7. Dodge Magnum
The model name, “Magnum,” may sound familiar to you since Dodge used it in a successful line of station wagons. Although they produced it between 2005 and 2008, its production goes back to 1978. The original Dodge Magnum was a luxury muscle car coupe they produced for two years, 1978 and 1979. Back in the late 70’s, the American performance market was practically dead.
The insurance companies, as well as strict environmental and safety laws killed the muscle car culture. This meant any new cars had embarrassingly low power figures. The muscle car market wasn’t extinct. However, there weren’t any cars consumers could buy with performance numbers like in the late 60s.
As a prominent muscle car company, Dodge wanted to introduce a model with more power. However, they wanted to offer it in a luxury package to appeal to a wider audience. This is how they came up with the Dodge Magnum. It was a cool-looking coupe with all the right ingredients. They included rear-wheel drive, a long hood, a short deck and a thumping V8 in the front.
The biggest engine that consumers could order was a 5.9-liter V8 with 195 HP. That is diminutive by today`s standards, but back in 1979, this guaranteed respect. Unfortunately, high prices affected sales, so they discontinued the Dodge Magnum for the 1980 model year.