The Dodge Charger arrived in 1966 as a quasi-personal luxury car with a performance twist. Using the same B-body platform as the Coronet, the Charger adopted a fastback look with four bucket seats to accommodate its passengers. This second-year Charger is a real beauty that appears to be mostly original with just 61,000 miles. It’s well-equipped including the Dodge “White Hat Special” option, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Mopar can be yours here on eBay for $39,500 OBO.
Introduced mid-year, the 1966 Charger accounted for sales of about 37,300 units. But that promising start quickly cooled down with just 15,800 copies in 1967. It took the B-body redesign of 1968 for Charger sales to finally catch fire at 92,600 vehicles in 1968, one of the biggest rallies of the decade. That performance may have been helped by the ’68 Charger’s role in one of the greatest movie car chase scenes in Steve McQueen’s Bullitt.
The most striking thing about the seller’s Charger is its paint, Turbine Copper Metallic. We’re told that it’s a rare color and I can’t remember the last time I saw one finished like this. The visual statement goes further when you open the doors to the Copper interior. Everything seems original and nearly perfect, though the upholstery on the driver’s seat bottom is slightly stretched.
This Dodge was first delivered to a Dodge dealer in Downey, California, who had specified it would come with the White Hat Special option. Contrary to popular belief, this package did not require the roof to be painted white or have a vinyl top in that color, though many were. The option consisted of a few trim pieces bundled together, like fender-mounted turn signals and a “sport” steering wheel.
Under the hood resides a 383 cubic inch V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and an A727 automatic transmission. The Dodge has factory air conditioning, but the hardware has been updated to more modern standards. The 383 also has electronic ignition, years before it would be standard fare. This is such a classy and stylish car that you have to wonder why sales dropped more than half in the auto’s sophomore year.
Nice and clean, love the color. Still, I love mine with a 4-speed more.
One big reason I bought my 1967…..it was this color….and 4sp……and factory A/C…..
Terrific color combo.
Love it! My favorite Charger body style!
I remember when these came out in `66. I was only 6 and someone in my neighborhood had a white one. My Mom had just gotten a red `65 Barracuda the year before, and I wished we got a Charger!
I remember these well, loved the body on them and especially the color of this one. Ironically, I had my truck in for repairs at the Dodge dealership one time back in the 70’s and there was a white one in there for service. I walked over to look at it and one of the mechanics (a guy I went to school with) told me to back away. Seems the car belonged to some undercover drug agents (think Miami Vice type guys) so moved away real quick.
Column shift!
So the front seat snuggle version.
I can see all those big windows going down from the driver’s seat having rare power windows.
This is by far the nicest ’66 I have ever seen!
I was 8 yrs old when older sister’s boyfriend rocked up in one of these. He used to do burn outs for our rag tag group of neighborhood bicycle hooligans.
I remember thinking how different/strange the car looked at the time. Covered headlights, big fastback top with headroom for the back row, 4 bucket seats. – never saw that before, and the taillights. We thought the burnouts were soooo cool, one leggers half a block long with lots of noise and smoke! This car elevated my status in the bike gang ( mostly older kids ) because BF would pull up , roll down the window, call me over to see if he should “lay some rubber”. Cool back in the day stuff, although Mom didn’t think so 🤣😱👍👍.
I was 8 yrs old when older sister’s boyfriend rocked up in one of these. He used to do burn outs for our rag tag group of neighborhood bicycle hooligans.
I remember thinking how different/strange the car looked at the time. Covered headlights, big fastback top with headroom for the back row, 4 bucket seats. – never saw that before, and the taillights. We thought the burnouts were soooo cool, one leggers half a block long with lots of noise and smoke! This car elevated my status in the bike gang ( mostly older kids ) because BF would pull up , roll down the window, call me over to see if he should “lay some rubber”. Cool back in the dat stuff, although Mom didn’t think so 🤣😱👍👍.
Lack of that console that reaches all the way to the back seats kinds of kills part of the look that makes these so unique.
I still love it though.
Good Lord.
Somebody really ordered this one right.
man, these things were hideous, not the gorgeous 68 Charger they turned into
I bought mine from the US pilot that flew the American Ambassador around to his duty destinations in Australia. Back in ’72, you could not have a left hand drive vehicle, unless it was purchased from a military person who who was stationed here in Australia,. and it was required to have large letters:’CAUTION LEFT HAND DRIVE’ on the rear bumper. Nowadays though,
if the vehicle is older than 30 years, it can remain Left Hand Drive.
Beautiful looking car! This has always been my favourite version of the Dodge Charger. $40,000 seems rather steep. I’d be willing to pay $25,000 for the car. Hey Charger! 🙂
The driver’s seat could be easily repaired at an upholstery shop. The cover is in great shape, so all it needs is the foam underneath it to be replaced. The rest of the car appears to be in super-nice shape and so the asking price is quite reasonable. Someone is going to get a rare super-cool beautiful keeper!
Power Windows, Power Brakes, Center Console Delete/Column shift, AND AC? Add the white hat special and I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a 1 of 1. Nice find.