Editor’s Note: The decade of the 1960s is considered by many to be the greatest in American automotive history. There’s little mystery why. The 1960s gave birth to the “muscle car wars” and game-changing performance pony cars. Legends like the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, HEMI-powered Mopars, and several others. How does one choose which is best? Controversially, we’re guessing. That’s why you’re taking some of the heat, too. We sync’d up with our friends on Summit Racing’s social media team to put the question out to their Facebook and Instagram audiences: What is the top car of the 1960s? The countdown to #1 continues.
We’re not sure what was in that Detroit, MI water in 1969, but we want to drink some.
Your #2 pick for Top Car of the 1960s list is the vaunted 1969 Dodge Charger R/T.
The R/T was the baddest and sportiest ’69 Charger available, but it took some time for it to enter the scene. When Dodge released the 1969 Charger, it released a 225 cubic-inch Slant Six version, and the meatier 318 cubic-inch V8 (a much more popular option).
Then Dodge unleashed a couple of midyear Scat Pack offerings to the delight of performance enthusiasts for the rest of time: the Coronet Super Bee and the now-legendary Dodge Charger R/T. The R/T was powered by the Magnum 440 cubic-inch, four-barrel carbureted V8, and made 375 horsepower. The car featured a TorqueFlite automatic transmission, a heavy-duty braking system, and dual exhaust with chrome tips.
Of course, much of the reverence muscle car enthusiasts pay the ’69 Charger can be traced to its time as the General Lee driven by Bo and Luke Duke in the wildly popular “Dukes of Hazzard” television series.
According to The Illustrated Directory of Muscle Cars, the TV show’s producers wrecked more than 1,500 Chargers filming stunts for that show, which is probably a world record for doing something so simultaneously horrible AND awesome that many times.
If they wrecked 1500 of those cars, the producers should be put in a guillotine for 24 hours and at their expense supply bushels of rotten apples. Then the general public should be charged 15 cents to throw a rotten apple at their fugly faces. The money goes to Disabled Vets and Toys for Tots or some deserving organization.
The Dukes of Hazard suck! What they did to that car was criminal. Wreck a bunch of Mustangs. There’s plenty of those around. Can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one.
PS I like the suggestion of Mr. Jaworski, especially the part with the guillotine…
I’ll hear people say how my beautiful B5 Blue car would look better painted orange with an 01 on the side. That color is HIDEOUS on that car. Then there are the boneheads who take a really nice car like that and make it in to a General “Barf” Lee. Waste of a really nice car. (Tan interior with orange paint…pass the barf bags.)