To car fans, the name Mopar means a lot. In muscle car culture, Mopar was synonymous with two famous brands, Dodge and Plymouth. Mopar cars began in the dawn of the muscle age in the ‘50s, to the height of the muscle era in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and even beyond. Drivers still enjoy modern Mopar muscle cars like Chargers and Challengers powered by Hemi engines in the environmentally-cautious 21st century.
These Mopar muscle models helped create the muscle culture with iconic American engines like the famous 426 Hemi and 440 Magnum engines. They had numerous racing wins in NASCAR as well. And, of course, their unique and memorable designs and brave styling made them highly sought-after collector’s cars. Here are the 40 best Mopar muscle cars.
40. Dodge Magnum
The model Dodge named the Magnum may sound familiar to you. Dodge used it on a successful line of station wagons they produced from 2005 to 2008. However, it dates as far back as 1978. The original Dodge Magnum was a luxury muscle car coupe they produced for two years, in 1978 and 1979. Back in the late 1970s, the American performance market was practically dead. The insurance companies and environmental and safety laws killed the muscle car culture. So, the new cars of the day had embarrassingly low power figures. But the muscle car market wasn’t gone. There just weren’t any cars people could buy with performance numbers close to the models from the late 1960s.
As one of the prominent muscle car companies, Dodge knew that, so they tried to introduce a model that would have some power. They wanted to put it in a luxury package to appeal to a wider audience. And this is how the Dodge Magnum was born. For the period, it was a cool-looking coupe with all the right ingredients. It had a rear-wheel drive, a long hood, a short deck, and a thumping V8 in the front. The biggest engine customers could order was a 5.9-liter V8 with 195 HP. This is diminutive by today’s standards, but back in 1979, this guaranteed respect. Unfortunately, the high price didn’t help sales, so they discontinued the Dodge Magnum for the 1980 model year.