The reason the Challenger is so well thought of as a muscle car from the 70s (Cuda included) is it came with a big block that was easily accessable. They designed it to fit in the E-body pony cars. COPO Camaros were rare as were Yenkos. Big block Mustangs were rare and a pain in the butt to do the simplest of tune ups on. The R/T Challenger had a choice of big blocks 383, 440 and 6-packs and if you dared 426 King Kong motor. But as few as they made of Challengers and Cudas there were more big blocks available in these machines. If you were a Chevy guy you would need a Chevelle or bigger to get one. Ford guy... try Torino or Fairlane. The 302s and 350 Camaros were no match for a big block Challenger. Mustangs with 302s and 351s could not compete with the big blocks of the e-bodies. There is nothing wrong with the engines that Ford and GM put into their pony cars, they were legendary. But stock small block pony cars could not out drag the stock big blocks that the E cars had. And the big block Camaros and Mustangs were far and few between. More likely to be seen on the big boulivards than on any street USA. It was the best of times and the bestest of times
