My 1972 Charger Rallye

 
 

This my 1972 Dodge Charger Rallye. I purchased it in October of 1983 after my 1971 Dodge Charger 500 was destroyed in a wreck. It is an original 440 Rallye car and was produced on April 7th, 1972 at the Lynch Road assembly plant. Its VIN is WH23U2A183381. I drove the car daily from 1983 until 1992. Since then I have only been driving it occasionally. It has been garage kept for the entire time I have owned it.

 
 

The Rally package was introduced in 1972 basically replaced the R/T. Although it was carried over into 1973 and 1974, by then it was merely a cosmetic package since performance was pretty much gone from Chrysler after 1972. It was barely hanging on then. The total production of Chargers in 1972 was 75,584. Of that, only 4600 came with the Rallye package, and of that only 620 had the 440. In 1971, the power bulge on the hood was blacked out by a decal with tape striping but in 1972 it was actually painted on.

 
 

Similar to the 1971 R/T, the 1972 Rallye has sculptured louvers in the doors. The hood was the Magnum, bulged type used throughout 1971-17974. The N96 or Ramcharger hood was originally slated for production in 1972 but it, along with the Six Pack, was dropped at the last minute. Both are mentioned in the owner's manual although none were supposed to have been produced. But as you can imagine, there are a few out there...less than 10 of each I have heard. Included were also the heavy front and rear anti-sway bars and F70 tires.

 
 

The exhaust could be terminated with chrome tips that exited through cutouts in the rear valence panel.

 
 

I have 2-1/2" pipes running from the collectors all the way out the rear. I had the local shop install a crossover pipe to equalize pressure between the tubes.

 
 

The Rallye instrument cluster had the full set of gages. The Slap Stick gated shifter was included as were the bucket seats.

 
 
I have had a number of engines in mine including the 440 4 barrel that it originally came with. During a short period of drag racing, I switched to a 440 Six Pack, then to a 426 Hemi, then back to the original 440 4 barrel configuration. Although I never got a time at the track with the Hemi, it easily ran mid 12's with the 4.56:1 rear and nitrous oxide on the 440. I am now back to the Six Pack setup again.

 
 
I returned to the factory original intake and exhaust manifolds. Although it still had the DC Purple Shaft .509"/292 and a Holley 650, it looks pretty much original. I have enjoyed the Torqueflight transmissions and have always used the Turbo Action Cheetah valve bodies. I like the hard shift and the absence of a clutch pedal that this system gives me.

Along with a hard shift and plenty of horsepower comes broken motor mounts. To overcome this I installed solid mounts on both sides. It shakes the car somewhat but I have yet to break one. The bolts do work loose occasionally.

 
 
Since I had pretty much decided from the beginning that I was going to keep this car for a long time, I decided that I might as well have some of the things I really wanted on it. One was the Ramcharger hood, another was a factory Six Pack setup, and the last was pretty paint. Due to a wreck in 1988 I ended up getting all.

I wanted to keep the car basically the original red so I decided on red candy over a silver base. I had it done in laquer for the shine and depth but it had an overcoat of clear laquer then clear polyurethane for protection. It's really nice because I never have to wax it. I just keep it clean and it shines like new. I do however keep it protected from the sun as much as possible. It stays in the garage most of the time and when parked outside I keep a light cover over it.

 
 
The current engine has been in service since 1988 and has given me great service. I recently completed an overhaul after having to pull the heads to replace the freeze plugs and fix some oil leaks.

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