Ever heard of a “one-hit wonder”? In popular culture, a one-hit-wonder is a band or musician that had one hit song. However, they never managed to repeat it and soon drifted off to obscurity. But this list is about those automotive one-hit wonders from the colorful world of muscle cars. These rare and interesting cars were available for only 12 months or less and never returned to the market.
To be perfectly honest, one-year song wonders are not exactly like one-hit car wonders. These cars are now highly sought-after pieces of car history, unlike those forgotten bands that can’t get a gig. So read on to learn some interesting facts about these special muscle cars that their fans want to come back.
40. Dodge Charger 500
Most muscle car fans know the Dodge Charger lineup well, including the Charger Daytona from 1969. But the Daytona’s predecessor, the Charger 500 was far less-known and not as successful. In the late ’60s, Dodge was desperate to race at NASCAR and the Charger was the perfect candidate. However, since NASCAR cars approached high speeds of almost 200 mph on newly-constructed superspeedway tracks, aerodynamics played a role in its performance.
The standard Charger with its deep grille and concave rear glass wasn’t aerodynamic. So despite its powerful engines and skilled drivers, it couldn’t achieve the speeds required for winning. Dodge decided to introduce their limited-edition Charger 500. They named the 500 because they only made that many of them. It came with a flushed grille, fixed headlights, and regular rear glass to improve the aerodynamics of the car. But then Dodge decided to go even further and presented the Daytona. The Daytona 500 came with two engines, a standard 440 and an optional 426 Hemi. Since the Daytona was more successful and interesting, everyone soon forgot about the Charger 500 except for hardcore Mopar fans.