when did the first dodge challenger come out?

Answer 1

1970. The sister car, the plymouth Barracuda had been out since 1965 as an "A" body. For '70 the Cuda got it's own platform (the "E" body) and the Dodge boys wanted to get a piece of the Mustang/Camaro smashing fun!

Answer 2

As stated above, 1970 was the first model year of production. It was part of the line of cars known as "E-bodies" & shared that with the redesigned Plymouth Barracuda, which was formerly an "A-body".
The line ran until 1974 when both cars were killed off. From 1970-71, you could order them with big blocks(383, 440, & 426 Hemi). After that, it was strictly a small block affair (318, 340 & 360). From what I understand, the Slant-6 was not even offered as an economy option after '71.
One of the most famous performance options was the 340 T/A package. It was set up to race in the Trans Am series. It used high-impact colors(Panther Pink for instance!), a stripe kit with "T/A" emblem, twin hood scoop & a 340 with the 6-pack option.
Later in the 70s, the Mitsubishi Sapporo was badged as a "Challenger", but this was an economy compact car.

As you probably know by now, Dodge has resurrected the Challenger name plate. A concept car based on a retro-design of the '70 model was shown off earlier this year with rave reviews.

Answer 3

About 1970, for some reason it has gone thru whole redesigns. Instead of modifications for product defects. So the product after being basic, becomes a high-end luxury car the costs go up also. But luxury cars have been known to have more safety features than a race car.