1966 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi

The 1964 Plymouth Barracuda was America's first modern fastback, ( Beating Ford Motor Company's 1965 Mustang 2+2 to market by about two weeks.) Dodge waited two years to join the party, and then leaped in with the Charger 426 Hemi , a Muscle car other fastbacks could only dream of.

To create the first Charger, Dodge basically took its midsize Coronet two-door hardtop and added a  fastback roofline, hidden headlights, and full-width tail lights. With a base price of $3,122, Charger cost $417 more than a Coronet 500 hardtop. But what you got in return was a state-of-the-art '60s interior with lots of chrome, four bucket seats ,( the rears folded down and gave about seven feet of cargo space ), available center consoles front and rear, and full gauges.

A 318-cid V-8 was standard. The most-common performance upgrade was the optional 325-bhp 383 four-barrel, which would push a Charger through the quarter in the low 16s at 85 mph. But 1966 was also the year Chrysler's 426-cid Hemi V-8 came to the streets, and it made for the ultimate Charger.

The actual horsepower was near 500, but Dodge advertised its Street Hemi at 425 bhp on a 10.25:1 compression. A detuned version of the 12.5:l-compression race Hemi, the new customer version retained solid lifters but had a milder cam for smoother low-rpm running and a heat chamber so it could warm up properly. It also mounted its dual quads inline rather than on a cross-ram manifold. The engine added $1,000 to the price of a Coronet, or $880 to a Charger, and included stiffer springs and bigger (11-inch) brakes. Front discs were optional.

"Beauty and the beast," was how Dodge pitched its new Charger with the hot 426. "The Hemi was never in better shape," it boasted. Of 37,344 Chargers built for '66, only 468 got the Hemi. Maybe that's because Hemi buyers got a one-year/12,000 warranty instead of Dodge's usual 5/50,000. And that warranty  Chrysler warned, would be voided if the car was "subjected to any extreme operation ( like drag racing )." Hmmm….now WHAT would ever make them think people would do THAT ?