**The Charger: A Muscle-y Family Car with a Rich History**

The new Charger was back in town, just like the original, and it's a muscle-y family car that can be specked for any driver. The base Charger came equipped with a humble but bulletproof 3.5L V6 engine.

**The Return of the R/T Package**

The R/T package was also back, powered by a 5.7 L hemi engine. Dodge even made a Daytona package to commemorate the original Daytona pointy boy. They went all out connecting this new Charger to its past, and they had something in the works for even more bite for big-time Charger fans.

**The Charger SRT8: A Force to Be Reckoned With**

The Charger SRT8 made other four-door sedans run for cover, powered by a 6.1 L hemi V8 engine that left 428 HP and 470 lb-ft of torque, good for zero to 60 in five seconds. It was the most powerful V8 Chrysler had ever put in a production car.

**No Huge Changes Through the Mid-2000s**

Dodge didn't make any huge changes to the Charger through the mid-2000s because customers liked the Charger a lot. Between 2005 and 2010, Dodge sold over half a million of these burly boy sedans.

**A Complete Redesign for the 2011 Model Year**

The Charger got a complete redesign for the 2011 model year, which improved on pretty much everything. The body was sleeker and lower-profile than the previous gen, featuring scalloped bodywork on the hood and doors, and a return to the full-width tail light in the back.

**All the Performance Packs Were Back**

You had the R/T, the SRT8, and a Super Bee. In 2012, Dodge even teased a Viper V10-powered six-speed manual Charger at SEMA called the Charger Juiced. Unfortunately, it never went into production but was a hint that an even more powerful, maybe more evil, Charger was coming.

**The New Charger for the 2015 Model Year**

In 2014, Dodge unveiled a new Charger for the 2015 model year. It was completely refreshed, sporting a totally new look, but this Charger had a 707 horsepower secret living under the hood. Dodge called it the SRT Charger Hellcat.

**A Sedan That Could Do a Quarter-Mile in 11 Seconds**

This was a sedan that could do a quarter-mile in 11 seconds and Dodge claimed it had a top speed of 204 miles per hour. The Charger was both the fastest and meanest-looking sedan in the world.

**The Best Road Trip Car Ever**

Dodge let us borrow one last year, and it's probably the best road trip car ever. And the Charger's still going strong today with no signs of letting up.

**There's a Ton of Them**

There's literally a Charger for every driver. You got the Charger SXT with a 3.6 L Pentastar V6 available with advanced all-wheel drive with front axle disconnect.

**The 2020 Charger R/T**

Don't forget the 2020 Charger R/T with its 370 HP PR hemi V8, electronically controlled exhaust, performance hood and fascias, and great performance seats.

**The Charger R/T Scat Pack**

The Charger R/T Scat Pack is equipped with a dual inlet, performance grille feeding a 485 horsepower, 6.4 L hemi engine, equipped with electronically controlled exhaust Brembo, four-piston brakes, which you're gonna need because this is the most horsepower you can get for under $40,000.

**The Charger SRT Hellcat**

And of course, the big daddy of them all, the Charger SRT Hellcat is returning for 2020. It now comes standard with the wide-body package, complete with the mail slot opening performance grille, that delicious 707 HP PR, 6.2 L supercharged Hellcat V8 capable of 196 miles per hour and six-piston Brembos.

**A Name That Means Something**

So many features, so little time. You know, I heard he got struck by lightning and then he just knew everything about every car. From big bruiser Coke bottle muscle cars to turbocharged Econoboxes to the current four-door 196 mph sedan, there really is a Charger for everybody, and that's why it's been around for so long in so many different forms.

**The Name Means Something**

It can be any car for any person. This episode was powered by Dodge, thanks Dodge. We love you, but I love you more. Remix! Roll out, up and down headlights...

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car revving)- Yee-haw!It's the Murican' muscle carthat made Dodge the king of the streets.This legendary ride wentfrom playing catch upto putting ketchup on carsbecause it was eating them for lunch.(car revving)You guys have been asking for this onesince we started this dang show and now(lightening striking)It's time!(car revving)This is everything you needto know to get Up to Speedon the Dodge Charger, lightening,lightening, lightening.(upbeat cartoon music)In August of 1964, the Ford motor companyintroduced the Mustang,you ever heard of it?And Chrysler freaked out.Why?Well the Mustang was unique.It was a cheap car thatwas also fun as frickand Chrysler brands like Dodgehad nothing similar that theycould offer to customers.After staying up forweeks just freaking outand asking each other whatthe heck they were gonna do.Some designers at Dodge cookedup a little concept car.The new design was basedon the 1964 Polara.It had no roof, it had a chop windshieldit had a not really aroll bar, roll bar thingy,and most importantlyit had racing stripes.Under the hood wasChrysler's brand-new 426 hemior least that's what wassupposed to be in there.Chrysler had so few hemis on handthat when a sponsoredrace team blew theirs up,the one in the concept wasyanked out and the stock 383from the Polara wentback in, that's crazy.On the B pillar was a newbadge in cursive font,the fanciest of fonts.They called the concept, the Charger.Whew, I just got goose pimples.Obviously, this wasn't somethingDodge was gonna start producing overnight.I mean the thing didn'teven have a fricken roof.Although Dodge has been known to make carsthat don't have roofs, first gen Viper.The concept got peopletalking, it was provocative.So Dodge got to building a cheapbut sporty car of their own.(car revving)In 1965, Dodge releasedthe Dark GT Charger,the first production Dodgewith the Charger name.It made a clink.235 HRSPRS, its 273 in.³ Charger V8.You could get it in any color you wantedas long as it was code 811, pale yellowwhich is kind of a weirdcolor choice for a sports carespecially when it's theonly color that you offer.Dodge only built 150 of these,making the Dark GT Chargerone of the rarest of early Mopar muscle.Unsurprisingly, the limitedrun special edition Darkdid not solve the Ford Mustang problem.Dodge still needed acar, not just a badge.So in 1965, Dodge'ssister brand, Plymouth,released the Barracudawhich was also builtto compete with the Mustang.This stressed Dodgedealers out because nowthey don't have a sports carto sell against the Mustangand they also have to competeagainst their brother,Plymouth, then freaking out.So CEO, Lynn Townsend, tellsthem that Dodges are meantto compete with higher upbrands like Mercury or Pontiacbut the Dodge dealersdidn't really buy thatso he told them, if theydidn't like his strategythey could find another brand to sell.Listen here fellas.If you don't like my strategy,maybe you can find another brand to sell.Oh okay, I guess we will.Yeah I mean I like working with you guysbut I guess we'll go findanother brand, all right dude.No no no no, wait, wait,wait, wait, wait (muttering).Let's not be hasty fellas.What if I were able to giveyou a mid-sized sports carto sell against the Mustang?Yeah that's what we (mumbling).Yeah, that's a great idea I just had.The Dodge studio got back to work,this time using the DodgeCoronet as a platform.They changed the roof, theychanged the quarter panelsand finally the rear deck lid and grille.When it was done, Dodge,had their new new carwith a familiar name, the Charger.Dodge's new sports carhad an epic fastback,tons of engine optionsincluding the 426 hemiand maybe the coolest option of them all.(lightening striking)Remix!♪ Roll out, up and down headlights ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh ♪The 1966 1/2 Chargers aggressive stylingand available 425 HRSPRS madeit one of the baddest carsDetroit had ever produced.(car revving)Yee-Haw!Styling cues like theaforementioned hidden headlightsand full width taillights gave the Chargera very menacing presence.If you drove one of these,you were a bad dude, you dangerous.Even if you were an insuranceadjuster from Bixby Knolls.(car revving)The Charger's aerodynamicshape helped Dodge wina lot on NASCAR ovalsbut that wasn't enoughto make the Charger awinner at the showroom.From '66 to '67, Dodge onlysold about 37,000 Chargers.For comparison, Ford, sold overa million Mustangs in the same time, woof.Clearly something needed to be done.1968, the Dodge design studiohad something special in store.Principle of Design, Richard Sias,envisioned an entirelynew look for the Charger.The new Coke bottle stylingwas unlike any car ever made.The new charger did borrow a few elementsfrom the previous carbut crank them up to 11.Yeah crank it.We've only gone to 10 before.(yelling)The full width grille andtail lights were enlarged.The grille itself lookedlike it would suck you uplike a whale sucking up a bunch of krill.Without a doubt the Charger looked good.The standard engine optionwas a 5.2 L, 318 in.³ V8but if you wanted something biggerthere was the 383, 426 hemiall the way up to the7.2L, 440 in.³ Magnum.When they name an engineafter a gun, a big gun,a gun that Dirty Harryhad, that's when you know.Really?Yeah dude, it's a Dodge episode.Dare I say, Mopar baby?Mopar baby indeed.(chanting)(car revving)New for that year was the R/T packagewhich included upgradedbrakes and suspension.The Dodge R/T was aboutas good a sports caras a 3600 pound muscle car could be.Critics and fans agreed the '68was an awesome, awesome, awesome car.And as a result, people fricken bought it.Dodge predicted that thenew car would sell aboutas well as the first gen, butthey were wrong, dead wrong.Dodge ended up buildingnearly hundred thousand of them for 1968.The new Charger was a huge success.And because this new car was doing so wellthat left Dodge in a bit of a picklesince they didn't want to ruinthe good thing they had going.- Dodge fever, it's a beautiful way to go.- 1969 saw a revised grilleas well as a special edition Chargerbuilt for NASCAR ovaldomination, the Daytona.They made the nose all pointy,put a big ole wing on it for grip.It worked so well that NASCARhad to ban it two years later.If you want to know more about the Daytonaand its sister car, the Super Birdcheck out this episode on Up to Speed.But perhaps what the '69Charger is best known foris a little show calledThe Dukes of Hazzard.(trumpets playing)In which it played a pivotal role.The show premiered in 1979 and featureda bright orange Charger that had a knackfor flying through theair, the General Lee.General Lee was equipped with a push barand 15 inch American racing vector wheels.From 1979 to 1985 The Dukes of Hazzardchewed through about 300 Chargers (grunts)Yee-Haw!(intense music)Doing a sick jump everyepisode is pretty awesomebut it was rare for a carto survive the landing.I mean when you watch theshow, it's pretty obviousthat these cars got totaled.Just look at those chassis bend.(car crashing)I just got the bad kind of goose pimples.Back in 1970, Dodge rolled outthe last of the second gen Chargersand honestly not a lotof change since 1968.The main changes over the yearswere the grille and tail lights.But the truth is, thatRichard Sias and his teamdid such a good job onthe Coke bottle Chargerthat they didn't see anyreason to change it muchover the three years of production.In my opinion, the 1970 is themost aggressive of the bunch.The chrome trim reallycontrasts with black grilleand makes the mouth look that much bigger.The Charger got a redesign in 1971and the designers called it a Fuselageas opposed to a Coke bottle.It was softer and shorter too.The engine options didn't change.The R/T came with the 440with an optional 426 hemi.Or a 440 with a six pack ofcarburetors sitting on top.In 1971, the Charger wasstill a serious sports carbut that started to changeas the years went by.(car revving)As emission rules got stricter,power would be effectiveand the styling got a little less Agrobut surprisingly, thatdidn't effect sales.Dodge sold over 122,000 Chargers in 1973making it the best-selling Charger so far.But unfortunately, itwasn't all gravy baby.As the Charger was riding highthat dang old fricken gas crisis hitand hit the entireChrysler Corporation hard.I mean they were hemorrhaging money.Big cars with big motorsusing big gas were outand the Charger died in 1978.♪ And we'll take with me the memories ♪♪ To be my sunshine after the rain ♪- You know when I firsttook this crazy jobthey were ready to bury Chrysler.- Chrysler needed asolution and they saw onein a dude named, Lee Iacocca.He was basically themastermind behind the Mustang,the car that inspired theCharger in the first place.Lee came aboard the Chrysler ship in 1978and immediately started making changes'cause that's the kindaguy that Lee Iacocca was.First, he secured loans from Uncle Samthat would keep the company afloatuntil he could turnthings around and second,he made sure the cars theysold in the meantime were good.Chrysler had actuallystarted producing smaller,more efficient front wheeldrive cars like the Dodge Omniand the Plymouth Horizon that yearand they sold pretty wellbut they didn't scratchthat sporty itch that LeeIacocca needed to be scratched.In 1981, Dodge releasedthe Omni 024 Charger,a sporting economy car.Got a 2.2L four banger underthe hood making 84 HRSPRS.That wasn't enough forLee so he hired his buddy,Carroll Shelby, to tunesome of these Chargersto make more power baby.Carroll worked his magicon the cylinder heads and cam timing.All said and done, thenew Dodge Shelby Chargermade a blistering 107 HRSPRS.(quirky music)Look, I know that thatdoesn't sound like a lotbut in those post gas crisis times,people took what they could get.It was a whole new world.Chrysler engineers developeda turbocharged versionof the 2.2 L engine andthrew it in the 1984 Omni.They called it, theOmni GLH which stood forgoes like hell, because it did.The next year, they put thesame engine into the Chargerand beefed up the bodywork.It might be one of themost sinister looking,front wheel drive cars, ever built.It's on my bucket list, I'm gonna get one.This turbocharged, two door,was one of fastest carsfor sale in the US at the time.Iacocca had accomplished his mission,to make Dodge America'sperformance brand, heck ya.(car revving)The Charger went away again in 1987and would lay dormantfor more than a decade.Then in the early 2000's,Chrysler was hard at workon a new rear wheel drive platformthat will be shared acrossthe entire Chrysler family.It was called, the LX but in 2006,it was time for thereturn of an old friend.- Ladies and gentlemen,the Dodge Charger is back.- And the Charger was back baby.Like the original, the newone was a muscle-y family carthat could specked for any driver.The base Charger came equippedwith a humble but bulletproof 3.5L V6.The R/T package was back as well,powered by 5.7 L hemi.They even made a Daytona packageto commemorate the originalDaytona pointy boy.Dodge went all in connectingthis new Charger to its pastand they had something in the worksfor even more bite forbig time Charger fans.(car revving)The Charger SRT8 made otherfour-door sedans run for cover.It was powered by 6.1 Lhemi V8 leaving 428 HRSPRSgood for zero to 60 in five seconds.It was the most powerful V8 Chryslerhad ever put in a production car.(car revving)Dodge didn't make any huge changesto the Charger through the mid-2000'sbecause customers liked the Charger a lot.Between 2005 and 2010, Dodgesold over half a millionof these burly boy sedans.The Charger got a completeredesign for the 2011 model yearwhich improved on prettymuch everything, okay?The body was sleeker and lowerprofile than the previous genfeaturing scalloped bodyworkon the hood and doorsand a return to the fullwidth tail light in the back.Just like the good old days.And all the performancepacks were back as well.You had the R/T, the SRT8, a Super Bee.In 2012, Dodge even teased a Viper V10powered six speed manual Charger at Semacalled the Charger Juiced.Unfortunately, it neverwent into productionbut was a hint that an even more powerful,maybe more evil, Charger was coming.(car revving)In 2014, Dodge unveiled a new Chargerfor the 2015 model year.It was completely refreshed,sporting a totally new lookbut this Charger had a707 horsepower secretliving under the hood.Dodge called it the SRT Charger Hellcat.This was a sedan that could doa quarter-mile in 11 secondsand Dodge claimed it had a topspeed of 204 miles an hour.The Charger was both the fastestand meanest looking sedan in the world.Dodge let us borrow one last yearand it's probably thebest road trip car everand the Charger's still going strong todaywith no signs of letting up.(car revving)There's a ton of them.There's literally aCharger for every driver.You got the Charger SXTwith a 3.6 L Pentastar V6available with advanced all wheel drivewith front axle disconnect.There's a Charger GT withperformance body workand a more powerful 300 horsepower V6.(car revving)Don't forget the 2020 Charger R/Twith it's 370 HRSPR hemi V8,it's got electronically controlledexhaust, performance hoodand fascias and thosegreat performance seats.That performance steering wheel,it's in there and it'sgot them power shifters.(car revving)The Charger R/T scat pack is equipped witha dual inlet, performance grille,feeding a 485 horsepower,6.4 L hemi engineequipped with electronicallycontrolled exhaust Brembo,four piston brakes, slow the car down,which you're gonna need becausethis is the most horsepower,you can get for under $40,000.(car revving)And of course, the big daddy of them all,the Charger SRT Hellcatis returning for 2020.It now comes standard withthe wide-body package,complete with the mail slotopening performance grille,that delicious 707 HRSPR,6.2 L supercharged Hellcat V8capable of 196 miles per andit's got six piston Brembos.(car revving)(clapping)Bravo, bravo.So many features, so little time.You know, I heard hegot struck by lightningand then he just kneweverything about every car.From big bruiser Coke bottle muscle carsto turbocharged Econoboxsto the current four-door,196 mph sedan, there reallyis a Charger for everybodyand that's why it'sbeen around for so longin so many different forms.The name means something.It can be any car for any person.This episode was poweredby Dodge, thanks Dodge.We love you, but I love you more.Remix!♪ Roll out, up and down headlights ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights uh, ♪♪ Roll out, up and down headlights ♪I love you.