This is the Danbury’s third, and perhaps most vivacious, iteration of the 1968 Charger. The previous duo were movie cars; the, “Christine”, in blue and the sinister black “Bullitt” bad-guy ride. Of course DM gave us some ’69 versions as well, including Charger 500, R/T and SE-configured beauties. Dodge simply called this color Bright Red and DM captured it accurately and vividly. It’s a classy red, not brash or with too much orange. Fitting for a period muscle wagon, it comes with black interior and redline tires. All the working goodies of the prior issues are here including opening fuel filler cap, removable spare, extending antenna and functional suspension. My favorite feature of the DM models is the scissors-springs hood hinges and they have never been better than on this new issue.
They permit the hood to open all the way up affording a breathtaking view of that big, “440 Magnum” mill. The Danbury boys built all the bells and whistles into this oh-so-real engine bay. This has to be the most realistic 1:24th scale throttle linkage ever! The miniature spring set connecting to the rear linkage mechanism is astounding. So is the fabrication of wires, hoses and battery cabling. Even the drive belts and dip stick are scaled for accurate replication of the real car. Checking out that detail-rich working suspension and luscious chassis, you’ll see working rear shocks and leaf springs and realistic torsion arm movement up front. You will also notice the transmission – this is an automatic optioned Charger.
DM did a lovely job on the interior. The dash is dead on in its fabrication; gauges, door panel detail, floor and console pieces and photo-etched belt ends all lend an air of realism beyond the standard. I love the way DM’s finely crafted little metal-foiled badges are now clear-coated. “Charger” scripts adorn the sail panels of the rear roofline while, “Charger R/T” dresses up the fore and aft of the car. The trunk has niceties in the way of authentic matting and jacking tools with the aforementioned removable spare tire, also a redline. Be sure not to overlook the great way DM handles the chrome trim. Not painted silver, the trim pieces around the windows, rear backlight and windshield are all separately chromed pieces. So is the treatment of the wheel well openings, side marker lamp surrounds and even the door and trunk lock buttons. The grill and headlamp covers are fashioned in photo-etch and are gorgeous.
The sitting stance and overall fidelity of the model to the 1:1 is still astonishing to me after all the Chargers Danbury has issued. Keep them coming DM, you do ‘em right!
-Tony F Perrone
