Ertl 1:18 1966 Dodge Charger

The Dodge Division was looking to create an upscale personal sports sedan in response to the success of the Barracuda and GM's Riviera and Toronado. Chrysler gave them the go ahead provided they did not directly compete with Plymouth. On a limited budget and therefore unable to create a new platform, their Coronet B-body was transformed into the Dodge Charger. This design evolved from the Charger concept cars and was introduced via TV commercial during the 1966 Rose Bowl game. Beyond the fastback roofline, Dodge raised the rear wheel openings and gave it a full width grill composed of slender vertical chromed bars with disappearing headlamps. The same continuous design theme was carried to the rear with its single six lamp taillight.

The interior sported four bucket seats and a full length center console. The rear buckets could be folded down providing storage space continuos with the trunk. The dash was reworked to house the gauges in four circular pods that included a 150mph speedometer and a 6000rpm tachometer. The standard engine was the venerable 318 and options included the 361, 383 and 426 Hemi. Engine badges were placed on the front fenders for the 383 and the Hemi.

RC2's Authentic series has produced a fairly definitive model of this landmark automobile at a midrange price point. Crisp body sculpting, great paint, fine pinstriping and brilliant chrome give the model quite a presence. The wheel well trim are sparate chromed pieces. The hubs of the 5 spoked wheels, as well as the grill and deck badging, are minutely rendered. The only disappointment on the exterior are the tampo'd engine badges, Pentastars and C-pillar Charger scripts. Those engine badges were pretty decent chunks of chromed potmetal on the original and visually separated the mean machines from the daily drivers on the opposite end of a parking lot. In this case, tampos just don't cut it. The model sits on generic redlines with finely modeled tread patterns.

The interior is top notch. All the hardware are separate chromed pieces. All the textures are perfect. The black-washed chrome-meshed glove box door is a perfect miniaturization. The doors are secured with spring actuated pins; the door sill moldings are delicately embossed. All four seats have cloth restraints with scaled metal hardware. Operating features include all four seats articulating in their proper actions and opening front and rear consoles.

The hood operates on accurate spring-actuated hinges providing the proper 3-dimensional path i.e. both sufficient horizontal as well as vertical motion. Plumbing and wiring are all there including the brakeline from the single unassisted master cylinder. A minor nitpick here is the plug wiring which consists of one molded piece to each bank making the wiring unrealistically stiff. The chassis is well done overall. The suspension is active and functions well. The driveshaft rotates with the rear wheels. The wheel wells have a nice texture simulating the noise deadening coating.

Overall, this is an outstanding model with significant bang for the buck. Not to beat a dead horse, but my fervent hope is that someone will produce an aftermarket set of photoetched badges and scripts for this model that would really complete the image.

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