By the 1970s, the original muscle car market in America was starting to slow down with rising environmental laws strangling the market. Interestingly enough, however, this was the time the Dodge Challenger was born. Dodge was a big player in the muscle car wars of the ’60s. But it never had a pony car model, like the Mustang, Camaro, or Barracuda. Their iconic line of Challengers quickly became just that.
It was a compact muscle car on an E-Body platform. The car boasted an exciting new design, a lineup of powerful engines, a great image, and strong performance. Even though it came out last, it was quickly a force in the segment. Unfortunately, the original Challenger was dead by 1975. Yet its legend never left muscle car fans. After a long wait, it was back in 2010. It remains one of the best cars in the segment since. Dodge will be discontinuing it again soon. So there’s no better time than rank all the greatest Challenger models in the storied history of the nameplate.
Dodge Challenger 340 Six-Pack
1970 featured several battles between car manufacturers in the Trans-Am Championship. At one point, almost all pony cars were included in the racing program. Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, Challengers, and Barracudas were chasing each other on tracks around America. To homologate Challengers for the Trans-Am, Dodge released a model called the 340 Six-Pack. It featured several modifications, a blacked-out hood, and a 340 V8 engine with 290 hp (via Motor Trend).
Experts said the car had close to 350 hp but it was rated less for insurance reasons. The Challenger 340 Six-Pack proved to be agile on the street. It could have been more successful on the race tracks. The 340 could accelerate to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds with its four-speed manual transmission.