why dose every one want a 2 gen charger.......

[BrianShaughnessy]

Go take a look at the '73 Chevies and Fords for a clue as to why the 73 Charger sold better.   Both had body style changes that weren't as appealing initially compared to the 72 and earlier years.   

Also, remember the 73's were released in the fall of 72 before the oil embargo so the gas price wasn't an initial concern.   

Also possible is the Petty switch to a Charger after running Plymouths.

[41husk]

I forgot about petty, I am sure that had something to do with sales, he hurt Chrysler sales when he went to Ford and Ford when he returned to plymouth.

[JimShine]

    PS: I've often cited the resemblence of the second gens to that of a woman. Trust me guys, that's not helping your case with the wife/girlfriend if she's not the car freindly type. Better off comparing it to a Fender Strat if you like hot meals and a warm bed.....then again a sleeping bag next to your 2nd gen charger isn't all that bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leo based much of his designs on women. The Strat is based on looking at a woman sitting. The shape is of her ass and thighs rounding up to her waist and arms. The Telecaster headstock is based on a womans profile in a sort of hood orament fashion. The ball on the end is her head, rounds down to her neck, points out for her bust and tapers in to her waist. The straight line for the tuners was her back.


Here is a Jackson paint job that illustrates Leo's intention.



A Tele head:

[69charger2002]

the 73 sales numbers has always puzzled me as well. the body style did have minor changes, but geez, 117000 sold as compared to 70's every other year of the 3rd gen.. truth be told though. i swear in the 15-20 3rd gens i've personally seen around here.. i';d say 75% of them were 73's. you just don't see 71's hardly at all
trav

[JW69]

4Forty thats one nice looking 68. I had a black 68, 383 ,4 speed in the early 80's. Had a few Mopars in between and now have a 69, 440, 4 speed R/T. The 68-70 shape is the best looking Mopar by far, closely followed by the 71-72 Roadrunners.My aim is to get my 69 to drive as nice as a 3rd generation.The 72, 440, 4 speed, R/R GTX was the best handling Mopar I've driven.

[bull]

I had a black 68, 383 ,4 speed in the early 80's.

I wonder if it's the one I own now? Probably not but did you ever own it while living in Oregon or California?

[genlee1970]

Here's what I found (check my math if you want):

year - units sold
  '66 - 37,344
  '67 - 15,788
  '68 - 92,434
  '69 - 89,199
  '70 - 49,768
  '71 - 73,785
  '72 - 75,594
  '73 - 119,318
  '74 - 74,376

Source: http://www.71superbee.com/TheCharger/

Basically the '68 and '69 sold better than anything except for the '73, which I find very curious since '72 basically marked the end of the performance era in the Charger model (and the rest of the world) due to new emissions standards. Maybe it was all the luxury features, who knows. At any rate, 1973 was a very good year for the Charger, especially the SE version with a whopping 61,908 units being sold. I also find it odd that the '70 had the third-worst sales numbers of them all.

Ok, my bad on that one. I too was going on memory, but the last time I read that book was many beers ago so....anyway, I stand corrected for the most part. Perhaps what I was thinking was that the upturn in Charger sales from  the 70 model year to the 71 and up was due to the demise of the 2 door Coronet. Combine 70 2 door Coronet and Charger sales and what have you got? Just a hunch. I do remember reading that 2 door intermediate sales were down in the early seventies for all makes....then again, that was also many beers ago. 

[Ghoste]

So basically, the fact that in 1973, if you wanted a two door intermediate from Dodge you had to buy a Charger, resulted in a sales increase?   Hmmmm.

[genlee1970]

    PS: I've often cited the resemblence of the second gens to that of a woman. Trust me guys, that's not helping your case with the wife/girlfriend if she's not the car freindly type. Better off comparing it to a Fender Strat if you like hot meals and a warm bed.....then again a sleeping bag next to your 2nd gen charger isn't all that bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leo based much of his designs on women. The Strat is based on looking at a woman sitting. The shape is of her ass and thighs rounding up to her waist and arms. The Telecaster headstock is based on a womans profile in a sort of hood orament fashion. The ball on the end is her head, rounds down to her neck, points out for her bust and tapers in to her waist. The straight line for the tuners was her back.


Here is a Jackson paint job that illustrates Leo's intention.



A Tele head:

 
Ok, I can see the point with the Jackson paint job  and the Tele headstock theory as well but to be honest, the headstock chick does nothing for me. On the other hand the chick in DERAILED'S avitar a few post earlier does it for me.....and that banana!!!!!!!!! Dayum!!
  Anyway, the lines of many great designs are clearly inspired by the female form. It's a beautiful thing, the form that is. Now if we could only do something about thier brain......

[resq302]

Im pretty sure that in 69, the total number of chargers made was 69,199 not 89,199.

[69charger2002]

i had always heard around 85000 chargers in 69, around 90000 in 68 and 40000 or so for 70
think it was from the old site or something

[Ghoste]

69 thousand is the number for the base model.  You have to add in the 20 thousand RT models plus the 500's and Daytona's to get the total.

[Lord Warlock]

Suffice it to say, the shape is what draws our attention, of all the muscle cars of the age, the 2nd gen charger looked like it was going fast even when it was parked.  However, I'll argue the point that the dukes of hazzard are the reason for its popularity today.  I've owned my 69 since before the GL ever showed its face on tv, and the 2nd gen charger was already one of the more drooled over cars at the time.  Yes they were cheap back then, I paid 800 for mine when i bought it, but that was because gas prices had gone up from 50 cents a gallon to 80 cents, they were 8-9 years old, got pretty bad gas mileage (I get 6mpg in the city) and folks were just starting to purchase imports from japan for better mileage (we got our first import in 74- a mazda rx2 4door)

Since I had bought the charger Before the GL came out, I pretty much didn't like the BS that surrounded the show, such as jumping one over things, I knew from first hand experience that jumping over something as short as a simple curb (hit a curb doing 50mph and went airborne till the back bumper hit the ground, forced the front to slam hard, then hit the 2nd curb and repeated the process- learned a lesson not to cut thru a mall parking lot in the dark) Needless to say, after I had the entire front suspension rebuilt, I knew that every jump in the GL ruined the suspension.  Anyway, I and my other mopar buddies at the time all hated the yuk yuk Dukes of hazzard, although we would watch it occasionally to view the charger going fast on dirt roads, and of course getting aroused looking at daisy in those short shorts. 
Coming from the south, I see nothing wrong with General Lee clones, or confederate flags (had one in my dorm room in college) or even the air horns with dixie playing, but we all know that our cars were in demand LONG before the dukes came out.  The 2nd gen has been in more movies than almost any other car make, for good reasons, as it was always one of the cars to beat on the streets of the 60s and 70s. 

Lord Warlock

[greenpigs]

Not sure why it seems to be more popular but a few guesses are:

1) Offered with more high performance motor options-1st & 3rd had some also but most were 318s.
2) The TV and movies hype.
3) Looks
4) Made smack in the middle of the muscle car era-things were not starting or ending in 68-70 like the other two.

[myk]

It really isn't about horsepower, as power can be had from any brand; it's about the looks, as NOTHING looks even close to a 2nd 'gen Charger, one of the most beautiful designs ever conceived...

[Ghoste]

Greenpigs, I'd argue points 1 and 4 are wrong.  If you check the numbers you'll soon find out that most 2nd gens were 318's as well.  They weren't offered with any more than the rest either other than the 440 six pack in 70 which the 71 also had.  As to 2nd gens being in the middle of the muscle car era, my friend, by 1970 everyone was going home from the party. 

[Blakcharger440]

Greenpigs, I'd argue points 1 and 4 are wrong.  If you check the numbers you'll soon find out that most 2nd gens were 318's as well.  They weren't offered with any more than the rest either other than the 440 six pack in 70 which the 71 also had.  As to 2nd gens being in the middle of the muscle car era, my friend, by 1970 everyone was going home from the party. 

That last statement doesnt make any sense at all. No one left the party because the 1970 Charger was introduced.
1970 was the finest evolution of the Charger period!......Now people may have left the party when the 71 was introduced  ....I am kidding, I joke, I joke.

[TylerCharger69]

I think as far as leaving "the party"  it  was because of the so-called  "gas shortage"  that was happening  and all of that OPEC BS....Then the EPA comes in and puts emission restrictions on everything.  These are the ones who left the party, and the consumer was forced more or less to leave the party.  But then again, as far as the present day, I believe it helped increase the value of these cars.  So...let the party continue!!!

[greenpigs]

Greenpigs, I'd argue points 1 and 4 are wrong.  If you check the numbers you'll soon find out that most 2nd gens were 318's as well.  They weren't offered with any more than the rest either other than the 440 six pack in 70 which the 71 also had.  As to 2nd gens being in the middle of the muscle car era, my friend, by 1970 everyone was going home from the party. 

  Well from memory they built 20,000+ 69 RT's out of a total 89,000 cars, did they make that many performance versions of the other two generations? That doesn't include the 383 magnum or the 383 2bbl and is what I mean by performance choices. If you added the 68 & 70 then I think more were made with a B or RB motor than the 318.  Sure plenty had a 318 and that may be why those are still around as the quicker versions paid the price for the added power.
  How many 3rd gens had a factory 383,400 or 440? The Hemis numbers are to small to matter on all generations .
The first gens production numbers were to low to be an issue.
  No chop busting just a little ribbing.

[hemihead]

I don't want a 2nd Gen.My first car was a 70 and I loved it but I don't want another just for the fact that they are becoming like the Camaro.
Everybody who wants an image or has to boost his ego has or wants one.

I think as far as leaving "the party"  it  was because of the so-called  "gas shortage"  that was happening  and all of that OPEC BS....Then the EPA comes in and puts emission restrictions on everything.  These are the ones who left the party, and the consumer was forced more or less to leave the party.  But then again, as far as the present day, I believe it helped increase the value of these cars.  So...let the party continue!!!

As far as the " Gas Shortage" and OPEC goes,I believe that didn't start until 1973.True muscle died about 1967, after that they just became a Fad.

[73chgrSE]

Who cares when the muscle era stopped! My sources say 64-73 was the muscle car decade. But you can make any car fast. As long as you have a car that you like the looks of it's all good. I've seen 84 omni's that would smoke any stock 2nd gen. Yeah thats right. There is a street legal 8 sec 3rd gen out there called the "Haze". Tell me that car's not fast. But that doesn't mean any were performance cars right of the showroom floor. Everyone, even 2nd gen guys,  modifys their cars to make them faster anyway. So quoting facorty #'s and 1/4 times is BS. Guys that own all orignal cars will never race you anyway.

[dkn1997]

People like 2nd gen chargers because if you buy one, it will get you laid and your penis will double in size.  You will also get a better job and your wife will lose 50lbs overnight.

[73chgrSE]

People like 2nd gen chargers because if you buy one, it will get you laid and your penis will double in size.  You will also get a better job and your wife will lose 50lbs overnight.

same thing happens when you buy a big truck.

[Chris G.]

I've seen 84 omni's that would smoke any stock 2nd gen. Yeah thats right.

Who cares? At the end of the day, he's still driving an Omni that I can guarantee nobody looks at, while I have a '70 Charger sitting in my garage. 

[73chgrSE]

I've seen 84 omni's that would smoke any stock 2nd gen. Yeah thats right.

Who cares? At the end of the day, he's still driving an Omni that I can guarantee nobody looks at, while I have a '70 Charger sitting in my garage. 

He wasn't just driving it he was racing it too and people were looking with their mouths open in disbelief.