There hasn't been a greater muscle car than the Dodge Charger of the '60s and '70s. It wasn't the first to market, and it wasn't the quickest even when there was a big Hemi V8 under its hood. But it was the best-looking, has starred in more movies and TV shows than any other, and in Charger Daytona form, was the first car to orbit a NASCAR track at over 200 mph. It's no wonder that Dodge brought the Dodge Charger name back for the 2006 model year on its best sedan.
When people talk about the Dodge Charger, the Charger they're usually talking about is the big, second-generation two-door coupe built between the 1968 and 1970 model years. That's the muscle-bound Charger the bad guys drove in Bullitt; in which Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry almost escaped justice; that Dominic Toretto is initially intimidated by in The Fast and the Furious; and which appeared as the "General Lee" in every version of The Dukes of Hazzard. No other car has had the charismatic star wattage of that V8-powered, rear-drive Dodge Charger.
When Dodge got back into the rear-drive performance game, the Dodge Charger name, at that time dormant for 19 years, was an obvious one to resurrect. That 2006 Charger was based on the same "LX" platform used as the foundation for the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum and featured an all-independent suspension derived from the German end of the then-active DaimlerChrysler combination. It was also the first Charger to be offered with a Hemi-branded V8 in 35 years.
Broad-shouldered and with a low roof, the 2006 Dodge Charger four-door sedan didn't really look much like any of its namesake ancestors. But it was unmistakably a new-era muscle machine and instantly appreciated as such. Even V6-powered versions attracted buyers nostalgic for the Charger's muscular past. Ironically, considering the Charger's outlaw cinematic legacy, there was even a police package option offered on the new Dodge Charger beginning with the 2007 model year.
So far at least, there have been no sightings of the new Charger cop car chasing a classic Charger across the silver screen.
