For those who didn't live through the Golden Age of American Muscle, it must seem like the streets used to be crawling with Hemi-powered Dodges, but those cars were as rare back then as they are now. In no small part thanks to Dominic Toretto's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T from the Fast & Furious film franchise, that sweet ride has become one of the most popular classic muscle cars, but again, they didn't make a lot of them. Just 112 Hemi Charger R/Ts were built in 1970, with a total of 1,473 second-gen Chargers packing that awesome 426 cubic-inch V8.
The R/T "Road and Track" emblem was used to identify Dodge's most killer muscle cars that could literally dominate on the streets or the drag strip, straight from the factory. An R/T badge on the fender of a Dodge was a warning to other drivers who were thinking about taking one on when the light turned green. The R/T designation became synonymous with speed and catapulted those marked with it to classic-era fame, but a little known fact is that a fairly anonymous and far from famous Dodge muscle car was the first to ever wear the badge.
Dodge’s Pre-Golden Age Muscle
Mopar performance has its roots in WWII when Chrysler developed a 2,500-horsepower V-16 engine with hemispherical combustion chambers for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft. While certainly an innovative engine, the war was winding down and so it never went into production, but Chrysler adapted the technology for passenger vehicles in the form of their FirePower series V-8s. These engines were the first Hemis but never called that or marketed as such. The most famous of the bunch was the dual-quad 392 cubic-inch FirePower V8 which put 375 ponies under the hood of the 1957 Chrysler 300C, making it the fastest car on the planet.
Chrysler decided to settle into the role as an upscale brand and so the performance mantle fell to Dodge, which put muscle cars on the streets before that was even a thing. The second-gen Dodge Dart, launched in 1962, already had a competitive 305-horsepower 361 cubic-inch V8, but also had access to the legendary 413 cubic-inch Max Wedge V8. Cranking out up to 420 horsepower in dual-quad configuration, the 413 Max Wedge was designed for the track, but definitely ended up on the streets where it was the first ride we would recognize as a muscle car.
The Hemi Frenzy Of ’66
Thanks to Ford throwing a temper tantrum over the 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8's dominance in NASCAR, the engine was temporarily banned until it could be homologated, meaning it had to be sold in passenger vehicles to qualify for competition. Instead of doing a limited edition car to meet the requirements, Chrysler went hog wild in 1966 and made it available to all Dodge and Plymouth intermediate cars, which is why Mopar ruled during the Golden Age and also the reason why Ford could never win a street race. Also in '66, Dodge introduced the Charger, which, when equipped with a 425-horsepower, 490 pound-feet of torque 426 Street Hemi, was the baddest thing on the road that year.
Designated Dodge Muscle Cars
In 1968, Chrysler decided that it was probably best that the 426 Hemi didn't end up in family rides, so they limited its distribution to dedicated muscle car models. For Dodge, that meant the Charger R/T, Coronet R/T, Super Bee, and a few years later, the Challenger R/T. The compact Dart was excluded from the Hemi sweepstakes but did get a special edition drag car known as the '68 Hemi Dart, but its engine was a race Hemi, not the street version. Though Dodge had been fielding powerful street machines since the early '60's, the design and performance of the 1968 lineup was sort of the first great year for muscle cars, but there is one forgotten ride that got there a year earlier.
Humble ’67 Coronet First To Wear R/T Crown
Dodge's 1968 Declaration of Dominance was obviously something they had cooking for a while, and it looks as if they gave it a trial run in 1967. For reasons that aren't immediately apparent, Dodge put the R/T badge on the rather unassuming Coronet two-door rather than the flashier Charger. The '67 Coronet R/T was the first "all killer and no filler" car trim with a standard 440 cubic-inch V8, and the only other option was the 426 Hemi. In '68, all Dodge B-Bodies would get slicker designs, including the Coronet, which would shed some of its boxy, linear lack of style.
Looking at the '67 Coronet now, it definitely has some cool retro charm, but back then it was one of the least exciting cars on the market. 1967 was not only the year of the first-gen Charger but also the debuts of the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, plus the Ford Mustang fastback got a lot sexier. While it seems weird that the Coronet was the first to get the R/T on its fender or that the Charger wasn't also included, maybe it makes all the sense in the world. The Coronet was a basic set of wheels and played into Dodge's no-nonsense approach to performance.
Hemi Big-Block Mopar Monster
In 1966, when Chrysler let the 426 Street Hemi loose, no Dodge was gifted more with the wondermill than the Coronet. The Charger got 468 Hemis, while the Coronet gobbled up 741 of them. Perhaps that's the real reason why Dodge slapped the R/T on the '67 Coronet, because clearly the car-buying public viewed it as a real muscle car. In 1967, the Coronet received more Hemis than any other Mopar, with 283 R/T cars. Finally, the Coronet, Coronet R/T, and Coronet-based Super Bee hogged 1,515 426 Street Hemis, versus 1,473 for the Charger and Charger R/T, making it the Dodge Hemi Master. For the record, the Plymouth Road Runner is the all-time Mopar Hemi champion with 2,014 cars, but this is all about the Dodge.
Sleeper Car Credentials
With some not-so-sporty looks but definite big-block power, the '67 Coronet R/T was one of the first sleeper cars. The stock 440ci V-8 produced 375 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque, which propelled it to a 6.0-second 0-60 time and 14.5-second quarter-mile. This was good enough to take out a Chevy Chevelle SS 396, Buick GS 400, or Olds 442 every day of the week, but the R/T had another weapon in its arsenal. Equipped with the 425-horsepower, 490 pound-feet of torque 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8, the Coronet R/T was a 5.5-second 0-60 and 13.8-second quarter-mile ride. The understated nature of the Coronet's design probably took a lot of people by surprise when it unleashed that Hemi power and blew their doors off.
Undervalued Hemi Unicorn
Hemi-equipped Mopar convertibles are the most valuable Golden Age muscle cars because both the 426 and drop-tops are exceedingly rare, but when combined into a single entity are unicorn and even Holy Grail cars. A '70 Dodge Challenger Hemi R/T convertible sold at auction for $1.6 million, which is cheap compared to the $3.5 million a '71 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda brought the gavel down for. There were only three Hemi convertible 1967 Coronet R/T's built, which are much rarer than the million-dollar Mopars, but they don't command nearly the same price. All three have been auctioned in recent years on Mecum, but only one sold for a modest $200,000, which is about a million less than it should be worth.
Underrated Mopar Collectible
Even the '67 Coronet R/T hardtop isn't exactly abundant, with about 9,500 units produced and only 290 Hemis. By comparison, there were 17,500 Buick Gran Sports, 25,000 Olds 442s, and 64,000 Chevy Chevelle SS cars made in 1967, and they were all the same basic vehicle. Hagerty lists the Concours condition value of the '67 Coronet R/T 440 hardtop at just $58,900, with a convertible slightly more expensive at $72,500. For a Hemi hardtop, the price is way up at $171,000 and $289,000 for a drop-top. Of course, we've already shown that a '67 Hemi R/T convertible sold for significantly less than that, and we couldn't find a hardtop that had reached anywhere near the Hagerty value.
7 Mopar Muscle Cars Rarer Than A Hemi ’Cuda Convertible
A rare Hemi 'Cuda drop-top almost seems common compared to some of these elusive Mopar muscle cars.
Bargain Basement Bruiser
We've alluded to the fact that the 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves, but you may need to brace yourselves for this one and prepare to have your heads explode. That yellow Hemi R/T hardtop pictured above sold for just $64,000 on Bring a Trailer earlier this year. By all accounts, it is a numbers-matching ride that was recently restored, and there are no red flags that this isn't a legitimately awesome Hemi-powered masterpiece. One would think that a period correct 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8 on its own, with no car around it, would be worth more than that, but some lucky buyer got the whole thing for the steal of the century. A Hemi Mopar for under $100,000 is unheard of, even for a project car, yet here is a cherry example that went for next to nothing.
Sources:Bring a Trailer, Hagerty, Mecum