Design GoalsFrom that point, it's only a small leap to visualize what an LX-based Dodge Charger would look like. To help us, we hired up-and-coming designer Kris Horton to work his computer magic for us. The criteria we set forth were designed to bypass the unobtainable pie-in-the-sky visions, and to focus on styling that would be functional and productionable on the current platform. We started by taking the existing Dodge Magnum SRT-8 wagon and Chrysler 300C sedan, copying the wheelbase, track width, roof height, cowl height and mimicing the greenhouse hard points. In doing so, we attempted to blend the sexy fuselage styling of the original '68-'70 Charger with Dodge's current brand identity and styling lexicon while maintaining the functionality of the interior space and relying as much as possible on the existing understructure.
The last point is particularly important because the engineering, tooling and manufacturing costs associated with changing the underlying design becomes prohibitively expensive for a production version. Translation: some compromises have to be made if real cars are to ever see the light of day. In our effort to show you what a real car would or could look like, we've taken as many "real" factors into consideration as possible.
One area that we became mired in almost immediately is the front grill. Charger fans will no doubt miss the recessed grill and hide-away headlights of the original. Notoriously un-aerodynamic-even in its day-the front grill forced us to move in a completely different direction. (The '68 Charger body had a notoriously poor win record in stock car racing and only slightly better with the Charger 500 body in 1969 which had a flush exposed-headlight grill and flush rear back glass. Only with the advent of the Dodge Daytona did the Charger gain acceptance as an aerodynamic success.) In anticipation that Dodge's designers might try to design something more aerodynamic and in line with the current cross-hair motif in its cars and trucks, Horton and PHR agreed that this was the most likely direction. (Yeah, we love the original too, but there's absolutely no chance of that ever happening, so we didn't want to go there.) When the grill on the PHR Charger is compared to the existing Dodge Magnum grill, however, there is a distinctly menacing appearance to the Charger. It's an appropriate compromise that takes into account the needs for a more aggressive look, a style in line with current products, aerodynamics, and cooling needs.
The bodyside is almost a complete lift from the defining 1968 design by Dodge stylist Richard Sias. We felt this gave the coke-bottle look that linked it to the Charger's storied past while being relatively easy to adapt to the LX's slab-sided proportions. (That's a big plus on the manufacturing side.) The coke-bottle shape has been toned down to work with the LX platform, and one hardly misses the severe overhang present on the original. In profile, some compromise was necessary to extend the rear of the greenhouse (and thus rear-seat passenger room) for the anticipated four-door sedan version.
The biggest structural risk we took was with the wide C-pillar and tunnel-back glass, which we felt was absolutely essential if the car was to be a Charger in more than just name. (Our feeling is that if you lose the c-pillar and glass, it's still possible to do a cool car, but we can't in good conscience call it a Charger.) If given more time, we might have been able to refine the c-pillar/rear glass/trunk area for more practicality, but it appears workable in light of the 300C's profile.