Mopar Muscle Cars, Dodge Challenger SRT8 425-HP Hemi

It has been four decades since Dodge introduced the Challenger into the Muscle car market. The 1970 Challenger had the original bad-boy Hemi 426 V8 with 425 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque. The Hemi Challenger and the 440 Challenger were no lightweights by any means. By 1972 the Hemi option had disappeared and by 1974 Dodge Challengers had disappeared altogether.

Recently Dodge has introduced a new version of the Challenger, reviving the golden years of the Muscle cars and pony-cars with the new Dodge Challenger SRT8, with a 425-horsepower HEMI for its muscle. Given that kind of muscle, Chrysler’s 370cid (6.1 liter) 425HP Hemi V8 puts out 420lb-ft of torque @ 4800 rpm, with a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds and will clear the ¼ mile in 13.1 seconds. The Challenger should be capable of obtaining its top speed of 173 mph at a redline of 6400 rpm.

Dodge is proud of its accomplishment with this “ROBUSTLY RETRO” version of its ancestor. The SRT8 Challenger will be available on the market by the end of April, four months ahead of Dodge’s anticipated debute of the SRT8 Challenger. This is a great accomplishment for Dodge, to be first, ahead of the competition.

The April issue of Car and Driver has an article preview with a great pictorial of the Dodge SRT8 Challenger. The look of the new Challenger as quoted in the article is; “If the New Challenger isn’t an exact replica of the original, no one who remembers those thrilling cars of yesteryear will fail to recognize it."

American Muscle Cars, Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 - Six Pack

Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 Six-Pack

With the continuing scramble for placement in the muscle car category, Oldsmobile in 1966 released two new engine options.

The L69 and the rare W30 option of the 442 engine had three two-barrel Carter carburetors “(Six-Pack)” or “(Tri-Power)” with progressive linkage added to it giving the 442 more than adequate muscle. This addition gave it a horsepower rating of 360 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. The standard engine now dubbed L78, was rated at 350 hp with 440 lb-ft of torque with a single four-barrel carburetor. The W30 engine option had an outside-air induction system connected to the front bumper that allowed cool air to the carburetor and a hotter cam rated the same as the L69 or slightly under the muscle rating of the L69. To allow for this addition of hoses the battery was relocated to the trunk. The battery relocation made it impossible for convertible models to be ordered with this option. With only 54 of the W30s built by the factory, an additional 97 were produced for dealer installation.

The L69 442 with a four-speed transmission was tested by Car Life and it received a 0-60 time of 6.3 seconds, in the ¼ mile the 442 did 14.8 seconds at 97 mph.

Motor Trend also tested a similar car, it received 0-60 time of 7.2 seconds, and a ¼ mile time of 15.2 seconds at 96.6 mph.

Even with production slumping to 21,997, the 442 muscle car still only represented about 10 percent of the Cutlass sales for Oldsmobile. Pontiac’s GTO represented nearly one third of the Tempest sales for Pontiac.

American Muscle cars

Mopar, Plymouth Road Runner 1968-1970 440"Six Pack"

The 1969 Road Runner had the same basic look as 1968, but had slightly different options cosmetically (rear tail lights, optional bucket seats and restyled Road Runner decals).The convertible option was added for the 1969 Road Runner, with fewer than 2,000 ragtop models produced, nine of them with 426 Hemi option.

The “Air Grabber” option was added to the 1969 Road Runner; consisting of an air duct assembly that was bolted under the hood, connected to twin rectangular scoops. With the hood closed, the assembly fit over a special air cleaner to force into the engine directly into the air cleaner. The hood scoops were opened and closed with lever under the dash.

The 383 engine remained the standard muscle in the Road Runner, the 440cid “Six Pack” was added mid year, giving the Road Runner “Super Stock” qualifications. The “Six Pack” Road Runner was identified by the flat black fiberglass lift-off hood and the functional hood scoop. The 440 “Six Pack” produced 390 hp and 490 ft-lb torque at 3200 rpm, similar to the Hemi, except at a lower engine speed The 440 “Six Pack” was almost as fast as the 426 Hemi. With both of these options and the economical 383, the extremely fast Hemi propelled Plymouth and Dodge to the top of the dragstrip class.

Muscle Cars 1971 Dodge Charger Super Bee

In 1971 the Dodge Super Bee moved from the Coronet line to the Charger line since the 1971 Coronet was only available in sedan and station wagon models. From 1971, all four-door B-bodies were Coronets and all two-door B-bodies were Chargers. The all new third generation Charger was restyled with a new grill and a more rounded bodystyle, hidden headlights were no longer standard, they became optional. . The look of the 1971 Charger was in comparison to the 1968-1970 GTOs.

A rear spoiler and a “Ramcharger” hood were added to the opotion list. A special scoop was mounted in the hood above the air cleaner allowing clean air to go directly into the carguretor by pulling a lever that was placed under the dash. This device was called the “air grabber tool” originally used used in Plymouth’s Roadrunner, the Coronet R/T and Super Bees, this was the first it was used on the Charger.

In 1971 only 63 Hemi versions were built, 2,659 were built with other engines. 1971 was the last year for the 426 Hemi “elephant engine”, it was also the end of the 440 Six-Pack engine. 1971 was the one and only year the small block (340 4-bbl) was available in the Super Bee. Although the 440 Magnum (4-bbl) was not an option in the 1971 Super Bee, 26 are known to have been built. With this option the 440 Super Bee walked all over any Ford, Chevy, or GM product on the market.:

Engines:

340cid – 275hp

383cid – 300hp

440cid – 370hp

440cid – 385hp

426cid –(Hemi) -425hp