Challenger stood the pony car market on its head with sleek styling and powerful engines. When Dodge design boss Bill Brownlie introduced the all-new Challenger to the automotive press in 1969, he described the car as a sporty ride with what he called a "road appearance". It also featured deeply sculpted lines and a powerful demeanor that set it apart from the rest of the pony car market for 1970.
 
Dodge_Challenger_history_1970_2


The new Dodge Challenger had nothing in common with the boxy, brawny high-performance Pentastar predecessors that had come before. It was an all-new pony car based on the E-body platform with a short deck, long nose, twin headlights, coke bottle hips, and a mouthy grille that couldn't be mistaken for anything else, even the iconic Barracuda. It was something new and exciting from The Dodge Boys, and buyers loved it.

Challenger arrived on showroom floors in September of 1969 as a 1970 model. However, it was born years earlier in the Highland Park section of Detroit at Chrysler's design studios. Stylists Bill Brownlie and Carl Cameron brought Challenger to life under the direction of legendary designer Elwood Engle.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1970_3

The fresh and exciting Brownlie/Cameron clay wasn't like your typical Valiant/Dart based compact. It was a true pony car that excited the senses. To handle the kind of power Challenger was going to have, Chrysler engineers had to make the E-Body (Challenger and Barracuda) a hybrid of different platforms. It needed large-car underpinnings, yet needed to be akin to the Valiant/Dart in size.

On a hot and muggy August day in 1969, Dodge Main, also known as Hamtramck Assembly, bucked and built its first Dodge Challengers and Plymouth Barracudas. A few weeks later, Chrysler's Van Nuys, California plant would do the same.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1971_1
The Challenger T/A was produced in very limited numbers with its 340ci Six-Pack and trumpeting side exit exhausts.

Although the Challenger was lauded by the press and the public, its timing could not have been worse. Insurance companies, safety advocates, and environmentalists had powerful voices and the muscle car war was about to be over.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1972_1
 A fresh-faced Challenger for 1972 with color keyed grille and a softer demeanor. The less aggressive look was a sign of the times—it also had less horsepower.

For those reasons, combined with baby boomers starting families and the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, the Dodge Challenger and corporate cousin 'Cuda would live just four model years, with their stump-pulling power quickly fading into the sunset at the end of the 1974 model year.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1974In Challenger's wrap-up year — 1974 — the car remained striking, but destined for the history books amid changing times.

Looking Back at the Challenger's Legacy

The good news about these sporty models is the abundance of authentic reproduction Dodge Challenger parts and accessories that make them like new again. In the exciting age of restomod, you get the styling Engle, Brownlie, and Cameron became famous for a lifetime ago, along with the contemporary convenience of modern technology.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1971_2 Dodge Challenger was the Official Pace Car for the 1971 Indianapolis 500.

Taking the wheel of one of these Chrysler classics takes us back to a time when life stretched out infinitely ahead of us. We twisted the key, heard the Chrysler reduction gear starter and the rattle of a Mopar heat riser, smelled the fresh paint and new materials, and knew we'd never pass that way again.

Dodge_Challenger_history_1972_2

The 1970-74 Dodge Challenger was a flame that burned brightly at the end of a fabulous era known for astonishing performance cars, and a day when Dodge muscle kept you excited for any stretch of open road.

More Mopar History Articles

If you enjoyed this article about Dodge Challenger history, check out some of our other Mopar history articles below:

Dodge Challenger Restoration Parts

Whether you're performing a concours restoration or a hot restomod, Classic Industries can set you up with all the right restoration parts for your Dodge Challenger. To get your free parts catalog for the E-body Dodge Challenger and other Mopar models, click the button below.

Mopar_Catalog_Button