By Robert Tate, Award-Winning Automotive Historian and Researcher
Images Courtesy of Stellants North American Archives
Published 10.23.2024
An early sketch of the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T (Stellantis North American Archives)
Retired automotive designer Thomas C. Gale is remembered by many as the man who put Chrysler styling back on top. He was a great leader and talented automotive designer.
Tom Gale with the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept (Stellantis North American Archives)
Gale started his career with Chrysler in 1967 as an engineer before moving over to the design side. His first assignment at Chrysler was working on the restyling of a new Plymouth Barracuda. Gale became Vice President of Product Design at Chrysler in 1985. Later, he led Chrysler’s International Operations from 1991 until June 1993.
The 1999 Dodge Charger RT Concept with earlier Dodge models (Stellantis North American Archives)
In late 1991, Gale and his staff moved into Chrysler’s new modern design center in Auburn Hills Michigan. Under Gale’s leadership, Dodge then began work on developing one of the best-looking concepts of all time. Over its history, Dodge concept models have always offered great styling appeal and often proved to be very popular. The 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept was introduced at the 1999 North American International Auto Show.
The 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept (Stellantis North American Archives)
I always thought the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept took many styling cues from the popular 1960s Chargers. It was amazing to see that famous Coke Bottle shape again. The concept offered four doors, which many automotive enthusiasts were surprised by, but thoroughly enjoyed. The styling team also designed the rear doors in the body shape so they would not be noticed easily. The concept also offered a long nose design with Chrysler’s popular cab forward look and was built on a heavily modified Chrysler LH platform with rear-wheel drive. The vehicle’s interior was designed by Trevor Creed.
A rear view of the 1999 Dodge Charger RT concept (Stellantis North American Archives)
The 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept offered very little promotional material on this unique vehicle, however the focus of the messaging was “Charger R/T Flexes Muscles. Flexes Fuel.” Promotional information on the concept is very rare today.
Another view of the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept (Stellantis North American Archives)
Many people asked why Chrysler never put this popular concept model into production. Many automotive enthusiasts said the sedan would have had excellent performance potential if it had been manufactured. Motor Trend Magazine said, ”It was 1999, and everyone was waiting for the year 2000 to bring us the dawn of a glorious future of mankind’s destruction at the hands of the Y2K bug. Turns out what it really brought us was a resurgence of retro-styled automotive concepts like this Dodge Charger R/T that debuted at the 1999 North American International Auto Show.”
A promotional photo of the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T concept (Stellantis North American Archives)
In conclusion, the 1999 Dodge Charger R/T was one of my favorite concept models of all time. The model still looks great today and remains popular at auto shows.
A rear view of the 1999 Dodge Charger RT concept on display at the auto show (Stellantis North American Archives)
Bibliography
Adler, Dennis. “Chrysler Dodge DeSoto Plymouth Imperial.” Foreword by Thomas C. Gale. MBI Publishing Company, 2000.
“Forward: The American Heritage of Daimler Chrysler.” Daimler Chrysler Corporation. Walter P. Chrysler Museum. Produced by Zenda Inc.
Lamm, Michael & Holls, Dave. “A Century of Automotive Style 100 Years of American Car Design.” Lamm-Morada Publishing Company Inc., 1997.