Dodge Challenger
It's from 1970, before you were born.
- Iconic generation
- 1970 Challenger R/T (first-gen E-body)
- Origin
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Engine
- 426 cu in (7.0L) Hemi V8 (optional)
- Power
- 425 hp (gross), underrated
- 0–60 mph
- ~5.8 seconds (Hemi, per Car and Driver)
- Top speed
- ~130 mph
- Production
- ~77,000 in 1970; only 356 with the Hemi
- Price when new
- ~$3,000 base; Hemi added ~$780
About
As of 2026, it's 56 years old.
The Challenger showed up fashionably late to the muscle-car party. By the time Dodge launched the E-body in 1970, the pony-car war was already raging, but the Challenger crashed in with a longer, lower, wider take on the formula and a colour palette borrowed from a 1970s rave: Plum Crazy, Go Mango, Sublime, Hemi Orange.
It backed up the looks with serious hardware. The range-topping R/T could be ordered with the legendary 426 Hemi, good for an underrated 425 hp, though only 356 buyers ticked that box. Vanishing Point made the Challenger an instant counterculture icon, casting a white 440 R/T as the doomed hero's getaway car in a cross-country death drive.
Then the party ended fast. Insurance rates and emissions rules strangled the muscle era, and the Challenger was gone by 1974, leaving behind one short, brilliant, neon-coloured run that collectors now treat like crown jewels.
Dodge brought it roaring back in 2008, and unlike most retro revivals it nailed the proportions: the modern Challenger looked like the 1970 car ate a gym membership. It stuck around for over a decade barely changing, eventually spawning the demonic 800-plus-horsepower Hellcat and Demon variants. In an age of crossovers, it was a gloriously stubborn dinosaur.
Dodge Challenger through the years
Late but loud
The E-body Challenger debuts, sharing its platform with the Plymouth 'Cuda.
Vanishing Point
A white 440 R/T becomes a countercultural icon in the cult road movie.
The lights go out
Emissions and insurance kill the original Challenger after just five years.
Retro revival
Dodge resurrects the Challenger with an SRT8 that nails the original's proportions.
Hellcat unleashed
The 707 hp SRT Hellcat makes the retro coupe a tire-shredding legend.
The Demon
The 840 hp Demon runs 9s in the quarter and gets banned by the NHRA for being too fast.
