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Dodge Charger is a horse?

Started by 7212Mopar, June 24, 2025, 07:19:59 PM

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7212Mopar

Ok. Not an E Body post. Need some help.

I recently got into some heated debates on the meaning of the name on the Dodge Charger. The people I am debating said it means a war horse. A quick Google search and sure enough that in the medieval times, a cavalry battle trained horse is call a charger,  :huh: . I did skipped a few classes back in high school and I never in my mind have made the connection between a Dodge Charger with a horse, pony, donkey or whatever. To me that was always a thing between Ford and Ferrari. I was unable to find any supporting info on Dodge's original intention in naming the car back in the 60s. Anyone knows? Your B Body buddies?
1973 Challenger Rallye, 416 AT
2012 Challenger SRT8 6 speed Yellow Jacket

MoparLeo

AI Overview
The History of the Dodge Charger - Generations, Timeline ...
The Dodge Charger's name was inspired by the Dodge Charger, a type of racing horse, reflecting its performance-oriented design. The name evokes a sense of speed and power, aligning with the vehicle's intended character. Dodge also had a broader theme of using names associated with medieval feudalism and nobility, which included names like Coronet, Royal, and Challenger.
moparleo@hotmail.com  For professionally rebuilt door hinges...

HP2

Hmm. I guess I can see that given those names, but not sure if that was a deliberate process. Certainly could have been though.

I always thought it was a derivative from the Ramchargers club that drug Chrysler into the performance automative world in the late 50s with the roll out of the High and Mighty car. Ramchargers became the dominate drag race team of the early 60s and Dodge decided to capitalize on that success with a 1964 design study titled "Charger".  After the success of the Mustang, Mopar decided they needed a full size performance car to appeal to a slightly older age bracket than pony cars, so the Charger name was lifted from the design study and applied to a Mopar interpretation of the AMC Marlin that became the new B body, fastback Dodge design.

Background on Ramchargers and some very key marketing details that could have influenced the Charger name, read more here: https://www.ramchargers.com/index.php/history


7212Mopar

Thanks guys. In the absence of further discovery, I like HP2's post. May be there is a Dodge historian out there that know exactly what the intention was.
1973 Challenger Rallye, 416 AT
2012 Challenger SRT8 6 speed Yellow Jacket


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