1969 Dodge Charger 426 Muscle Car / Specs and History

The 1969 Dodge Charger was a popular muscle car that, like many, was packed with power during the last years before federal emission regulations put a damper on horsepower. Many consider the Dodge Charger a response to the fastback fad started by the Mustang and the Barracuda. Muscle cars came in many shapes and sizes and the Charger was one of the most popular. 

69 Dodge Charger 426

The First Dodge Charger and the Muscle Car Era of the 60's

The first Dodge Charger appeared on the scene with the 1964 model year. The car came with a 426 cubic inch Wedge engine.  The Max Wedge was a race-only version of the 426 Wedge engine offered from the factory.  Chrysler's 426 Wedge engine served as their performance engine until the the 426 Hemi was introduced. Dodge muscle cars made a name for themselves at drag strips across America. Chargers showed well at the NASCAR super speedways and had good performances on the street. 

The 1960's represented a great decade for Detroit automakers. The 1950's produced many unique design changes, tail fins being just one example, and created many notable and iconic vehicles, particularly during the latter years. During the 1960's it was an entirely different era in Detroit. It was an era described best as... "just about anything goes".  The pony cars and muscle cars of the last half of the 60's pretty much defined that decade. The muscle car fight between the Detroit automakers, GM, Chrysler, Ford and AMC, defined  a good part of the late 60's. GM had their Camaro, Ford had their Mustang, Chrysler had their Dodge Charger and AMC stepped forward with their Javelin. 

As far as speed and power went, there really wasn't any finish line, that is, until the insurance companies and eventually the federal emission regulations reared their heads.  

Muscle car large hood

The 1969 Dodge Charger

The 69 Dodge Charger had a new grille and tail light design. The car had the sporty fastback look that Charger was noted for. Dodge unveiled  a new optional Special Edition decor group for Charger and Charger R/T. 

The 1969 Dodge Charger's standard engine was the 318 cubic inch V-8. Optional engines included the 383 cubic inch two barrel V8, the 426 Hemi, and the 440 Magnum. Quite a choice. Chrysler produced three generation of hemi engines. The first were produced from 1951 to 1958. The second group from 1964 to 1971 and the third generation was introduced in 2003. 


The 440 cubic inch engine was offered from 1967 to 1971. The high performance 440 Magnum delivered 375 horsepower. Zero to 60 ratings on the 426 were 6.0 seconds. For the 440 it was 6.1 seconds.

Three transmissions were available in 1969. These included a three speed manual, a four speed manual and a Torqueflite automatic.The automatic was standard on the R/T model.

Brakes were four wheel drum however front disc brakes were an option.

The 1969 Dodge Charger had a wheelbase of 117.0 inches.

You may enjoy additional car articles on our AutoMuseumOnline website found on the links below...

The First Chevy Corvette

1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster 

1967 Chevy Camaro Convertible / 355 Delivering 330 Horsepower

On Muscle Car Journal see the 1968 Chevy Nova Muscle Car

Dodge Charger's fastback type design

1960's Dodge Chargers Today

Some say that the muscle cars of the 1960's represented the last of the collectible cars. If you're looking for a fully restored Dodge Charger muscle car be prepared to pay. These power automobiles are in demand. 

As of this writing, frame off fully restored 1969 Dodge Chargers can have asking prices in the $50,000 to $70,000 range. If you're looking for a late 60's Dodge Charger project car you might be asked for $10,000 to $12,000. Some older restorations with wear showing might be found in the mid $20,000 range. 

We have also seen a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T with a 440 Magnum engine for sale with an asking price of $52,000. 

Our references and some excellent books you may want to read include...Charger Muscle Portfolio 1966-1974 by author R.M. Clarke..... Supercars : The Story of the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Super Bird by author Frank Moriarty.

(Article and photos copyright Muscle Car Journal) 

1958 MGA Le Mans

The car featured in this article is a 1958 MGA Le Mans. The MGA dates back to 1951. The MGA was a replacement for the MG TF 1500 Midget and there was significant restyling. The MGA is a sports car built by the MG-division of the British Motor Corporation from 1955-1962.

Customized 58 MGA Le Mans

A Car Needing a Redesign 

MG's Syd Enever, head designer at MG, did a redesign by penning an aerodynamic body on  the MG TF for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The MG TF body harked back to the era of the early 1930's.

After the 1951 Le Mans the redesign project however was put on hold until 1955. British Motor Corporation was in a quandary over the fact that the Austin-Healey 100 ( from BMC) came out as a modern looking sports car. Management didn't feel the need to produce two new sports cars so they continued to build the MG TD. The decision proved wrong in as much as the TD sales figures declined significantly forcing management to reverse it's decision. The problem however was that the new design as not totally complete and in the meantime an updated substitute of the MG TF was introduced until the new MGA design was complete.

MGA Racing

In 1955 MG put together three prototype aluminum bodies to run in that year's Le Mans. The cars were modified as such for racing such as having the bumpers removed to take off weight. The results were not too shabby with two of the racers coming in at fifth and sixth place in their respective classes. Later that year two of the MGA racers were on the show circuit. Le Mans that year not only served to introduce the MGA but also marked the point where MG returned to racing.

1958 MGA Le Mans dashboard

Over the years their have been large modifications to MGA racers.

One had a center placed steering wheel. Other modifications included Chevy V-6 engines, a 2 liter Ferrari engine, a widened body and frame to accommodate a V-8 engine, and an open wheel one seater,  In 1966 a dragster MGA was built by adding a big block Chevy engine with a GMC blower. More recently a MGA dragster was built with a 406cubic inch small block Chevy.

The 1958 MGA

In 1958 MGA's 1500 were offered to buyers in both a roadster and coupe version. These automobiles had a lot of differences with the earlier models. For one, the coupe version actually had glass windows you could roll up or down. For another, the roadster version came with a removable hard top. The first hardtops were aluminum followed up later with fiberglass. Today, you can run into both original fiberglass hardtops in addition to aftermarket units.

The engine for both of these cars was a 1498 cc inline four cylinder putting out 72 horsepower.

Beginning in 1959 the MGA's sported a larger 1660 engine. Exact displacement was 1588 cc. Also on the scene came the MGA Twin-Cam 1588cc four cylinder engine.

This customized MGA Le Mans racer shown here has a four speed manual transmission.

You may also enjoy the articles on our AutoMuseumOnline site from the links below...

A True Muscle Car / The 1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk

The 1968 Oldsmobile 442 Muscle Car  

A Good Looking 1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Buying an MGA and Car Clubs

Rear view of the 58 MGA customized Le Mans

Two good rules to adhere to if you're looking to purchase an MGA. Don't buy the car simply off of photos. Make every effort to inspect the vehicle yourself or hire a mechanic to do it.

The second rule would be that if you can, join an MG car club. Like with any active automobile club, you'll be able to get some good tips from it's members including things to watch out for.

You'll find MGA clubs all around the country. A partial list includes...




Mid Atlantic MGA

Chicago Area MGA Club

North American MGA Car Club

MGA Owners Club of Northern California

Southern California MG Club

Value of MGA's and MGA Racers

As mentioned above, racing modifications to MGA racers, dragsters, road rally vehicles, etc can and do vary widely. Because of this asking prices for MGA racers also vary widely. In addition, there are a good many MGA replicas on the market. It also must be noted that it's believed that only five original 1955 MGA Le mans cars are still in existence.

As of this writing there is a 1960 MGA 1500 Le Mans replica with an asking price of $15,500.  A 1957 MGA Roadster asking $11,000.   An original 1959 MGA Roadster with 139,000 miles asking $14,000.

Reference and an excellent book about the MGA is...The MGA by author John Price Williams.Another very interesting book is about the crash as Le Mans in 1955 which negatively affected auto racing, at least for several years. It's a good story of how the automakers who depended on racing dealt with the tragedy. The book is titled...Le mans 55 : The Crash That Changed the Face of Auto Racing by author Christopher Hilton.

(Article and photos copyright Muscle Car Journal)

A 1949 Anglia Custom Racer

Ford Motor Company brought out the Anglia model in late 1939. This was a car designed and produced by Ford in the United Kingdom. The Ford Anglia was an economical vehicle with few appointments.

It was an automobile that was meant for the low cost end of the market. The Anglia was a model that was the basis for other models and lasted for some twenty years. All Anglia's were styled with a two door, four seater saloon body that was usually if not always finished in the Ford black paint.

The car featured in this article is a 1949 Anglia Custom Racer. It's often been stated that every Ford Anglia imported into the U.S. ended up as a hot rod. There's some truth to this however we also have seen a few non racers. The small automobile without all the bells and whistles and very light weight is really ideal to modify into a dragster.

It was 1948 that Ford began importing the Anglia's into the U.S.and Canada. Though Anglia production technically ceased in 1953, the nearly identical Ford Popular 103E picked up where the E494A left off and continued another six years until 1959.

Specifications for the 1949  Ford Anglia Racer in this article is as follows...


Small block 350 cubic inch Chevy engine

365 Horsepower

350 Automatic Transmission

Holly 4 Barrel Carburetor

Edelbrock Intake manifold

Oversized Hot Rod Aluminum Radiator

Four Wheel Disc Brakes

Chrome Jaguar Rear End with Traction Bars

Anglia Racers Early Days

Others have said that if all these Anglia's weren't  modified into hot rods there might not have been too many of them still around today. The hot rodding with the Anglia really started in the mid 1960's. The gasser peak for the Anglia lasted from then to the mid 1970's. Starting in the late 70's the Anglia became populat as a street rod.

From the time that the Ford Anglia, Prefect and Thames were imported in 1948 until the end of 1953, these automobiles became the most sought after small cars ever to hit the drag strip. That being said, the projected sales figures for the U.S. and Canada came up far short. Buyers at that time seemed to prefer a larger and flashier car. As a result, dealers dropped their prices significantly, in some cases up to 30%.

In 1961 there were rules in place by the National Hot Rod Association that essentially disqualified the Ford Anglia from racing. Among two rules were that the car had to have a body manufactured in America. The second rule was that a racer was to have a wheelbase of 94 inches minimum. In 1963 the rules were changed significantly. Foreign automobiles would be allowed to compete in NHRA events and the cars could compete in the gasser classes even with a wheelbase under 94 inches. Good news for the Anglia since it's wheelbase was 90.0 inches. With these NHRA rule changes the popularity of these small foreign cars, such as Ford Anglia's, surged.

Articles on our AutoMuseumOnline website that you may enjoy are on the links below...

The Very First Auto Race

Racing Model T's 

Big Oly / Legend of the Baja 1000


It didn't take long for some people to look at the Anglia and note it's racing potential, that is racing with an engine other than the standard one put in by Ford.as mentioned above the 49 Anglia featured in this article has a 350 Chevy engine. We've seen a variety of other engines used in the Anglia hot rod including a Boss 302 and a 354 V-8. In addition to the 350 automatic transmission we have also seen an Anglia built with a '69 Muncie four-speed with a Zoom clutch.Gassers of course are heavily modified by definition.

Sample Prices for 1948 Ford Anglia Racers

As of this writing, the race modified 1948 and 1949 Ford Anglia's remain pretty popular and fully modified and custom for sale vehicles command respectable asking prices.Because these racers are heavily modified, both with the body and the engine, asking prices cover a wide range.

As of this writing, asking prices for 48 and 49 Ford Custom Anglia Street Rods appear to range from the mid teens to the high $20,000 area. Engine sizes and modifications including turbocharging arrangements will drive price.

(Article copyright Muscle Car Journal. Photos in the public domain)

A Beautifully Built Blown 355 Cubic Inch Ford T-Bucket

The 1923 Ford T-Bucket featured in this article is one mean machine. The T-Bucket is a very modified Model T. In fact, it is so modified you may not recognize it as a Model T. You typically will not see an engine cowl on a T-Bucket and the radiator will be from a Model T . The windshield is typically vertical which resembles the same as on an original Model T.

1923 Ford T-Bucket

Ford stopped building their Model T's in 1927. Most of the T-Buckets you see today at auto shows and swap meets are fiberglass replicas. In fact, by the 1950's it was hard to find a suitable original steel body Model T to modify.

Attention Getting Street Rods

Many of the Ford T-Buckets you see today are essentially show cars and there are some functioning as street rods as well. There is no doubt that anywhere this 1923 T-Bucket goes it will receive plenty of attention. Each of these T-Buckets are highly customized so you'll see a great amount of creativity in the bucket interior, engine of course, and paint schemes.Just take a look at the beautiful chrome on this engine.

Look at the engines in some of them and you'll see that they aren't practical street vehicles. The engine in the T-Bucket shown in this article is a Blown 355 cubic inch V-8 with some heavy supercharging. The transmission on this car is a TH350 three speed automatic. In general, you'll see a Ford T-Bucket that looks like it's much too big for the size and weight of the body and chassis. Some may say that a blower/supercharger on your T-Bucket is great for racing and perhaps for burning tires. If that's not your goal then the supercharger may be unnecessary.

Blown 355 V-8

Hot Rod Model T's are Hot

Model T's have been customized and modified into street rods for a long time. For traditional hot rodders nothing gets the heart beating faster than cool early Ford projects.

The very first T-Bucket fiberglass bodies came on the market in 1957 for about $150 and the 1923 models were the first produced.

T-Bucket Kits, Plans and Resources

As of this writing, complete T-Bucket kits are offered by companies such as Speedway Motors, Detroit Speedcraft, Spirit Motors, and Corbin Rods. T-Bucket bodies are offered by TBucketPlans.com.

TBucketPlans.com offers a publication titled...How to Build a T-Bucket Hot Rod Roadster for Under $3,000. It's been called "The Most Compete Hot Rod How-To Ever Written". Also, How to Build a T-Bucket Roadster on a Budget written by Charles Greenhalgh.

Another interesting site regarding the building of a T-Bucket can be found at hotrod.com. Cut and paste the url http://www.hotrod.com/cars/project-vehicles/hrdp-1306-we-built-a-speedway-motors-tribute-t-bucket-kit/

See our Muscle Car Journal article on the 1937 Chevy master Deluxe Street Rod

See our AutoMuseumOnline article on the 1931 Morgan Aero Super Dry


Those interested in building a Ford T-Bucket might take a look at the National T-Bucket Alliance. This organization works to bring together individual hot rodders with a common interest. Included are forums, for sale items and tech pages, an NTBA Hall of Fame, newsletters and more.

All leadership positions at the organization are volunteer. The organization is a group of dedicated T-Bucket fanatics who prefer big engines, huge rear tires and lots of fancy paint and chrome. Check them out at www.nationaltbucketalliance.com

(Article and photos copyright Muscle Car Journal)

A 1970 Muscle Car / Pontiac GTO

The Pontiac GTO is a special automobile.It is recognized by most as being America's first muscle car in 1964. This was a time when muscle cars were full size vehicles. In fact, GM at the time had a rule in place that barred any intermediate car from having an engine larger than 330 cubic inches.

One way around this difficulty as far as GM engineers and sales were concerned was make their 389 engine an option on the midsize Tempest. They called that option package GTO.

Our understanding is that the letters GTO reportedly stand for  “Gran Turismo Omologato“. This means that with the GTO designation the car is eligible to be entered in races like the LeMans and stock car races.

The GTO distinction is important because it refers to the automobile's eligibility to run in such events. This translation leaves little doubt that the Pontiac GTO was meant to be a racing machine. At the same time of course the stock GTO needed to be a street car as well.

While the Pontiac GTO was considered a muscle car with a lot of muscle, the automobile was also considered one of the best looking mid-size cars of the late 60's and early 70's.

The 1970 Pontiac GTO was among the third generation of this model. 

The 1970 GTO was restyled in many aspects. The 1970 model received a new front end with four exposed headlights wrapped in an Endura rubber bumper. Also put in were new body creases and a redesigned rear end.

Why GTO?

Why did Pontiac decide to use the already used GTO designation? It seems that the use of the GTO lettering was the idea of a GM advertising agency executive along with John DeLorean, one time Pontiac chief engineer and later an automaker himself with his DeLorean sports car. It has been said that DeLorean came up with the GTO designation straight from the popular Ferrari 250 GTO which didn’t sit too well at the time with GT Class enthusiasts.

70 GTO dashboard

1970 GTO Stock Engines 

The Pontiac GTO was of course meant to have plenty of power and it did. 

The 1970 Pontiac GTO came equipped with a choice of two excellent engines. There was the 400 cubic inch V-8 that put out 365 horsepower. There was also the powerful 455 cubic inch V-8. The 455 delivered 350 horsepower. Soon after the 455 came out horsepower began to decline because of emission regulations. With this being said, all GTO's prior to 1971 hold the greatest appeal.

Pontiac came out in 1969 with a GTO model called "The Judge". It was named "The Judge" as in “Here Come Da Judge,” was essentially a sort of spoof. Pontiac Motor Division wanted to attract the youth who predominately sought high performance vehicles. During that time the TV show "Laugh In" was pretty popular and attracted a lot of young viewers. The feeling from Pontiac was that the name The Judge would be considered "cool" by the younger buyers. The optional engine on The Judge was the Ram Air IV featuring a ram air system

Lots of power and smooth styling

See our article from AutoMuseumOnline on the link below...

E.L. Cord's 1929 Auburn Boattail Speedster.  This 29 Auburn was equipped with a Lycoming 268 cubic inch straight eight.

See the 1989 Lamborghini Countach and Where Did All the 60's Muscle Cars Go? on Muscle Car Journal.

Up, Up and Away

The Pontiac GTO hit a sales peak of 96,946 in 1966. By 1970  that figure declined to 40,149. Dropping significantly further, and obviously due to the new emission controls, 1971 sales were just 10,532 vehicles. As an indication that the GTO was probably on it's way out, sales for the 1972 model year were a small 5,807 vehicles. Eventually, the GTO, which held the title of America's first muscle car, was no longer a standalone series but an option package on the Le Mans.

The Pontiac GTO's of the muscle car era are prized collector cars. The automobiles were produced with powerful engines and good styling. Today's restored models command some pretty high prices and they look great on the street.

(Article and photos copyright Muscle Car Journal)

A 1968 Chevy Nova Muscle Car

The Chevy Nova became a muscle car for those enthusiasts on a budget. The 1968 Chevrolet Nova featured in this article is a light weight automobile that was actually built alongside the Chevy Camaro.

The 1968 Chevy Nova came with a factory standard 350 V8 with 295 horsepower and with an optional Chevrolet 396 V8 big block. Lots of power in a relatively small, lightweight car.

68 Chevy II / Nova

The Third Generation Chevy Nova

The 1968 Chevrolet Nova represented the first of the third generation Nova's.By this time the Nova was much changed from what was first offered in 1962 as an economical compact. In 1968 the Chevy Nova was formally named the Chevy II Nova. That changed however lasted only one year and the name would be dropped in 1969.The Nova SS, a separate series, continued to be marketed as late as 1976 although because of new federal regulations was not the powerful machine seen during the late 1960's. The new 1971/72  federal regulations affected all of the late 60's muscle cars.

The new third generation Chevy Nova design added length to the wheelbase at 111.0 inches. Also, for 1968 the Chevy Nova had a body that was wider, lower and sleeker than the second generation models. The car had the long hood short deck look which you could compare to both the Ford Mustang and the Chevy Camaro.

In 1968 there also was the  Chevy Nova 400 series. These cars were different from the Nova SS models in the fact that they were available in two and four door versions.. The Nova 400's came with a base inline six cylinder engine, as well.

The Nova and the Camaro

It's interesting to note that while the Chevy Nova was becoming an American muscle car, Chevrolet already had that market segment covered with their powerful Camaro's.

 The Camaro was a direct result of Ford creating their Mustang. The first Chevy Camaro's had just about the exact same dimensions as the Ford Mustang. One could say that with the exception of the design (although it had a long hood and short deck) the first Camaro dimensions matched the Mustang.

In a way the Chevrolet Division of General Motors had two cars for the power buff although at different price points. As far as Pony Cars were concerned, the Chevy Nova SS was not considered among them. These Nova's fit somewhere between Pony Cars and Muscle Cars. It was perplexing that 1968 Nova SS sales were down from the previous year. One would think that with the new, more sleek design plus the increased engine power options sales would have increased. Whatever the reason, sales did increase a year later in 1969 and continued to do so thru 1973.

The Blown 572. Don't try to put a hood on this one.

The Blown 572 Chevy Engine

The muscle car featured here has a Blown 572 Chevy engine.

This Chevy big block 572 cubic inch engine means serious business delivering some 900 horsepower. It seems there is more brute force from the engine as the cubic inch numbers go up. Of course for those wanting even a bigger engine with more brute force there is always the 588 cubic inch big block that puts out something like 1206 horsepower.

Most muscle cars don't have blowers, but some more serious pro-street muscle cars do. Blowers are really  another word for "supercharger". What the blower does is force more air into the engine to increase both horsepower and torque.

The larger blowers stick out of the hood (such as the one featured here) but the smaller ones typically fit well underneath. The blowers/superchargers are aftermarket devices. When you add a blower to the engine, serious modifications to the engine itself are necessary although there are milder blower kits that can work directly with stock engines.

Blowers are certainly nothing new but they have changed from the early days when they were much larger as seen on old GMC diesel engines. Today's blowers are also much more efficient. When a conversation turns to Chevy Blown Big Block engines the matter of money is sure to come up. Chances are very good you're talking about a $25,000 and more engine. With that in mind it's wise to find yourself a capable and recommended engine builder.

You may enjoy our AutoMuseumOnline article on the link below...

1968 Oldsmobile 442 Muscle Car

Also, on Muscle Car Journal...Where Did All the 60's Muscle Cars Go?  and  Big Oly / A Baja 1000 Legend 

400 Transmission 3 speed shifter

The 400 Transmission

The Chevy Nova muscle car shown here has a 400 transmission to match the 572 cubic inch engine. This is a racing transmission. Some of these are built as three speeds ( like the one shown here) and some have been built as two speed transmissions. These high performance transmissions are built to get the engine's vast horsepower to the ground where it counts for dragsters.

1968 Chevy Nova Specifications 

As mentioned above, the 1968 Chevy II / Nova offered both a stock 350 and 396 cubic inch engine. The 350 delivered 295 horsepower and the latter 325 horsepower. 

Wheelbase was 111.0 inches and the overall length 189.4 inches.

New car price in 1968 was about $2,600 for the stock 350 cubic inch model. Weight came in at 2,995 lbs.

Excellent reference material includes.... Nova SS : Nova and Chevy II 1962-1979 by Steve Statham and A Complete Guide to Street Supercharging by Pat Ganahl.

(Article and photos copyright Muscle Car Journal)