The Dodge Challenger Swinger is truly the end of an era. Not only is it the end of the iconic Challenger, it’s the end of the classic muscle car genre as a whole. Eventually, the Challenger’s two-door Charger successor will appear, but it isn’t going to have a V8, and even if it somehow does, it won’t be this shining beacon on a hill of a motor. With 6.4-liters of American V8 fury making 485 rumbling horsepower under the hood, all controlled with your right foot and a beefy six-speed manual transition, the Challenger Swinger gave me an endless amount of enjoyment.
That much power in a bright green land yacht like this isn’t something that comes around every day, and I miss it all the time. It’s one of the few cars I’ve driven where I’ve tried to figure out if I can actually afford to own it. (I cannot.) I don’t care if it is endlessly inefficient, poorly put together or running on nearly 30-year-old architecture, the Challenger Swinger is incredibly charming, and that’s all you should really ask for in a car.
