1974 · Dodge · United States
1974 Dodge Charger: The Last Year Before the Redesign, and a Missing Hardtop Count
The last B-body Charger before the 1975 personal-luxury redesign, with 5-mph bumpers, carried-over powertrains and an SE that accounted for 30,957 V-8 cars.
United States · researched through 2026-09-23
This record's own overview states that Stellantis calls 1974 the last Charger model year with enthusiast appeal, that the car grew again to meet new 5-mph impact standards, and that its powertrain choices carried over unchanged from 1973. It adds that a "Spring Special" SE added earth-tone paint in Sienna Metallic, Black Parchment and Dark Moonstone with a Parchment Brown body-side stripe and unique interior surfaces, and that the Standard Catalog records 30,957 Charger SEs built in the 1974 model year, all with V-8 engines, while no legible source for the base coupe, hardtop or Rallye totals was found.1,2
This record's own key facts restate the 30,957-unit SE figure and the three Spring Special colors, and add that the 1974 Charger selector shows five models, the SE, the two-door hardtop, the two-door coupe, and Rallye versions of both the coupe and hardtop, alongside 17 exterior colors by code. Its own production rows carry that same SE figure from a second, independent source, Flory's own table, with a note stating the two sources agree exactly on 30,957.2,3
This record's own production rows also carry Flory's asterisked totals: a 35,865-unit production figure explicitly marked "disputed" because Flory's own asterisk note says Charger coupe and hardtop production was kept combined with Coronet sedan production that year, so the figure is not a count of all 1974 Chargers, and a similarly asterisked 4,908-unit coupe figure carrying the same caveat. The record's own notes state plainly that Flory prints no production figure at all for the 1974 hardtop, marked "NA" in the source, so the hardtop count remains unknown within this record's own fields.3,3
This record's own unpublished leads section flags two separate items: a forum-derived claim of 8,876 coupes, 29,101 hardtops and 36,399 SEs built, alongside separate US sales figures and Rallye counts, a claim the record notes directly conflicts with the Standard Catalog's sourced 30,957 SE figure; and a single secondary-source claim of 661 1974 Chargers built with the 360 V-8, an engine this record's own engines section does not otherwise document at all since that section is empty for the year.2
This record's own prices section documents base MSRPs of $3,111 for the coupe, $3,311 for the hardtop and $3,641 for the SE, against an average base price of $3,354 across the line, each price paired in the record's own specifications section with a shipping weight of 3,470, 3,490 and 3,625 pounds respectively. Its options section documents the Spring Special package by name alongside a light trailer-towing package rated for a 2,000-pound trailer and a heavy trailer-towing package with a 6,000-pound load-distributing hitch, maximum cooling, an auxiliary transmission oil cooler, a 3.23 axle, a trailer brake controller, a 65-amp alternator, a high-amperage battery and a dual battery charging unit.3
This record's own paint section lists 17 colors from the 1974 catalogue plus the three Spring Special names already counted among them, and its identification section documents Flory's style numbers, WL21 for the coupe, WH23 for the hardtop and WP29 for the SE. This record's own engines, transmissions, interiors, performance and conflicts sections are all empty for 1974, a gap the record carries without substitution even though its own overview states plainly that the powertrains themselves carried over unchanged from the prior year.3
Fact sheet · 1974 · United States
The numbers
1974 Dodge Charger — The last B-body Charger before the 1975 personal-luxury redesign, with 5-mph bumpers, carried-over powertrains and an SE that accounted for 30,957 V-8 cars.
Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-23.
Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.
Key facts
Production
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charger SE2 SE · 2-door hardtop · V-8 (all) · not stated A Ward's 1975 yearbook snippet shows a '30,957 30,957' line in its 1974 series-by-engine table, consistent with an all-V-8 series, but the row label was not visible. | 30,957 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Charger SE (WP29), Flory3 SE · 2-door hardtop · not stated Agrees with the Standard Catalog's 30,957. | 30,957 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charger, total as tabulated by Flory3 not stated Flory's asterisk note says Charger coupe and hardtop production was kept combined with Coronet sedan production, so this is not a count of all 1974 Chargers. | 35,865 | built, model-year | Disputed |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charger 2-door coupe (WL21), asterisked3 Charger · 2-door coupe · not stated Asterisked in the source; see the note on the total row. | 4,908 | built, model-year | Disputed |
No sourced 1974 totals were found for the base coupe, hardtop or Rallye; forum-circulated figures are listed under unpublishedLeads.
Flory prints no production for the 1974 hardtop (WH23: '* NA *') and notes that Charger coupe and hardtop production was kept combined with Coronet sedan production; the hardtop count remains unknown.
Prices when new
| Model | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Base MSRP, Charger 2-door coupe (WL21)3 | $3,111 | base manufacturer's suggested retail price as tabulated by Flory, 1974 model year |
| Base MSRP, Charger 2-door hardtop (WH23)3 | $3,311 | base manufacturer's suggested retail price as tabulated by Flory, 1974 model year |
| Base MSRP, Charger SE (WP29)3 | $3,641 | base manufacturer's suggested retail price as tabulated by Flory, 1974 model year |
| Average base price, Charger styles3 | $3,354 | average base MSRP as tabulated by Flory, 1974 model year |
Prices are the nominal dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.
Options and packages
| Code | Option | Price | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Spring Special (SE): earth-tone paint, Parchment Brown body-side stripe, unique interior surfaces1 | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Light trailer-towing package (load-carrying hitch, up to 2,000 lb trailer) | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Heavy trailer-towing package (6,000 lb load-distributing hitch platform, maximum cooling, auxiliary transmission oil cooler, 3.23 axle, trailer brake controller, 65-amp alternator, high-amp battery, dual battery charging unit) | — | Not yet sourced |
Paint
| Code | Color | Built |
|---|---|---|
|
Sienna Metallic (Spring Special)1 | Not yet sourced |
|
Black Parchment (Spring Special)1 | Not yet sourced |
|
Dark Moonstone (Spring Special)1 | Not yet sourced |
JY6 |
Gold Metallic | Not yet sourced |
JY9 |
Dark Gold Metallic | Not yet sourced |
JL6 |
Aztec Gold Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KT5 |
Sienna Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KL8 |
Dark Moonstone Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KG2 |
Frosty Green Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KJ6 |
Avocado Gold Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KG8 |
Deep Sherwood Metallic | Not yet sourced |
JA5 |
Dark Silver Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KB5 |
Lucerne Blue Metallic | Not yet sourced |
KB1 |
Powder Blue | Not yet sourced |
KY5 |
Yellow Blaze | Not yet sourced |
KY4 |
Golden Fawn | Not yet sourced |
HL4 |
Parchment | Not yet sourced |
FE5 |
Bright Red | Not yet sourced |
EW1 |
Eggshell White | Not yet sourced |
TX9 |
Black | Not yet sourced |
Color names are the factory's. We don't show color swatches, because a screen color is no guide for a restoration.
Specifications
| Measure | Value | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping weight, Charger coupe WL213 | 3,470 lb | WL21 |
| Shipping weight, Charger hardtop WH233 | 3,490 lb | WH23 |
| Shipping weight, Charger SE WP293 | 3,625 lb | WP29 |
Identification
- Style numbers
- Flory lists the 1974 Charger coupe as WL21, hardtop as WH23 and SE as WP29.3
Identification
Read a 1974 Dodge VIN
The VIN decoder runs in your browser and never sends the VIN anywhere. How the factory numbered this year's cars:
Same model year
Also in 1974
- AMC AMX The final Javelin AMX: 4,980 built, with the Go Package's cowl induction dropped and a production run that stretched into November 1974.
- AMC Gremlin X and Spirit AMX The Gremlin X gained a 'hockey stick' stripe. The 304 V8 remained available, but no X or V8 counts for the year were found.
- AMC Javelin The Javelin's final year: 22,556 non-AMX cars on a production run extended into November 1974.
- Buick Riviera Colonnade pillared roof; 20,129 built, 1,698 with Stage One and 4,119 with the GS handling option.
- Buick Skylark Gran Sport, GS and GSX The last year a 455 Stage 1 could be had in a Buick intermediate Gran Sport; 3,355 were built, 478 of them Stage 1.
- Chevrolet Chevelle and Malibu SS The SS was gone; the new Laguna Type S-3 coupe carried the Chevelle's performance image, with a 235 net hp 454 still on the engine list.
- Chevrolet Chevy II and Nova Spirit of America Nova (RPO Z51) offered on the Custom hatchback per the source. Enthusiast-compiled production: 390,537 cars; Super Sport 21,419.
- Chevrolet El Camino SS Colonnade-era El Camino; Chevrolet's 1974 data pages define the RPO Z15 SS option for the El Camino Classic. Team Chevelle's production totals give 51,223 El Caminos built, 4,543 of them with SS equipment.
- Dodge Challenger The last original-era Challenger shared a catalog with the Dart; the 360 replaced the 340 as the optional engine and production ended in April 1974.
- Dodge Dart GTS, Swinger and Demon The 360 replaced the 340 in the Dart Sport, and Flory's production table counts 3,951 Dart Sport 360s at a $3,244 base price.
- Ford Maverick Grabber Grabber production fell to 23,502 by Classic Industries count.
- Ford Ranchero GT The Ranchero GT continued on the 1972-76 Ranchero; 11,328 GTs were built, per reference-site counts in the Standard Catalog lineage.
- Ford Thunderbird Sixth-generation personal-luxury Thunderbird; the record holds the production total and the luxury-group option prices only.
- Ford Torino The 1974 Torino grew again and added the Gran Torino Elite; the Gran Torino Sport survived only as a formal-roof hardtop, with 23,142 built.
- Mercury Cougar Outside the muscle focus: 91,670 Cougars for 1974 per Wikipedia's table.
- Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4-4-2 and Hurst/Olds The Hurst/Olds paced the Indianapolis 500 again and offered a 350 for the first time: 1,800 coupes, 380 of them with the 455 W-30.
- Plymouth Barracuda and 'Cuda The final year: Barracuda and 'Cuda hardtops with a standard 318 and a new optional 360, and 11,734 built before the line ended.
- Plymouth Duster 340 and 360 The 245 net hp 360 replaced the 340 in the Duster's best sales year: 3,969 Duster 360s among 281,378 Dusters, with Twister, Gold Duster and Space Duster packages priced separately.
- Plymouth GTX, Belvedere and Satellite In 1974 a GTX nameplate came with the Road Runner's optional 440 four-barrel, TorqueFlite required; Mueller's Muscle Car Source Book counts 386 of them.
- Plymouth Road Runner The last Satellite-based Road Runner; production roughly halved from 1973.
- Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am A new nose and the last Super Duty: 10,255 Trans Ams, 943 with the SD-455.
- Pontiac GTO The last original GTO: a package on the compact Ventura with a 200 hp 350; 7,058 built.
- Pontiac Grand Am A revised nose and 17,083 built, only 342 with a four-speed.
- Pontiac Grand Prix The 455 remains the SJ engine as Grand Prix volume falls to under 100,000.
- Pontiac Tempest and LeMans With the GTO moved to the Ventura, the LeMans GT package became the intermediate performance choice, backed by 350, 400 and 455 V8 options.