The Dodge Challenger has now become the number two best-selling sports car in America.

It’s actually quite surprising to see a car as old as the Challenger beating out the Camaro for popularity. Both cars have incredible heritage, and both cars offer incredible performance (although the Camaro seems to care a little more about cornering than the Challenger). But the Camaro entered it’s 6th generation not too long ago (2016), while the Challenger has been soldiering on with the same chassis for the past 11 years.

And yet, the Challenger’s sales remain steady at around 65,000 per year for the past 4 years, according to CarSalesBase.com. They even increased from 2017 to 2018, going from 64,537 to 66,716 Challengers sold. In fact, 2018 was the best year yet for the Dodge Challenger in terms of sales.

Meanwhile, things haven’t been so great for the Chevrolet Camaro. Sales plummeted 25% from 2017 to 2018, down to 50,963 Camaros sold from and down almost a third from its peak sales of 72,705 in 2016.

It’s normal for a sports car to steadily lose sales after a redesign, but the Camaro is losing ground very quickly. The Challenger, on the other hand, is improving in sales, while the Mustang’s sales are remaining mostly flat.

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And things are still the same in the first quarter of 2019. According to a new report from the Detroit Free Press, "In first quarter 2019, Mustang sold 16,917 for 29% of market; Challenger sold 13,431 for 23%; Camaro sold 12,083 for 21%."

2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Stars & Stripes Edition
via Fiat Chrysler

Freep also revealed that the average Challenger buyer is 51, which seems to indicate that the chief buyer is younger Baby Boomers or older Gen-Xers that have plenty of cash to spend on a flashy ride.

Fiat Chrysler also does a great job of keeping the Challenger fresh with plenty of special editions, like the recently announced Stars and Stripes edition that appeals to America’s military servicemen and women.

Today is a golden age of American muscle cars and its the Challenger that has captured the image of what modern muscle should look like.

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