Peruse social media and you may find someone opining, “Muscle cars died after 1971!” while failing to acknowledge an anomaly of the low-compression era, the 1973-74 Super Duty 455 Firebird. However, the truth is that there were other cars that still offered respectable performance, our Pick of the Day being one. This 1974 Dodge Charger Rallye is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Clearwater, Florida.

Beginning with 1972, the whole American automobile market was running on lowered compression to allow for low-lead and unleaded fuel. Certain manufacturers and brands fared better than others. Ford offered the Mustang with a 275-horsepower 351 HO—basically a low-compression Boss 351—but it was only available for several months, and it never was available for any other FoMoCo model. Otherwise, the 351 Cobra Jet (266 horses for the pony cars, 248 for mid-sizers) somewhat did the job, and Ford simply didn’t entertain milking the 205-horse 429-4V for all it was worth.

American Motors did a decent job of offering “hot” 360 and 401 engines for the Javelin, offering a contemporary 220 and 255 net horsepower, respectively. Buick continued to offer 455s with as much as 270 horses. Chevrolet had a strong Z/28 350 with 255 horses, a 402 with 240, and a 454 with 270. Oldsmobile and Pontiac excelled, both offering 455s with up to 300 horsepower while offering lesser versions, if not a 250-horse 400 for Pontiac.


What about Chrysler Corporation? As the company with the strong reputation for engineering, Plymouth and Dodge was competitive with the industry. The 340 was rated at 240 horsepower, while the new 400 put out 255 horses. Notwithstanding the quickly-cancelled 440 Six Pack, the 440 four-barrel was rated at 280 horses.

Despite the whining by the “muscle cars died after 1971!” crowd, you’ll find that the engines that arrived in 1972 generally continued to stay pat through 1974. For example, the 440 four-barrel continued to be rated at 280 horsepower, then falling by five to 275 for 1974. Considering the Super Duty 455 was rated at 290 horses, this was fair.

Before you is the last of the classic Chargers, this one being this “JL6” Aztec Gold metallic 1974 Dodge Charger Rallye. The “A57” Rallye Package was available on the Charger coupe and hardtop (the former included a cheaper interior and fixed rear quarter windows) and included Power Bulge hood, Rallye Cluster, black longitudinal tape stripe, hood pins, rear anti-sway bar, and G70x14-inch white-letter tires. Add the 440 engine and you’d have the closest thing to a Charger R/T this side of 1971, but a whole lot rarer—only 206 U.S.-spec Charger Rallye hardtops were built like this. “The car’s original engine is in original condition and has all the factory stock equipment like the intake manifold, carb, cast iron exhaust manifolds, valve covers, air conditioning, and most other engine parts and accessories,” says the seller. The interior is equally as intriguing, as it’s one of the few built with the “N1YW” Aztec cloth interior. This one is the optional cloth and vinyl bench seat, rather than the sportier high-back buckets with the “buddy seat” and arm rest. “All the rest of the interior looks like it did when it left the showroom with the factory stock door panels, dash and gauges, headliner, seat belts, carpeting, and radio.”

Have you priced a Charger R/T lately? Insane. But a 440-powered Charger Rallye is 7/8th the same car, and it still has the same sleek sporty style in spades. For $69,990, you can show the naysayers that there’s nothing wrong with Malaise.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com