1971 Dodge Charger

Following the very successful 1968 through 1970 lineup, Dodge released its totally restyled Charger for 1971. Wearing sleek 'fuselage' body styling, the Charger maintained its high-performance perch atop the competitive muscle car theme with both its R/T and 1971-only Super Bee guises. While the 1960s had fostered the growth of the muscle car scene, the 1970s brought it to an end due to safety concerns, rising insurance premiums, the fuel crisis and oil embargos, and new federally mandated standards. Although American supercars were endangered, the new Charger was well-received as Hi-Performance Cars Magazine's Top Performance Car of the Year.

The new Charger had been tailor-made with aerodynamic features to combat NASCAR superspeedways, piloted by racing legend Richard Petty during his most successful years, with Petty and his Charger utterly dominant on the NASCAR circuit in 1972, culminating in his fourth season championship that year. The Charger found success both on the track and in the Dodge dealer showrooms, and the third-generation Charger was unchanged through 1974 and in STP-liveried NASCAR trim, propelled 'King Richard' to his fourth and fifth Daytona '500' wins consecutively in 1973 and 1974 and another NASCAR Winston Cup Championship in 1974.

For 1971, the Dodge Charger was given completely new styling which helped further distinguish it from the Coronet series. They rested on a 115-inch wheelbase chassis and consisted of six coupes and hardtops in three series. The series included the base models, 500 series (which included the Super Bee), and the R/T Series. Pricing began at $2,700 and rose to over $3,770 for the R/T Series. Body styles included semi-fastback coupes with rear quarter window styling and seating for six. In the front was a full-width bumper and grille shell that was split by a larger vertical divider. In the back were a small trunk lip spoiler and square taillights located in the oval rear bumper.

Powertrain options for street Chargers were carried over from 1970, albeit with slightly lowered engine-compression ratios. The base model Chargers were powered by a 225 cubic-inch 'Slant' six-cylinder engine or a 318 cubic-inch V8. They came standard with all the federally mandated safety and pollution equipment, a cigarette lighter, dual horns, color-keyed carpeting, inside day and night mirror, wheel-well moldings, two-speed windshield wipers, and roof drip rail.

The intermediate trim level was the 500 and it came with all the equipment found on the base models plus ashtray lights, glovebox, pedal dress-up kit, sill moldings, bucket seats, deluxe wheel covers, map, and courtesy lights, and '500' exterior badges.

The Charger Super Bee, in a similar fashion to the Coronet Super Bee, was offered as a low-cost, high-performance package. They were given a 59 amp/hour battery, heavy-duty brakes and shock absorbers, pedal dress-up kit, heavy-duty Rallye suspension, and 440 cubic-inch Magnum V8 engine. They also were given either a four-speed manual or TorqueFlite automatic transmission.

Approximately 80 Charger R/T examples were equipped with the Code E87 440 Six-Pack engine developing 385 SAE-rated horsepower, equipped with three two-barrel Holley carburetors and backed by a D21 four-speed manual transmission. Popular performance upgrades included power brakes, power steering, P31 power windows, Rallye dash, C16 console, L37 concealed headlamps, louvered hood, bucket-seat interior, hood pins, 'shotgun' exhaust tips, and a Track Pack Dana rear end. 63 examples of the Charger R/T were built with the 426 CID V8 Hemi delivering 425 horsepower (30 were equipped with four-speeds). The R/T's base price was $3,223, but with the dual quad-equipped 426 CID Hemi, the sticker price rose to $6,304.60 (or more depending on the options selected).

The R/T package added a blacked-out domed hood, twin vertical door tape stripes, and longitudinal side tape stripes. Standard equipment included a TorqeuFlite automatic or four-speed manual transmission, the 440 CID Magnum engine, heavy-duty brakes, heavy-duty shock absorbers, heavy-duty Rally suspension, cooling equipment, a 70 amp/hour battery, and pedal dress-up kit.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2013