The concept to make a muscle car is simple. Keep the design bold yet basic and give it an insanely powerful engine. This ‘theory’ has worked well from the late 40s and continues to turn heads on the road. Though with time people have shifted to more slim and rounded looks, better performance, refined engines, and powertrains; some of the muscle car manufacturers stay true to the old days and still offer the same rugged and bold looks with a complete focus on brute force from the engine to the rear wheels. Dodge is one such brand that upheld the raw muscle car traditions for a very long time, but now its feet are shaking.
The Hellcat Retires
Dodge will stop production for its Challenger Hellcat and Charger Hellcat models after 2023. With this, the brand’s ultimate 6.2L V8 Supercharged Hemi engine will also exit production. It was announced at the LA Auto Show, by the CEO of Dodge. While the other engine options will still be available for both cars, it is the final run for this massive and incredibly powerful unit.
Under the hood of the Challenger and the Charger, this engine has a max power output of 717 HP and a max torque output of 656 pound-feet. It was this very engine that was offered in the infamous 2018 Limited-Edition Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, but under that hood the same engine was pushed to its limits, to deliver a max power output of 807 HP and a max torque of 707 pound-feet. It was thanks to this engine that Demon became the fastest of all production cars and had to be banned by the National Hot Rods Association (NHRA) as it ran the quarter-mile in 9.650 seconds much faster than the allowed limit.
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Future Plans
While the smaller engine options still find a place in Dodge’s portfolio, the brand aims to diversify its lineup with the edition of electric cars. The brand says that it will make three big announcements in 2022. The first of them is an “eMuscle” car concept that will get to production in 2024. The second one will be a brand-new car, and the only thing that is known about that vehicle is that it will be a plug-in hybrid. Lastly, the third car has been kept a complete mystery. It could be anything from an electric to something that even surpasses the Demon.