Some cars leave a paper trail; the Dodge Charger left a name, a year — 1966 — and a place in Dodge's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it.
Where it came from
The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over eight generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. The Charger nameplate was applied to a special trim version of the 1965 Dodge Dart compact with 273 cu in (4.5 L) V8 engines. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. In the United States, the Charger nameplate has been used on mid-size cars, personal luxury coupes, subcompact hatchbacks, and full-size sedans.
In context
In the Dodge line-up the Dodge Charger has a clear place: the factory was Detroit. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Toyota Corolla, the Lamborghini Miura, the Alfa Romeo Spider. Nearby in the Dodge catalogue sit the Dodge 1500 and the 1955 Dodge.
Owning one today
Buying one now means $7,900–$32,600 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,299–$7,447 a year. Insurance sits around $1,150–$2,460 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.