1966 Dodge Charger

Here's something you don't see too often: A 1966 Dodge Charger just out and about in public. Totally coincidentally, a dude I know knows the person who just sold it, and says it's a 440cid 4-speed car.

The electroluminescent dash illumination in these things was wild and was super science fiction-y for the era.

That huge rear window slope caused problems with lift at NASCAR speeds, and so Dodge quickly got a spoiler offered as a factory option to homologate it for racing, making the Charger the first domestic car offered with a decklid spoiler available from the factory.

Car and Driver tested a 1966 Charger back when they were brand new. The test car was a 383cid car with the 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic and a 3.23:1 rear end, with a sticker price of $3,471.83 FOB Detroit. It managed a 7.8 second zero-to-sixty run and a 16.2 second quarter mile at 88mph. Given the final drive ratio and the bias ply tires, that sounds about right, especially since the 4-bbl 383 big block, even with the 10:1 compression ratio, probably made something like 250bhp or less in modern SAE Net terms and had to push nearly two tons of car. C/D estimated top speed at 120mph.

Knowing this car has a 440 and a 4-speed, and looking at those subtly widened rear rims, I'd bet it's a lot quicker than that.