The looks of the ebody are way different , grill, tail lights, exhaust cut outs and flip gas cap just to name a few!
As far as a car beating s TA , u could build an aspen to do that!
Just look at the differences.
Okay, now, let's see. Cosmetic differences. Yup, those are there, but they were there between '70 and '71, too. My personal choice says, that of the Challengers, I prefer the '71 grille to the '70. My personal choice says that of the '70-74 run on the Barracudas I prefer the grille of the '72-'74. Not as iconic as the cheese grater of the '71, maybe, but the headlight and marker light configuration makes more sense, aesthetically, to me, than the '70.
One of the things I've always liked about the '72-'74 Barracudas is the round taillights, too. The round taillights on the '68 Charger were righteous and I'm glad Plymouth picked up on the idea and ran with it on the E-body.
Aside from those things, and a few others, like a more universal side marker light usage across the board the body lines are, for all inherent purposes the same.
Personally, I'm glad when I see folks keep the drop mouth and the round taillights. These cars, all too often, usually wind up being clones to the '70's and '71's, without any regard to the car's specificity. It's called evolution of the breed and the design engineers did just that. Look at the Charger: from a fastback, to the coke bottles, to '71-'74's, to a pseudo-luxury land barge, to the front drivers of the '80's, to the four door it is now. It's an evolution of the breed.
Fact is, if you're unwilling to pay the price for a '72-'74 that's up to you, but you shouldn't, as in
should...not, be so willing as to dictate what others may or may not like or may or may not be willing to pay based on your own personal preferences.