1970 Dodge Super Bee

The Super Bee was Dodge's budget priced muscle car in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Essentially a stripped-down version of the Coronet R/T, it was a slightly more upscale answer to Plymouth's Road Runner. The name was derived from the fact that, like the Coronet R/T and Charger, it was based on Mopar's midsize B-body platform.

While the Coronet R/T came with the four-barrel 440 Magnum as the standard engine, the cheaper Super Bee's base powerplant was the 383 Magnum. The hood badges on the Plum Crazy 1970 model in the photos indicate it has the 383, which had a 9.5:1 compression ratio and was rated at 335 gross horsepower. Transmission choices were the four-speed A833 manual or a Torqueflite 727 three-speed auto.

Car and Driver tested a 1969 Super Bee with a 383 Magnum, Torqueflite slushbox, and 3.55:1 limited slip rear end and recorded a 5.6 second zero-to-sixty blast, while a trip down the quarter mile took 14.04 seconds at 99.55 miles per hour. Price as tested was $3,858 on the fairly well-optioned test car (in addition to the limited slip rear and automatic, it had power front discs, power steering, styled steel wheels, and more), which is almost $34k in current dollars.

The one in the picture was photographed with a Hasselblad Lunar and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens outside of Trinidad, Colorado in October of 2016.

1996 Dodge Viper RT/10

For the 1996 model year, Dodge completely revamped its audacious V-10 powered Viper roadster. Despite having an entirely new frame and suspension underneath, the outsides looked broadly similar. 

The biggest external giveaway was the removal of the side pipes, which were replaced with a more conventional rear-exiting exhaust. Apparently the old exhaust setup ran afoul of both new European noise regulations as well as US OBD II requirements. The hood also featured a NACA duct style scoop fead center and exhaust vents on either side.

The car generally retained the rawness of the original, with a lack of fripperies like roll-up windows or external door handles.

Under the hood, the 488 cubic inch V-10 now produced 415 horsepower, which was enough to launch Car and Driver's test car to sixty in 4.1 seconds and blister the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds at 113 miles per hour. Top speed was measured at 173 miles per hour and it circled a skidpad at 0.97g.

As-tested price in 1996 was $66,045, which is about $135,500 in current money.

The Viper Red one in the photo was snapped in August of 2015 using a Nikon Coolpix P7000.

1969 Dodge Charger R/T

The second generation of Dodge's Charger muscle car arrived with the 1968 model year, sporting aggressive "Coke bottle" styling and dispensing with the large glass fastback in favor of a rear window inset between dramatic flying buttresses. Also new for '68 was the R/T performance trim level which came standard with the 440 cubic inch Magnum RB-block V-8.

Changes for 1969 were minimal. Most noticeably, a central chrome divider was added to the grille and the quad circular taillights were replaced by wide rectangular ones.

A '69 Charger R/T, like this Dark Bronze Metallic example, would have come standard with the base 440 cubic inch big block, which had a 4-barrel carburetor sucking air through an unsilenced air cleaner, squeezing it in 10.1:1 compression cylinders, and putting out 375 SAE gross horsepower. It could be had with a 4-on-the-floor manual or a three-speed Torqueflite 727 automatic. 

This one was photographed with a Nikon Coolpix S6500 in December of 2014.

1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340

The 1970 model year was the fourth one for the fourth generation of Dodge's compact Dart. For that year it got a light styling refresh, mostly to bring the front and rear styling closer to the then-current brand look.

The two basic trim levels were the budget Swinger, named to appeal to younger, hepper buyers, and the Custom which came with more standard equipment, like dual horns and deep-pile carpets. The Custom could also be ordered as a GT to get a floor shifter and bucket seats.

The budget performance option, though, was the Swinger 340.

While more pedestrian Darts could be had with 198- or 225-cube Slant Sixes or the redoubtable 318 cubic inch LA small block V-8, the Swinger 340, as the name implied, came only with Mopar's giant-killer 340 c.i.d. small block, ridiculously underrated at 275 SAE gross horsepower. Standard transmission was a three-speed manual with a floor shifter, or an optional four-speed manual or the rugged TorqueFlite automatic. Also stock on the Swinger 340 were an unsilenced high-flow air cleaner, a Rallye suspension with heavy-duty torsion bars and springs and a factory sway bar, as well as power front disc brakes.

 The SubLime paint, blacked-out hood, and hood pins were all extra cost options on this car. When Car and Driver tested a '69 Dart GTS with the 340, a four-speed, and the 3.91:1 rear end, it dashed to sixty in six seconds flat and polished off the quarter in 14.4 at 99 miles per hour.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D200 and an 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in June of 2014.

1973 Dodge Charger

The Charger began in 1966 as a sporty specialty vehicle at Dodge that was intended to split the difference between Ford's compact-based Mustang and the Thunderbird personal luxury coupe. It was a swoopy-looking four seat fastback coupe based on the midsize Coronet (so as not to steal sales from the Plymouth Barracuda) available with a wide range of performance and luxury options.

The second generation Chargers that appeared for 1968 put a heavier emphasis on sporty and toned down the plushness, but the third generation 1971 Chargers, with their bold new "fuselage" styling, veered back toward plushness and toned down the performance message, with lower emissions and greater safety and fuel economy becoming increasingly important. 

The third generation of Chargers received a mid-cycle refresh for the '73 model year, becoming wider and slightly taller. Long gone were performance models like the R/T and 500, as well as fire-breathing Street Hemis and Six-Packs. You could get a base Charger in regular coupe or hardtop form like the one in the picture. There was also the plush Charger SE and the slightly sportier Charger Rallye. One notable difference from the previous year is that in 1973 hidden headlights were no longer available, even as an option.

Base Chargers had either the 105-horsepower 225 cubic inch Slant Six or the 150hp 318 two-barrel LA V-8 as the standard engine, backed with either a three-speed manual or Torqueflite automatic transmission. Order a Rallye or SE and the 318 was the smallest engine available.

Optionally, buyers could order the 340 four-barrel small block, now de-tuned with 8.5:1 compression ratio and smaller valves, but still rated at 240 SAE net horsepower. There were also two- and four-barrel versions of the 400 cubic inch big block V-8, making 175 and 260 horses, or the 440 cubic inch four-barrel that put out 275 ponies. The '73 440 Magnum RB block was a shadow of its former glory, but it was about as badass a motor as you could get out of Detroit in the closing months of the Muscle Car Era.

Speed & Supercar magazine tested a 440-cube '73 Charger and managed a 14.8 quarter at 92mph, while Consumer Guide reported a 10.0 second zero-to-sixty time from a Charger test car with the two-barrel, single-exhaust 175 horsepower 400.

The hardtop in the picture has been repainted and has an aftermarket hood, so it may have begun life as a Rallye, but who knows? It was photographed with a Nikon D7100 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR zoom lens in June of 2022.

1971 Dodge Demon

A 1971 Dodge Demon in Go-Mango, featuring one of the great giant-slayer small blocks of the Muscle Car Era, Mopar's 340cid V-8.

The 340 was designed to be a drag strip terror from the jump off. Chrysler engineers started with the 318 cubic inch LA-series small block and bored the cylinders out to 4.04", which made it pretty over square relative to the 3.31" stroke. They gave it heads with enormous valves and ports, forged aluminum pistons, a shot-peened forged steel crank, and a racy cam. The single-4bbl version of the 340 had a 10.5:1 compression ratio and was ridiculously underrated at a claimed 275bhp SAE Gross horsepower.

How do we know it was underrated? Well, there are two big clues.

First of all, when you stuck it in one of these little A-body coupes and didn't weigh it down with a bunch of options, they were capable of flirting with legit high thirteen quarter mile times off the showroom floor...on bias ply street tires. That was normally the province of the more wild-eyed big blocks.

The other way we know that it was underrated was that in 1972 they went to heads with smaller ports and a lower 8.5:1 compression ratio for emissions and fuel economy reasons, and switched to SAE net horsepower ratings. Somehow this only resulted in a drop to 240 SAE net, indicating that the "275" number had probably been closer to the net output all along.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens in October of 2023.

2002 Dodge Intrepid

The second generation of Mopar's LH platform debuted for the 1998 model year. The whole "cab forward" look that had been so novel on the originals back in '93 was now pretty commonplace.

Sales lagged outside of fleet purchases and Daimler-Chrysler engaged in bean-counter driven cost-cutting for 2002, eliminating bunches of little features like courtesy lights and illumination for secondary switchgear in the control panel.

The fog lights would suggest that this is an Intrepid ES with either the base 200hp 2.7L DOHC 24V V-6 or possibly the beefier SOHC 3.5L V-6, rated at 234 SAE net horsepower.

Not many LH cars have survived into hooptie-dom, which is why I used my Sony a700 and 16-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens to snap this Champagne one in May of 2025.

1972 Dodge Dart Custom

The fourth generation of Dodge's Dart filled the compact niche for the automaker. It came in two wheelbase lengths: The 108" fastback Dart Sport & Demon coupes, and the longer 111" length which could be had as both a coupe or a sedan.

The Dart Custom sedan, like this Light Gold and Dark Green Metallic two-tone 1972 model, was as plush as a Dart could get (which admittedly wasn't very plush.)

The base motor for a '72 Custom was the 198 cubic inch Slant-Six, a de-stroked 225 which had a 1-barrel carburetor and was rated at 100 SAE net horsepower. Next up was the famed 225 Slant-Six itself, which made 110 horsepower. While it wasn't a big horsepower jump over the 198, the 225 also made 185 lb-ft of torque to the smaller motor's 160.

The top engine offering in the plushest Dart was the Mopar LA 318 V-8, which had a Carter 2-barrel carburetor & single exhaust pipe and put out 150 SAE net horses. All three motors could be had with a three-on-the-tree manual or a three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission.

The swankiest Dart would set you back $2,574 in 1972 dollars before you started checking option boxes, which comes out to a bit less than twenty grand in today's money.

This one was photographed in June of 2017 using a Leica D-Lux 3.

1984 Dodge 600

Here's an unusually rust-free '83-'84 Dodge 600 sedan.

The 600 was the next step up in the '80s Dodge sedan hierarchy from the Dodge Aries. It rode on what Mopar called the "E-platform", which was the K-car platform with the wheelbase stretched three inches. This longer platform was not only used for the 600, but also the higher-zoot Chrysler New Yorker.

The numerical model name and angular styling was meant to give the car a vibe as being "Euro" and "Sporty" but there was only so much you could do to disguise the pedestrian underpinnings. The marketing materials introduced the new-for-'83 Dodge 600 as "America's Midsize Driving Machine", although the experience of driving one was definitely more Buick than BMW.

Looking at the sample here, the bright chrome moldings everywhere tell us it's not the sportier ES (which stood for "Euro/Sport") version, which would have all the brightwork blacked out, and the lack of vents in the hood tell us it's not a turbo car. The Garnet Red paint tells us it's an '84 model as the only red available in the launch year was the much darker Crimson Red.

Since it's not a turbo, power... such as it is ...comes from either the standard 2.2L Mopar SOHC EFI four cylinder, rated at 99bhp, or the optional Mitsubishi G54B "Silent Shaft" 2.6L four cylinder, which put out 101bhp. While the Mitsu unit was rated at almost the same power, it put out 140 ft-lb of torque at 2800 RPM, versus the 2.2's 121 ft-lb at 3200. Available transmissions were either an utterly banal 3-speed automatic, or a five-speed with a vague and rubbery cable-operated shift linkage. Torque steer was included at no charge, but fortunately the general lack of torque held it down to a dull roar in the normally aspirated cars. Early 2.2L Turbo Mopars would lunge enthusiastically for the nearest ditch if you got on the boost hard at launch.

Car & Driver tested a 1983 Dodge 600ES with the 5-speed and carbureted 2.2L and it wheezed its way to sixty in 11.4 seconds and through the quarter in 18.1 at 73mph. Their testers summed up the Dodge experience thusly:

Not liked for its driving environment, despite excellent seats, control relationships, and visibility. Very poor shifting, universally disliked instrument panel and interior decor, buzzing vibrations prejudiced all drivers against this otherwise promising upgrade of the K-car. Comfortable back seat, commodious trunk, but seems to lack tight fit and finish essential for quality "feel."

The one in the photo was snapped in February of 2017 using a Leica D-LUX 3.

1986 Dodge Omni

When Volkswagen's Golf hit U.S. showrooms as the Rabbit in the mid-'70s, it caused quite a stir. Coming on the heels of the '73 Oil Crisis, the front wheel drive subcompact seemed ultramodern, especially compared to the domestic competition.

Chevrolet and Ford had the Chevette and Pinto, both rear wheel drive cars powered by old-tech pushrod motors. Mopar didn't even have its own subcompact, selling a re-badged RWD Mitsubishi Lancer as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Arrow.

Chrysler huddled with its European subsidiaries and released a little two-box front wheel drive compact of its own for 1978, beating FoMoCo and GM to the punch. Sold in Europe as the Simca Horizon and in the UK as the Talbot Horizon, it was sold in the USA as the Dodge Omni and the Plymouth Horizon.

The Euro cars used little Simca-sourced motors deemed not potent enough for the US market, so the first Omnis sold here had 1.7L OHC inline fours bought from VW and fitted with Chrysler intake systems.

For the '81 model year, Chrysler's new 2.2L SOHC four cylinder, ubiquitous across the K-car lineup, became an optional motor in the Omni and Horizon. By 1986, the 2.2L in this Crimson Red Omni would have seen its 2bbl carb replaced by throttle body fuel injection, giving it a rated output of 93 SAE net horsepower. With a five-speed manual this would have given zero-to-sixty times around ten seconds flat and a quarter in the mid-seventeens. Not scintillating, but enough to merge in traffic without white knuckles.

Best of all, an '86 Omni started out at a mere $6,209, less than eighteen grand in today's coin, and came with a then-exceptional 5-year/50,000-mile powertrain warranty.

This one was photographed in October of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.

1951 Dodge Meadowbrook

While the '46-'48 Dodges were mostly prewar Dodge D-22's with a light cosmetic makeover, 1949 saw the first true postwar lineup from Dodge.

You could get your '49 Dodge in one of three flavors. Lowest on the totem pole was the stripped-down Wayfarer, only available as a two-door coupe, business coupe, or roadster, all on a shortened 115" wheelbase. The top of the line model was the Coronet, which came in the whole array of coupe, sedan, convertible, and wagon styles.

In the middle was the Meadowbrook, which only came as a 123.5"-wheelbase pillared sedan. They were fairly popular, moving ~90,000 units and accounting for nearly a third of the marque's sales that year.

For 1951, the Meadowbrook received an entirely new, more modern-looking front end. Due to Detroit's production being focused on vehicles for the Korean War, the '51 and '52 models were pretty much identical.

Under the hood could be found Dodge's "Get-Away" flathead inline six. It displaced 230 cubic inches and, breathing through a single Stromberg carb, was rated at 103 SAE gross horsepower. 

The only transmission choice was Dodge's Gyro-Matic, which was just the Dodge brand name for Chrysler's Fluid-Drive. Not a true automatic, it was a 3-speed manual with a torque converter. The clutch and column mounted shift lever were needed to select among the gears, but you could come to a full stop and start off again without having to use the clutch.

The upper three photos were taken in August of 2021 using a Hasselblad Lunar and Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* 16-70mm f/4 OSS zoom lens, while the one below was snapped with a Nikon 1 V2 and 1 Nikkor 18.5mm f/1.8 lens.

1964 Dodge Dart 270

Dodge has gotten a lot of mileage out of the "Dart" moniker over the years, and not just figuratively. They introduced the Dart name in 1960 for a newer, slightly-smaller Dodge model based on a Plymouth that would fill out the catalog with something cheaper to buy and thriftier to drive than the full-sized Matador and Polara models.

After a quirky-looking second generation that only lasted for one model year, 1962, a new downsized third generation of Dart debuted as something called a "senior compact", a name meant to reflect a car that was slightly larger and roomier than the '61-'62 Valiant/Lancer Mopar compacts, but thriftier than the full-size cars.

Unlike the Valiant/Lancers, the new-for-'63 Dart models rode on a 111" wheelbase, which was a four-and-half inch stretch over the earlier car. While 111" was indeed compact by the standards of early Sixties Detroit, where full-size behemoths like the Dodge 880 rolled on wheelbases nearly a full foot longer, by the time the Dart was discontinued after the '76 model year, it was feeling distinctly mid-sized.

Originally introduced with your choice of Slant-Six motors in 170cid displacement with 101 SAE gross horsepower or the classic 225 cubic inch version rated at 145 gross bhp, an all new engine was added for 1964.

If the fender badges on this super-straight Ivory 1964 Dodge Dart 270 sedan aren't fibbing, it has the brand-new-for-'64 273 cubic inch V-8. With a 2-barrel Carter carb, 8.8:1 compression, solid lifters, and a single exhaust, the 273 was rated at 180 SAE gross horsepower and gave a noticeable performance bump in these relatively smaller, lighter cars over the regular six cylinder mill.

The 273 was the first in a long line of what were dubbed Chrysler's "LA" series of small blocks. It was produced in 318, 340, and 360 versions and eventually morphed into the fuel-injected 5.2L and 5.9L Magnum V-8's of the Nineties, powering a host of Mopar trucks. It also served as the basis for the 8.0L V-10, which was basically a 360 with a couple extra cylinders.

While the '64 Dart was the first year of the new LA V-8, it was also the last model year of a quirky old Mopar artifact, the pushbutton gear selector. If this car has a three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission, then rather than having a conventional lever on the floor or column, it has a set of pushbuttons to the left of the wheel.

This example was photographed using a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens in July of 2023.

1969 Dodge Super Bee

When John DeLorean at Pontiac stuffed the big 389 cubic inch V-8 from the full-size Bonneville and Grand Prix into the midsized Tempest LeMans to create the 1964 GTO, it kicked off the whole muscle car fad in Detroit.

Over at Mopar, big blocks went into sportily-styled midsize B-body variants to create cars like the 1966 Dodge Charger and the 1967 Plymouth GTX, but these were not inexpensive rides.

Plymouth came up with the idea for a budget-priced factory hot rod in the form of the 1968 Road Runner model, which came with a split-bench front seat, rubber floormats, plain steel wheels, and a cool "Beep! Beep!" horn, and Dodge wanted some of that action, so they launched the Super Bee in the same model year.

Since Dodge was more upmarket than Plymouth, you got a Hurst shifter with your four-on-the-floor gearbox and the Super Bee logos on the nose and tail were 3D metal badges and not just decals, but otherwise it was the same bare-knuckles street brawler as the Road Runner, available with either a 335-horsepower version of the 383 Magnum V-8, or a 425bhp 426 Street Hemi.

For 1969, a third powertrain option was added, and that's the one in the pictured car; a '69 Super Bee in Hemi Orange.

It was a version of the 440 cubic inch big block V-8 with three two-barrel carburetors and a host of go-fast bits. Dubbed the "440 Six Pack", it was hilariously underrated at a claimed 390 SAE gross horsepower and featured a fiberglass hood with a massive functional cold air intake and a hood pin at each corner. There were no hinges; if you wanted to check the oil at the local Sunoco station, you'd better have brought a buddy to help lift the thing clear.

Part of an "A12" package, along with the Six Pack motor you got a Dana 60 rear end with 4.10:1 gears, heavy duty suspension, and 11-inch drums at all four corners, and either a Torqueflite 727 automatic or an A833 four-speed. The rear leaf springs had seven leaves on the right side (five full ones and two half-leaves) and six on the left, to control spring windup and wheel hop. It was basically a turn-key dragstrip warrior.

The base price of a Super Bee was $3,138 and the A12 package added another $463. Add on power brakes, the Torqueflite auto, and SureGrip differential, and that brought the total to $4410, or about $37,800 in 2024 money. Not as cheap as the base 383, but still about four hundo less than a Hemi Super Bee. And it'd run darn near heads-up with that Hemi, too: Car Life recorded a 6.3 zero-to-sixty and a 13.8 second quarter at 104.2 mph.

As you can tell from the disparity in 0-60 and quarter mile times, the Six Pack 'Bee was traction-limited. Even with the super-chonky-for-the-time G70-15 tires, you had to baby it out of the hole with some finesse to keep the bias ply Goodyears from going up in a blaze of white smoke.

Dodge sold 1,907 A12 Super Bees that first year and all but 420 were hardtop coupes, making the pillared two-door car in the photos super rare.

It was photographed in May of 2024 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark III and EF 24-105mm f/4L zoom lens.

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.

1947 Dodge DeLuxe

I'm calling this a 1947, but pinning an exact date on it is hard. Dodge was slow in getting new models in the showroom in the immediate postwar years and the '46-'48 Dodges were only slightly cosmetically refreshed versions of the prewar D22-series Dodges, and didn't differ externally from year to year. There was really no need to, since pent-up civilian demand made it a seller's market.

The lower trim level was the DeLuxe, like this Air Cruiser Red 4-door sedan, and the higher-zoot variant was the Custom. From the outside the only easily distinguishable difference was that the Custom had chrome trim around the windows.

Under the hood was Dodge's staid 102 horsepower 230 cubic inch inline six flathead motor. Buyers could get either a 3-speed manual gearbox standard, or upgrade to a Chrysler "Fluid Drive", which inserted a viscous coupling between the standard clutch and the crank, where the flywheel would normally reside. The driver still had to use the clutch to select gears manually, but there was no need to use it when stopping and starting, which simplified urban driving. 

This one was photographed with a Nikon Coolpix S6500 in July of 2014.