Mopar fans still bristle at the thought of Steve McQueen's 390 Mustang besting that black440 Charger R/T. At least producers of the hit film Bullitt knew what they were doing when they cast the redesignedDodgeas McQueen's foil. The 1968 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi was a肌肉车with star quality.
Charger's new hidden-headlamp grille, curvy body, elegant recessed backlight, refined tail, and spare use of chrome represented a styling high point for '60s muscle cars. And in R/T form, its performance justified equal praise.
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For $3,506, the R/T came with the 375-bhp 440-cid four-barrelMagnumV-8, heavy-dutybrakes, R/T handling package, and F70Xl4tires. The rearbumblebeestripe could be left off, while inside, the original Charger's space-age interior gave way to less flashy, more functional decor.
The onlyengineoption was the mighty 426 Hemi, at $605. Chrysler strengthened it for '68, with a slightly longer-duration cam, new valve springs, and revisions that reducedoilconsumption. It was still underrated at 425 bhp, but asCar and Driver希奇,“只是没有更诚实horsepoweravailable off the showroom floor than you get from this bright orange monster."
Either engine could be hooked to a TorqueFlite automatic with a floor lever or a four-speed with a Hurst Competition-Plus shifter.Automaticwas the ticket for straight-line acceleration, and Hemi cars got a special high-stall-speedtorque converter(3.23:1gearswere standard). The driver could upshift at 6500 rpm, or let the TorqueFlite do it at 5500. In traffic, the Hemi could be driven like a docile small-block yet was more than half a second quicker and 10 mph faster in the quarter-mile than a 440 Charger.
The '68 model's new bucket seats lacked support, and its flying-buttress roof pillars reduced rear visibility. On R/Ts, handling was a nose-heavy chore, and such essential items as a tach, power-frontdisc brakes, and powersteeringwere options. Still, Charger sales increased sixfold over '67, leaving just one question: How would McQueen have done against a Hemi?
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