Dodge Challenger History

When most of America hears "pony car" today, only one car really comes to mind, the Ford Mustang, as it is the longest living of the great Pony Cars. But what most people do not know is that Ford was not the first company to release the pony car. It was actually the Chrysler Corporation, with the release of their 1964 Plymouth Barracuda, which was released a few months prior to the Mustang.
The 'Cuda, as it became known, was very popular, but in 1969 Chrysler Corporation released to the public the redesigned 'Cuda, for the 1970 model year. It was also at this time when they introduced another car that would become very popular to the American public, but it was from Plymouth's sibling company, Dodge. That new car, the Dodge Challenger, was the first pony car from Dodge. While the Challenger may have seemed like nothing more than a rebadged Plymouth Barracuda, as the two cars shared Chrysler Corporations new "E-body" platform, the Challenger was actually a car whose design process began some 5 years before production began.

1964-1969

Recognizing the popularity of the 1964 Plymouth and 1964.5 Mustang, designers at Dodge began working on a pony car of their own. The Barracuda received gradual upgrades year to year, including the addition of trim lines and performance enhancements, but Dodge continued to work on their own model, rather than rebadging one of the early Barracudas, which were on Chrysler's "A-body" platform.

While exterior styling design was a key point during the development of the Challenger, being competitive was one of the bigger concerns, and by the late 60s, Ford was putting huge displacement motors in some of the Mustangs. While the 340 cubic inch packed Barracuda S was fast, and handled well, it was no match for the 428 cubic inch Cobras. Design team head, Carl Cameron, recognized the need for a new look for this new car, and the need for a big engine, and in late 1968 the first of the Dodge e-body based prototypes were being made.

The 1969 Dodge Yellow Jacket Concept was the first look at what would become the Dodge Challenger, but this car has several major variations from what would actually be released to the public as the Challenger. The Yellow Jacket was originally painted Pearl White, but it was badly scratched while being transported to a show, and was repainted a honey-gold color. It featured a removable Targa style top, with only two seats, and a rear deck lid section that extended all the way to the back of the front seats. The taillights were those of a Dodge Challenger, but they differed from what actually came on the 1970 Challenger, and the taillights of the Yellow Jacket did not actually make it to production until later years. When the Challenger ended its run, it had the same multi-piece taillights as the Yellow Jacket. this Yellow Jacket later received a new front end, which would never see production, and was renamed the Dodge Diamante.

Big Thanks to Steven Juliano
for the images