Muscle Car of the Week: '69 Dodge Charger!

There's no doubt in my mind that if you walk into any auto restoration services facility in Los Angeles (or anywhere for that matter!) and ask their mechanics for the top ten best looking muscle cars of all time, the 1969 Charger would make the list.

It's a real beauty. So much so, in fact, that it was featured prominently on a hugely popular TV show, 'The Dukes of Hazzrd'. (yup, The General Lee was a '69 Charger!) Dodge didn't change design much really from the '68 model. The only aesthetic upgrades were a new divided front grille and unique longitudinal tail lights. The results made for a sleek and stylish car that still packed a ton of balls. You can't go wrong in choosing the Charger for your muscle car restoration project.

The only disappointing thing about the 1969 Charger was the engine that came standard in the base model. For some strange reason, Dodge decided to downgrade the base engine to a six cylinder that was rated at a miserly 145 horsepower. (At least they dropped the starting price of this model to $3,020 to make up for it!) Of the other 6 engine choices available across the board in '69 the 426 cubic inch 'Street Hemi' was by far the standout. It produced a massive 425 horsepower during chassis dyno testing and even helped the Charger set a record as being the first muscle car to break 200 miles an hour in a lap.

With five models released in 1969, auto restoration aficionados have a lot to choose from. This means that the price range for fully restored units is extremely large as well. We've seen the base model (We recommend avoiding the base model Charger unless you're looking to replace the slant six engine entirely) go for around $15K-$25K and some of the other models get up to $100K at auction!