Scat pack challenger
The year 1973, however, spelled doom for most American muscle cars as insurance concerns and emissions regulations slowly choked the life out of large V8s- a sad state of affairs that would last until the mid-80s. So successful was the entire initiative that Plymouth got into the act with its “Rapid Transit System” which would run from 1970 to 1972, and included the ‘Cuda, the GTX, the Superbird, the Duster 340, and the Roadrunner. By 1970, the family had grown to include the Charger Daytona and the Dodge Challenger and, in the final year, the 1971 Dodge Demon 340 was also included.
#SCAT PACK CHALLENGER FULL#
Collectively the group of Dodge performance cars was referred to as “the hive.” The marketing team went on the warpath, blanketing dealerships, magazines, and television with references to “Scat City” and the full line-up of Scat Pack cars. The Scat Pack logo was a variation on the drag-racing Super Bee found on the Dodge Super Bee. For the money, members received a monthly newsletter, a quarterly magazine, a wallet card declaring their loyalty, a bumper sticker and jacket patch, and a racing guide. It was a play on words- the Rat Pack had been Frank Sinatra’s gang of Hollywood pals that became legendary for their partying and the pictures they made together- and, as such, Dodge also created an actual Scat Pack Club that both owners and Mopar fans could join for the very affordable price of three dollars. The problem was put to the talented team at the Ross Roy Ad Agency, which came up with the ingenious idea of the “Scat Pack” designation. What was missing, however, was a way to unify each of these uniquely-named models under a single, world-beating banner- an issue that would only get worse with the introduction of the Dodge Super Bee mid-year. In the early 1960s, Dodge had many exciting high performance cars, such as the 1963 Polara 426 Max Wedge, 1966 Coronet 426, 1967 Dart GTS 340, 1967 Charger R/T 383, etc. It became legendary in the enthusiast community and symbolized one of the most feared groups of street machines every to rumble from stoplight to stoplight. Mainly a marketing term, Scat Pack cars got twin bumblebee stripes and special decals. In order for a car to enter the Scat Pack it had to be capable of running the quarter mile in the 14s (14.99 sec. In 1969, the Charger Daytona joined the Pack. With all of the bee-themed muscle cars, Dodge added the Scat Pack to a collective known as ' The Hive.The Dodge Scat Pack was originally introduced in 1968 with the Charger R/T, Coronet R/T, Dart GTS, and Super Bee. Pretty clever naming from Dodge, especially if you want to grab attention in the mid-20th century.Ĭoncerning the Scat Pack logo itself, it was a redesign of the preexisting emblem for the Dodge Super Bee, albeit slightly altered. The band name, 'Rat Pack', combined with the jazz phrase " Scat" (meaning to go away/leave very quickly), resulted in the amalgamation we are left with now: the Scat Pack. So popular, in fact, that his words made their way to Dodge executives in the '60s.Īlong with Sinatra, Dodge was inspired by the informal group he was a part of at the time: the 'Rat Pack.' The band consisted of artists like Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and others, obviously including Sinatra. Needless to say, Sinatra was incredibly popular then and now. Of course, it belongs to none other than the legendary Frank Sinatra's. Well, to answer that lingering question, we've researched the origin of the Scat Pack's name, what it means, and how successful it's been to this point.įor those of you who consider yourself 'music-buffs,' you might already know who the quote above belongs to. The terms "R/T' and "Demon" are fairly straight forward, but what about the Scat's logo? What could that be referencing? Today, though, our focus is on only one particular trim: the Scat Pack! As a result, we have the R/T, SRT, Hellcat, Demon, and more. However, to sell more of them at varying prices, power-levels, and rarity, Dodge needed to differentiate between the models. Off the bat, these two are already recognizable. Even today, Dodge still keeps up this line of work resulting in tons of awesome new cars (and some not so great ones, too).įor instance, there's the well-known Dodge Challenger & Charger. No matter how great your car may be, nobody's going to buy it if they don't know it exists, which is why these corporations toil day-and-night to come up with new advertising campaigns, slogans, badges, trims, etc. It's a fact of life, which is something carmakers, like Dodge, have had down-pat for decades. If you can't market yourself, your business, or your service, then any ideas of grandeur are dead before they even begin. In business, wherever you choose to be, marketing is among the most important factors that lead to future success.