Vehicle Description
1966 Dodge Charger
During the early-1960s, automakers were exploring new ideas in the
personal luxury and specialty car segments. Chrysler, fast to enter
the specialty car market, selected their Dodge Division to enter
the marketplace with a mid-size B-bodied sporty car to fit between
the "pony car" Ford Mustang and "personal luxury" Ford Thunderbird.
The intention was to create a fastback look while sharing as much
existing company hardware as possible.
For consignment, a first-year edition of the first-generation Dodge
Charger. Having been treated to new quarter panels and a recent
repaint, it sports a rebuilt and upgraded drivetrain, has had some
recent maintenance and runs like a top. A well maintained car in
need of some TLC on the undercarriage and functionality fronts,
this Bright Red cavalry horse is definitely ready to do
battle...blow the bugle!
Exterior
If you thought the Barracuda fastback was cool, get a load of this
fastback. It is truly the next level looking much like the concept
car of 1965 Dodge rolled out to wet future appetites for the
upcoming muscle race. At first glance one assumes there is no trunk
lid here, although the gap suggests otherwise, but the long sloping
line hides it well. Outside shows the Charger badge on the long
triangulated B pillar. The sides, showing the beginnings of the
Coke bottle shape design have well minded gaps and plenty of
trimmings on the rockers, the wheel wells, belt line toppers, as
well as around the windows. We note the rear glass is missing its
trim, but our consignor is including it with the purchase. All this
steel is bathed in a respray of Bright Red and shows at the deep
end of the pool with only a few non-noteworthy flaws. Tucked in
lightly tarnished bumpers along with the chrome trimmings
decoratethe swoopy body. Up front, hidden headlights give the
grille the appearance that it runs the entire way across the front
of the car. The rear picks up on this and has the taillight strip
run entirely across the car as well. Fratzog badges are seen on the
grille and a large circular badge on the trunk lid. 15-inch chrome
Magnum 500 wheels are on all 4 corners and are shod in like new red
striperadials.
Interior
A swing of the doors and black vinyl mixes with aluminum panels and
black carpet to create a sporty looking panel. Turning our
attention to the seats, pristine black tuck and roll pattern seats
in the form of low back buckets in front and a duo of more buckets
that have fold down capabilities, and center armrest that folds
allowing the user to store many a cargo item under that large
fastback. A center console upfront as well, not to be outdone by
the snazzy rear setup, holds the long arm chrome shifter along with
a padded arm rest for the front and rear buckets and a Mopar
"Performance Meter' vacuum gauge. Looking up front at the dash and
it is factory gorgeous. Very clean with its lineup of circular
instruments for the cluster, and a row of buttons, ignition and
knobs just below, all within perfect reach of the driver. The
remainder of the dash uses a rectangular pattern to add texture and
house the AM radio and airflow levers, and a glovebox. Black carpet
for the floors remains mostly unmarred save for some heavy fading
in the front area and light fading in the fastback storage area. A
clean tight headliner in black is above.
Drivetrain
All correct under the stylish hood and cleanly restored. Take an
aqua block and intake, water pump, then top it with more aqua for
the valve covers and I'm nearly ready to eat this engine as it
presents as a piece of eye candy. It is a non original rebuilt
383ci V8, and is topped with a 4-barrel carburetor. A shout out to
the chrome air cleaner cover with orange 383 Magnum pie plate which
can feed plenty of air for the fossils to mix with and turn this
V8. A non-original A833 Torqueflite 4-speed manual transmission,
and an 8.75 inch rear axle complete this nice package.
Undercarriage
Underneath, a newer dual glasspack exhaust system guides us through
the factory undercoated and mostly structurally sound
undercarriage. Surface rust has reared its head on the usual
suspects and we note heavy invasive rust on the driver's front
floor pan, allowing the carpet underlayment to show through along
with the beginnings of invasive rust appearing on the outboard
section of the passengers rear torsion bar mount. Independent
torsion bar suspension upfront, and leaf springs on the rear are in
fab condition along with drum brakes all around can be seen.
Drive-Ability
This horsepower embellished horse fired right up and ran very
nicely through all aspects of our test track although the brake
pedal is very soft but is able to be pumped up to stop the car. A
good accelerator, strong flow through the gears power and smooth
ride left us with a smile on our track test dummies face, (Wait!
not dummies!). Although we did note the horn, speedometer,odometer,
heater blower and radio did not function as well as notable popping
noise being heard from the left front suspension. Also, the
headlight doors did not open, nor did the headlightsnorfront
parking lights turn on.
There are nice examples of many cars in Classic Auto Mall and it's
rare we get a Charger in our vast inventory, let alone one from
this era. In need of some TLC on a few fronts, a fancy futuristic
design line, and that solid looking front grille, and you will be
turned into a sucker for a 66 muscle car. Da Da Da Dit Da
Dee...Charge...r!
XP29E61290644
X-Dodge Charger
P-Premium Price Class
29-2 Door Sport Hardtop
E-318ci V8 2bbl
6-1966
1-Lynch Rd, MI Assy Plant
290644-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
