[Lee Stewart]

The 1965 Dodge Charger II Concept Car. It was a hit at the auto shows with its fastback body lines. Being a show/concept car means it doesn't have to follow all the D.O.T. laws like bumpers and headlights as you can see from this next photo.



Here's a better shot of the front:



Dodge decided based on the overwhelming acceptance of the show car to add a new model to it's line up: The Charger.





Not that much different than the show car. One aspect was exactly the same - the interior. Same dashboard and 4 bucket seats. Concept car on top, production car on the bottom:





Introduced as a mid-year model, the new Charger did brisk sales: 37,344 units. Unfortunately the 1967 model didn't do as well. Probably because it was the same as the 66. Sales were only 15,788 units. Less than half and with a full year versus half a year.

But that would all change the following year when Dodge introduced their new 1968 model and sales went through the roof. Almost 100,000 units.