Interesting piece from carlustblog.com
I've gotta admit, having had both a 1970 and a 2009, I agree with what this guy says (I bolted a couple things for emphasis).
1970-1974 Dodge Challenger
by Chris Hafner on September 17, 2008
The new Dodge Challenger is an undeniably nice piece of equipment. With a stiff rear-wheel-drive platform and two powerful Hemi engines shared with the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and the late, lamented Dodge Magnum, the Challenger brings burly and belligerent American muscle to the performance car table. It is faster and more comfortable than the legendary original, and can actually change directions from time to time.
And yet ... and yet, it still doesn't hold a candle to the original.
Born in 1970 as Dodge's incredibly late entry to the pony car market dominated by the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, and populated by the Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Marlin, Pontiac Firebird, and Mercury Cougar, the Challenger made up for its lateness with raw power and what passed at the time for luxury.
The Camaro could be had with a big-block 396, and the Mustang sported the incredibly sweet 428 and 429 Cobra Jet engineshero engines all. With the Challenger, however, Dodge went nuclear. Sure, a customer could purchase a Challenger armed with Mopar's conventional weaponsvarious derivations of the 318, 340, 360, and 383 enginesbut the real news was the availability of the legendary 426 Hemi and the 440 Six Pack.
This sledgehammer thrust powered a car slightly larger and more luxurious than the Mustang and Camaro of the day, a car more comparable to Mercury's Mustang-based Cougar. The package was cloaked in some of the prettiest, most iconic American performance car styling of all time. Blunt and brutalyet somehow gracefulthe Challenger produced the visual horsepower to match the thunder under the hood.
In response to the Camaro Z/28 and Mustang Boss 302, Dodge released its own small-engined lightweight street Trans Am racersthe Challenger T/A. The T/A sported a unique six-barrel 340 V-8, an upgraded suspension, some interior upgrades, and a flat black hood. The T/A didn't handle as nicely as the Z/28 or Boss 302, the Trans Am race car wasn't particularly successful, and the small-displacement engine meant it wasn't as fast in a straight line as its big-block brothers, but its rarity has made it popular in the collector market.
The similar Plymouth Barracuda gets more play among enthusiasts, but to me, the Challenger's lovely looks put it in a class of its own among American cars of this era. Both in the 1970-1971 original and 1972-1974 "sad face" grille styles, and whether in full wild-color-and-stripe regalia or understated solid colors, the Challenger looked bad.
Unfortunately, Dodge's timing could not have been worse. The 1970 model year is widely considered the apex of the muscle car era; pollution standards, rising insurance rates, and gas shortages made big-engined performance cars rapidly extinct. Like every other muscle car and pony car, the Challenger's performance was rapidly eviscerated in the early 1970s, leaving behind a lot of show and very little go.
The new Challenger has the benefit of 38 years of technology, but it still can't touch the original's gravitas. Consider the glowering, threatening presence and the raw, viscera-scarring sound and potency of the Hemi or Six Pack. Sure, pavement-warping performance was central to the muscle car era, but intimidation was just as important. The original Challenger had intimidation in spades.
Purists will grit their teeth at this, but there was yet another Dodge Challengera rebadged Mitsubishi-made Plymouth Sapporo that graced the United States with its anonymous four-cylinder presence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I have a predictable soft spot in my heart for the Sapporo Challenger, but by any rational measure that car was an awful stain on the proud Challenger name.
Chris H.