1968
It was obvious after the sales drop of the 1967 Charger that a redesign was in order. Dodge was going to restyle their whole B-body lineup for 1968 and decided that it was time to divide the Coronet and Charger models even more. What designer Richard Sias came up with was a double-diamond design that would later be referred to as "coke-bottle" style. From the side profile the curves around the front fenders and rear quarter panels look almost like a Coke bottle, which was very big in the 60's. On the roof a "flying buttress" was added to give the back window area a look similar to that of a 1966-67 Pontiac GTO.
The Charger kept its full-length hidden headlight grille, but the fully rotating electric headlights had been replaced by a simple vacuum operated cover, similar to the Chevrolet Camaro RS. The full length taillights were gone as well. In its place, dual Corvette-inspired taillights were added. Dual scallops were added to the doors and hood to help accent the new curved lines. Inside, the interior shared almost nothing with its first generation cars. The four bucket seats were gone; the console stayed the same as the '67. The tachometer was now optional instead of standard, the trunk and grille medallions were gone, the carpeting in the trunk area was gone, replaced by a vinyl mat, the back seats did not fold forward and the space-age looking electroluminescent gauges disappeared in favor of a more conventional looking design.
In order to extra enhance the Charger's muscle car image, a new high-performance package was supplied, the R/T. This stood for "Road and Track" and would be the high performance badge that would found Dodge's performance image. Only the best high performance cars were allowed to use the R/T badge. The R/T came standard with the previous year's 440 "Magnum". The Slant Six was added to the option list in 1968 as a "credit" option, but it proved to be a very poor seller. Most people naturally wanted a V8 in their Charger. The rest of the engine lineup (318-2, 383-2, 383-4, and 426-8) remained unaffected.
In 1968 Chrysler Corporation released a new ad campaign featuring a Bee with an engine on its back. These cars were called the "Scat Pack". The Coronet R/T, Super Bee, Dart GTS and Charger R/T received bumble-bee stripes (two thin stripes framing two thick stripes). The stripes were customary on the R/Ts and came in red, white or black. They also might be deleted at no cost. These changes and the new Charger body style proved to be very well-liked with the public and helped to sell 96,100 Chargers, counting over 17,000 Charger R/Ts.
A well-known Charger was the four-speed, triple-black 1968 Charger R/T used in the movie Bullitt. The chase scene between Steve McQueen's fastback Mustang GT and the hitmen's Charger R/T is popularly regarded as one of the greatest car chase scenes ever filmed.
A similar 1968 Charger R/T was seen in the Blade Trilogy films.
1969
In 1969 not much was changed for the popular Charger. External changes included a new grille with a center divider and new longitudinal taillights both designed by Harvey J. Winn. A new trim line called the Special Edition (SE) was added. This could be available by itself or packaged with the R/T, thus making an R/T-SE. The SE added leather inserts to the front seats only, chrome rocker moldings, a wood grain steering wheel and wood grain inserts on the instrument panel. A sunroof was added to the option list as well, and it would prove to be a very rare option (some 260 sold). The bumble bee stripes returned as well, but were somewhat changed. Instead of four stripes it now featured one huge stripe framed by two smaller stripes. In the middle of the stripe an R/T pattern was placed. If the stripe was deleted, then a metal R/T symbol was placed where the R/T cutout was. Total production dropped slightly to around 85,680 units. But in 1969 Dodge had its eye on NASCAR and in order to battle it would have to create two of the most rare and desirable of all Chargers: Charger 500, and the Charger Daytona.
The television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985) featured a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T that was named The General Lee, frequently quoted as the most recognizable car in the world. "The General" sported the Confederate flag painted on the roof and the words "GENERAL LEE" over each door. The windows were always open, as the doors were (supposedly) welded shut. The number "01" is painted on both doors. Also, when the horn button was pressed, it played the first 12 notes from the de facto Confederate States anthem "Dixie's Land". The muscle car performed spectacular jumps in almost every episode, and the show's popularity produced a surge of interest in the car. The show itself purchased hundreds of Chargers for stunts, as they generally destroyed at least one car per episode. (Real Chargers stopped being used for jumps at the end of the show's sixth season, and were begrudgingly replaced with miniatures.)
Charger 500
In 1969, in order to help Dodge fight Ford/Mercury in NASCAR, 2 special Chargers were built. The regular production Charger wasn't fast enough to compete with the Ford Torino/Mercury Cyclone. The first year for the Charger 500 was 1969. This car looked like a typical Charger, except that the rear buttress was filled in, and a flush-mounted 1968 Coronet grille was used with exposed headlights. The rear bumble bee stripes would also have a "500" cutout which would help to identify this new Charger. These changes would help the car aerodynamically. Only 500 copies were built to abide with NASCAR rules–hence the name "Charger 500". The only engine choices were the standard 440 Magnum or the 426 Hemi. Only 67 Charger 500s were built with the Hemi.
Despite all of the new changes, Ford/Mercury continued to beat the Chargers. Dodge did not stand idly by. They went back into the wind tunnel and unleashed a new Charger that changed everything.
Charger Daytona
In 1969, NASCAR stipulated that any car raced in their series had to be accessible for sale and must build a minimum of five hundred for the general public. Since the Charger 500 was not fast enough, Dodge went back into the wind tunnel and created one of the most outrageous and most sought after Chargers, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona.
The Daytona used a pointed nose section that added 18 inches into the front of the car. This gave the car the down force that the engineers were looking for, but the rear end still tended to lift at speed. To solve this, they mounted a big wing over the trunk lid which would give the Charger Daytona and its sister car, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird, the nickname of "wing cars". The wing was 23 inches tall so that the trunk could be open without hitting the bottom of the wing. Slightly customized fenders and a hood from the upcoming 1970 Charger were used on the Daytona. Rear facing scoops were added to the front fenders, right above the tires, which mimicked their NASCAR brothers. But while they looked cool they didn't add any aerodynamic adavantage. The only thing they were used for was a help with tire rub.
Only 503 Charger Daytona's were built with either 440 Magnum or 426 Hemi power. All Daytona's wore red, black, or white bumble stripes that bore the name "Daytona" in the middle of the stripe. The wings were painted the same color as the stripes. The "wing cars" would prove to be so fast and dominating that NASCAR effectively outlawed them for the 1971 season, as a new regulation was introduced that restricted all "aero" cars to a maximum engine displacement of 5.0 L (305 in³), down from the previous 7.0 L (429 in³).