“A Dodge Charger? A piece of sculpture? What the hell kind of individual artistic statement can that be when 50,000 people a year make the same statement?
Besides, you’ve got to admit that an objet d’art created by a guy with a name like Gallo, or Toler, or Quasar (who everybody knows works in a vital environment like Ibiza or Johnson’s Pasture, or St. Tropez) has a bit more of a cachet than anything Bill Brownlie can slap together out of modeler’s clay in gay, romantic Hamtramck, Michigan.
But that does not alter the fact that Brownlie and his associates at Dodge have come up with the best-styled new car for 1971. Or that Dodge, not Georg Jensen, is selling it. Dodge? The company that gave the world such exquisite creations as the original Charger — a tribute to the ever-popular Rambler Marlin; the station wagon that has a rear silhouette like a drain culvert, and has pursued the evolution of the neo-DeSoto design school with the fervor that only graduates of such an academy could muster.
But even before the ’71 Charger there have been signs that someone in Dodge Division was doing more than mimicking whatever trend the GM Styling Center was into. The second generation Charger was the first significant departure. It was so far out of the Detroit styling mainstream that it remained unique throughout its three-year model run despite its public acceptance — which, in light of Detroit’s copycat styling syndrome means it was radical. And, it turns out that Brownlie was also responsible for that car with its high, wide hipline and small tunnelroof greenhouse.”
— Car and Driver magazine (1971)
RE:SOURCES
- Car and Driver; 1971. “1971 Dodge Charger SE: By far and away it’s 1971’s best styled new car.” Published March 1.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES
- oldcaradvertising.com: Dodge Charger (1971)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Dodge Charger (1971)
The 1971-1974 Dodge Charger was / is an exciting car, different enough from its Plymouth stablemates. In retrospect, I wish I had put a Dodge in my garage between 1971 and 1974.
I’ve always liked the 1971-72 Dodge and Plymouth intermediate coupes. The big problem – aside from Chrysler Corporations’ growing issues with build and materials quality – was that they debuted with ultra-swoopy styling just as the market was turning to the formal look.
GM showed the way with the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix, and 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
Pin-headed roof, too much front overhang, derivative tail lights, Pontiac front end, the profile of a banana.
Tiny interior, big fat body.
These were silly looking when they came out and still are.
It wasn’t artsy enough! A ’73 Charger SE with hidden headlights, fender skirts, 15″ wheels, elegant wheel covers and a clean exterior devoid of trim and vinyl would have been a welcome addition to the Dodge line-up for ’71. Coronet with these items would have been impactful too. Anti-Brougham Engel Luxury.