Last Call for Dodge’s V8 muscle cars

IT SEEMS that emissions free motoring has hammered the final nail into the crate of Dodge’s legendary HEMI V8 – and the muscle car range that proudly featured the engine for the best part of seven decades.

Yes, production of the Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger as we know it are coming to an end.

To mark the occasion, Dodge will release a seven-model going away party with the return of its rainbow heritage colours, an expansion of its SRT Jailbreak models, a commemorative “Last Call” plaque under the bonnet all 2023 Charger and Challenger vehicles, and a new, customer-focused allocation process.

The cars will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis.

Each model “will share a connection to an iconic Dodge model from the past, reaching back to the dawn of the muscle-car era in the 1960s and 1970s,” Dodge said in a statement. The brand will revive three beloved heritage colours including B5 Blue, Plum Crazy (purple) and Sublime (green).

The popular modern-era hue Destroyer Grey will also return to the 14-colour palette.

Further, Charger and Challenger R/T models will feature ‘345’ badging on the front guards, a nod the 345ci HEMI V8 found under the bonnet.

Dodge Demon, Hellcat, Redeye, Scat Pack, Shaker, Jailbreak…. Such iconic models have helped to celebrate a second muscle car age for the Dodge brand, continually upping performance from the brand’s mega-displacement V8 engine and providing customers with a truly wild ride.

“We are celebrating the end of an era – and the start of a bright new electrified future – by staying true to our brand,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis.

“At Dodge, we never lift, and the brand will mark the last of our iconic Charger and Challenger nameplates in their current form in the same way that got us here, with passion both for our products and our enthusiasts that drives us to create as much uniqueness in the muscle car community and marketplace as possible.”

Mr Kuniskis simultaneously announced a forthcoming line-up of seven petrol-powered and “heritage influenced” commemorative models for 2023, saying Dodge is “seizing the opportunity to celebrate in true, over-the-top Dodge style”.

The models – which include a convertible Challenger – were teased and displayed at the three-day Dodge Speed Week event at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan. Full details and specifications of the models will be released later in Las Vegas this November.

Dodge’s Challenger was the best-selling muscle car in the United States last year, with 54,314 units sold, narrowly edging out the Ford Mustang’s 52,384 units.

In July 2021, Dodge’s owner Stellantis said it planned to invest $35.5 billion ($50.6b) in EVs through to 2025. Stellantis said previously that it would offer an all-electric Dodge muscle car by 2024. 

It is further expected that the brand will introduce its first plug-in electric SUV Stateside in the form of the Hornet crossover sometime next year.

Before then, however, the Detroit-brand will also unleash its Durango Hellcat SUV for one last production run.

The seven-seat Durango Hellcat was supposed to have a one-year production run, but in response to enthusiast demand, the model is re-entering production replete with its stonking 710hp/645lb-ft (522kW/874Nm) HEMI V8 under the ‘hood’.

Dodge said customers can place their orders for the hard-charging family hauler from next month.