1973 Dodge Challenger rallye review from North America
"Great fun"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Radiator, hoses. belts, engine rebuild twice. rear leaf springs, distributor, thermostat & housing. fan in front of radiator twice.etc.etc.
General comments?
I bought this vehicle in 1986 from a dodge dealer, this was one of the workers cars and they done a few things to it. They replaced timing chain, vinyl roof, and paint & body. It had a low positraction rear end. Top speed 103 mph on flat ground,106 mph down hill. It had a slapstick auto trans and the rear windows rolled down. Metal flake blue with the Rallye package. Chrysler never improved the outer door handles. They were pot metal and could break in freezing weather. And they would. Basically I bought this car with way too many miles on it as a daily driver and it was a money pit! Gas mileage was 13-14 highway, less in town. Oh it was a pretty car and quick off the line. Back in 1986-87-88-89-90 you could walk away from a lot of cars off the line and the highway. Except for the 1986-87 Buick Gran nationals I encountered. And the Corvettes. Those Buicks must of had a top end way over my 103 mph. A lot of girls would honk at me in my Challenger and people would leave notes on it, wanting to buy. People scary people would mess with me on the highway at night, either riding my tail with they, re brights on for miles, and an older couple in an import that tried to run me off the road for reasons to this day I wonder about. In both of those situations (just 3 situations 1 other too) I was merely slowly out accelerating them to change lanes. I was not doing the "kowalski" thing at all, like in the movie "vanishing point" I didn't even floor it. It was a fun car, but I sold it and bought a low profile sedan. I kept a radar detector because oh yeah police would occasionally follow the muscle car. It was a lot of fun and stress and money for 4 years. So enough was enough. The car cornered good with the 340.,and front disc brakes.1973 first year for electronic ignition. The Challengers sat lower than the Cudas even. Twice in 4 years I was followed home (I worked 32 miles away at the time) so I would lose the person by driving aimlessly in circles some where. And again these people that followed me may have innocently just wanted to look at and buy the Challenger, who knows? I kept an alarm system on it though.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| Model Year | 1973 |
| First year of ownership | 1986 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 1990 |
| Engine and transmission | 340 c.i. Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8/10 |
| Reliability marks | 5/10 |
| Comfort marks | 6/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 9/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 170000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 240000 miles |
| Previous car | Dodge Monaco |
| Date of Entry | 20th August, 2006 |

