68-70 Charger - Which is most sought after?

[G-man]

Hi guys,

I know I was a 68 Charger guy (just because of the grill)... but since everyone here mentioned the fact I want a 69/70style rear with a 68 front, the best option was to get a 69, stick a chrome strip on the rear and stick a 68 grill in front...

So since you all suggested that... I wanted to actually know something about 68-69-70's.

Which year is the most famous year for dodge charger? Putting Dukes of Hazard aside and the 69 that became an Icon... I am more wondering about without the movie... which was the year Charger that had to be owned because it was the most desirable due to the race winning and so forth?

What was the legendary year?

Now try be unbiased here... I know there are facts in all this somewhere...

[1974dodgecharger]

I say 70.....

[6bblgt]

The simplicity, clean lines & look of the "original" 2nd generation Charger says it all - Chrysler would've left it alone for the 3 year run if they could've.    They should've!  1968 

[myk]

Daytona...

[BB14404SPD]

1968

[Baldwinvette77]

They seem to reproduce parts for the 1969's First 

[RDC]

1968

[fy469rtse]

All the of the second gen ,
My fav is the 68,
I'm getting know my 69, there's things about it I'm really starting to love about it
70 in the right colour , can look just plain tough
Pity my 70 is not my choice of colour , but unique
I think 70 is the best looking as a triple black
So I'm starting to ramble on
68 69 70 all three are the best, all have there spot as hero movie car,

[Mike DC]

  
If you want to know which year was the most popular, then it's probably the '69, very closely followed by the '68.



BTW: "Dukes of Hazzard was a movie" in the same way that "Dodge Chargers have 4 doors."

[Ghoste]

I don't think you can answer the question really.  Every once in a while someone puts a poll up here about which year is best and IIRC correctly it usually follows the same way the original sales figures did for the 2nd gens.  The 68 sold the most and as the demand was satisfied the next two years sold a bit less.  In film, the 69 has likely been used more often but the 68 of Bullitt may be better known among the hobby at large when you include Ford and Chevy guys.  The GL fame speaks for itself but outside of Charger fanatics I don't know that people think of it as a 69 Charger but rather just the General Lee Charger whereas Bullitt fans always seem to know it was a 68.  Ultimately the most sought after is whatever year you want.

[Ghoste]

 
BTW: "Dukes of Hazzard was a movie" in the same way that "Dodge Chargers have 4 doors."

   But I thought you were a big DOH fan Mike?

[Mike DC]

 
The DOH that should & will be remembered is the TV show.  That's the point I was trying to make.   

[Ghoste]

Oh ok I get ya now.  I was puzzled there for a minute though.

[ACUDANUT]

We need to start a poll. I too say 1970.

[Charger-Bodie]

weve polled this topic to death,but the population may have changed you never know.

My own personal opinion is that they built them in order. 68 Coolest, 69 while still way awesome not quite as cool as 68, and then the 70 which doesnt seem right to be last because it too is a totally awesome unit,just not quite and cool as the original 2nd generation Charger.

[BIGBLCK11]

I think 69 is more sought after now.  Personally, I would pick 70 or do exactly what was recommended to you, 69 with 68 grill center section.

[F8-4life]

1968 ,1969, 1970

[G-man]

For some reason this topic turned out exactly how I thought it would but hoped it wouldn't 

So did Dodge Charger win races in 1968 at NASCAR/Talladega etc?

Was it 1969 when they started to dominate with the Hemi's?

Was it 1970 that started to see races won for Dodge?

I mean, this is what I am really after. Not "I like this one more, I think that one looks better, etc"

Which year was Dodge Charger (regardless of charger 500/Daytona) that the Charger started to bring in the wins and did the historical legendary thing for racing with the legendary HEMI... was it the 68, 69 or 70? This is history, it can't be re-written a different way n this is where the truth lies that I am wondering about.

The car that brought the most wins, topped 200MPH, made the Hemi an Icon etc... that is the year that to me would be the most desirable as it has some 'history' behind it.

From one perspective some can say DOH made the 69, on other hand, I am wondering if the 69 was used in DOH because that 'was' the best model car historically (winning races etc) and thus DOH used that car.

[DAY CLONA]

I say 70.....

While the 2nd Gen Charger is an awesome design, each year has it merits and distractions, IMHO the 70 is the accumulative pinnacle of the 2nd Gen design, the 70 model only has pros, no cons on all bases

[Mike DC]

The car that made the Hemi most legendary in NASCAR was arguably a little baby-blue '66 Belvedere.  It wasn't the first NASCAR Hemi but Petty went on a ridiculous winning streak in this car in 1967.



Next might be Petty's ride a decade later.  He ran these 73-74 Chargers for several successful years:





The Chargers that did the most legendary speeds were the '69 Daytonas.  Those were heavily customized 1969 cars, that wore '70 fenders & hood, and debuted a few weeks before the 1970 models came out.  

Bobby Issac's #71 Daytona set a bunch of land speed records.  It's a museum piece now:

 

[fastmark]

From what I have read, the 1970 Charger was the car that won the most races in 1970. Most tracks were short tracks  the wing car did not have any advantage. So ole "chrome nose" ruled the year.

[twodko]

What Mike DC said. 2nd Gen Chargers are, hands down, THE most sought after Chargers.

Contrary to what some of my DC.com brothers would say, the 1969 Charger is the gold standard!   

[HPP]

1968 Dodge had 2 GN wins in the '68 season, both at Superspeedways; http://racing-reference.info/raceyear/1968/W
1969 Dodge had 21 GN wins in the '69 season, 2 of those at Superspeedways; http://racing-reference.info/raceyear/1969/W
1970 Dodge had  8 GN wins in the 1970 season. None of these at Superspeedways; http://racing-reference.info/raceyear/1970/W

So how many of the 19 short and mid track 1969 wins were regular Chargers vs Daytonas or 500s? Not too many I'm willing to bet.

The '64 Hemi cars were pretty dominating. So much so that after Nascar outlawed them for '65, and all factory Mopar drivers sat out the '65 season. So '66 was a another teething year that laid the groundwork for the Petty domination of '67 with 27 race wins and 10 consecutive wins. The 66-67 Chargers only had 7 wins between them and 5 of those came in 67 after Dodge added the rear spoiler to negate lift.

The 71-74 charger body style was so successful for Petty that Nascar altered the rules to allow him to run it an additional year up to '77 instead of being limited to their traditional 2 year limit.

[Ghoste]

And to be fair, the original post was a bit unclear as to seeking to know which year won the most in NASCAR.

[G-man]

It was clear to me!

Thanks for the replies. So 69 based on that is the year to have.

O well, I had 2 - 68 Chargers, guess it is time to have that 69 and be done with it. After all, I don't like Corvette lights on the rear of a 68 Charger but much rather the Hockey stick lights that make it look complete. If I ever decide on 68 grill... much cheaper than stuffing around chopping a 68 up.

Thanks for feedback
G-

[johnnycharger]

I say the 69 is the most popular but I would also say the 70 is the more sought-after as they are harder to find in good shape and the one off parts are more expensive and rare.

[moparnation74]

68-70?

I would say 68

[DAY CLONA]

Contrary to what some of my DC.com brothers would say, the 1969 Charger is the gold standard!    

Agreed, 69 is the "gold" standard, but seeing that the 70 being the "platinum" standard, simply trumps gold.....sorry

[HPP]

And to be fair, the original post was a bit unclear as to seeking to know which year won the most in NASCAR.

The original post, no. But his second post dialed in the Nascar piece a bit more.

1969 Dodge had 21 GN wins in the '69 season, 2 of those at Superspeedways; http://racing-reference.info/raceyear/1969/W
1970 Dodge had  8 GN wins in the 1970 season. None of these at Superspeedways; http://racing-reference.info/raceyear/1970/W

Its also worth noting that in 1970, there were 9 additional wins by '69 Dodges. 5 of those 9 wins in 1970 were on superspeedway and intermediate tracks with '69 Dodges, which would have been wing cars. The other 4 were on short tracks. So Dodge was pretty dominate those two years.  I still wonder how many of those 21 wins in '69 were 500s, how many were Daytonas, and how many were plain Chargers, since the 500 kicked off the season and was joined mid year by the Daytona and both cars were used on Superspeedways as well as intermediate tracks.

There was also the USAC Stock Car divisions running at the same time. I think the plain Chargers were utilized in this series more prolificly than in Nascar. Finding detailed records for these guys is not easy for me, but here are some tid bits.
https://www.allpar.com/forums/threads/chrysler-in-the-usac-stock-car-series.153205/ Unfortunately a lot of the pictures have gone missing, but there are other good ones in here, nearly 50 pages worth; http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6969990&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

[Challenger340]

I believe pricewise "model to model" of Sales tracks through Hagerty's it was '69, '68, then '70 in that order until recently..... 1968's could now be higher, with 70's now risen also.

[G-man]

Thanks for some history, looks like the 1969 Model was the champion out of the 3 over-all (whether normal/daytonas or whatever) - Point is, it was the 1969 Dodge's that did all the winning, even in 1970 lol.

Well that settles that then.

I am getting a 1969 Dodge Charger to replace the 68s I gotten rid of.

[keith88]

The 1st one i wanted was a 69, the 1st one i rode in was a 68, the 1st 3 i owned were 70s.  But i always wanted a 69 that i have now ...so as for me its a 69!

[tan top]

all three are awesome cars ! & are the most beautiful shaped  car ever built !   but it will always be a  69 for me !!   68s have their good points & so to the 70s 
if I had the dough would have  all three years in a wide variety of option & color combos   

[ACUDANUT]

I'd like one of each.