Young Charger guy needs help!!

[Charger Steve]

I was in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 so can't say what the public reaction was when these cars were introduced but I could not wait to get back stateside to get one and I did. A 1968 in 1972 and I still have it 36 years later.

[CLONEDXS29]

One thing you gotta understand about back then with the charger vs roadrunner: A roadrunner was an ENTRY level musclecar, or to put it into a young mans terms, it was the neon srt-4 of its time. Quick, yes. Luxurious? NO. Most roadrunners(especially 68's) had no carpeting, just a rubber mat like a taxicab, manual brakes and steering, dog dish hubcaps with steel wheels, etc. These cars were built for a guy who wanted to ga fast but didnt have a lot of money to do it and didnt care about creature comforts. The charger was more like a GTX, aimed at the guy who had more money to spend to get some creature comforts like buckets, a rally dash, power brakes and steering. And thats not even mentioning the looks dept.

[Ghoste]

Another thing to consider is that the 68 restyle remained true to the original Charger inasmuch as it was still a two door personal car.  That is to say that it was stylish no matter the drivetrain and could be had with a mild or wild drivetrain.  The car looked like it was meant for no other name but "Charger".  It looked exciting no matter how it was optioned out.
The 06 was a four door family car upon which the name Charger was forced (not earned) because a marketing focus group determined that a large number of people asociated "Charger" with "Dodge" (well duh).  The styling and options became a lot more mainstream and family sedan oriented.  The perfromance could be had in spades but the cachet was missing.
All of that combined with the suits at DCX telling us how we were nothing but stupid dinosaurs if we refused to drink the Kool-Aid and go absolutely nuts about how this was the greatest Charger that ever was left the bulk of the enthusiast crowd ice cold.

[1969chargerrtse]

Well, being one of the few people on this board that actually bought a new '68 R/T in 1968, I can tell you a few things based upon actually having been there:
People just fell in love with the new body style, period.  One week after I saw the car advertised, I had one on order.  In R/T form (440) it would out perform most of the other muscle cars of the day (including 383 Road Runners) and look better doing it.  The non R/T cars still had the same appeal, appearance wise, and were just as at home taking people to an opera or kids to a baseball game.  I think they were named Motor Trends car of the year in '68.  The styling, as we all know, still knocks people out to this day.  The car just makes people smile.    Bob

This man says it all, he was there.  Best testimony yet to the times.  I remember the 66 and 67's being super cool as Elvis was driving one  in Speedway.  I also remember everyone in the neighbor hood seemed to own a 69, and for some odd reason most were green.