All things must come to an end. The Dodge Charger spent the late 1960s and early 1970s as the Spartan of the muscle cars, the most badass of the badass. Then the mid-1970s came around.
In the middle of the decade, as the market changed, the Charger was reborn as a bloated “personal luxury coupe” with fewer engine options, all increasingly choked by emissions regulations, appalling 70s styling and creeping malaise.
A sad end for a great car, and one that represented the end of the muscle car era. But it wasn’t alone. That’s our question of the day: What cars best represent the end of an era?
It’s not always a bad thing, when this happens. I can think of a lot of cars that meant the demise of the malaise era or the compromised 1980s that followed it. Change can be good sometimes. Show us the ones that were part of the biggest shifts.
Hat tip to Mike!
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.