Dodge Shelby Charger
As we said before, the L-Body Charger was a forgettable car that wasn’t especially popular or fast. But when Carroll Shelby, who was involved with Chrysler in those days, introduced the Shelby Charger, the car finally earned some respect (via Car and Driver).
Shelby’s recipe was simple. Turbocharge the existing 2.2-liter four-cylinder to deliver 175 hp, equip it with a close ratio five-speed manual gearbox, stiffen the suspension, and improve braking. All those changes turned the boring Charger into the Shelby Charger. It had some vivid performance and could outrun most production muscle cars of the period. The Shelby Charger was sold along with the regular models in Dodge dealerships. The last 1000 examples were bought by Shelby and turned into the Charger GHLS. The model was similar to the Shelby Omni GHLS built with the same engine and on the same platform.