• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: A Sports Car from a Company You've Never Heard Of
  • Analysts Predict Declining Tesla Sales in Q3
  • Overlanding is the New Hotness
  • New Vehicle Sales Increase in September
  • Are EVs Affordable? Only if You’re a Luxury Buyer
  • Honda Takes Wraps Off New All-Electric Prologue
  • Mercedes to Offer True Self-Driving in Late 2023
  • Biden Meets UAW Picketers, Offers Support
  • Ford Halts $3.5B MI Battery Plant; Fain Slams Company
  • An Electric Acura NSX Could Be Coming
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2024 Buick Encore GX Sport Touring AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 250+
    • A Week With: 2024 Mazda CX-90 Turbo S Premium Plus
    • A Week With: 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV
    • A Week With: The 2024 BMW i7 xDrive60
    • A Week With: 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid
    • A Week With: 2024 Subaru Impreza RS
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Desert Boss
    • First Drive: 2024 Polestar 2
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Say Farewell to Dodge Charger, Challenger — And Welcome Back to Durango Hellcat

        Say Farewell to Dodge Charger, Challenger — And Welcome Back to Durango Hellcat

        Did we mention the Dodge Challenger Convertible Concept?

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Aug. 15, 2022

        The auto industry is in the midst of its most dramatic transition in more than a century. Just about everything is undergoing change as SUVs and CUVs continue to replace sedans, coupes and sports cars, while internal combustion engines phase out in favor of EVs.

        Dodge dealers are making it easy for 2022 Dodge Challenger custo
        Dodge dealers are making it easy for 2022 and 2023 Dodge Challenger customers to add a convertible top to the world’s quickest, fastest and most powerful muscle car.

        Nowhere is that more apparent than at the Dodge brand. Best known for muscle cars like the Charger and Challenger, it will see the launch of its second utility vehicle later this year, with its first all-electric model slated to arrive in 2024. And, as part of “Dodge Speed Week,” the Stellantis brand is offering up a closer look at what’s to come — and what’s going away.

        Among other things, Dodge is teasing a series of limited-edition Charger and Challenger models, and even a drop-top muscle car package. The coming model year also will be marked by the return of the Durango Hellcat.

        The Speed Week event will lead us into the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, a celebration of classic muscle and will “pour gas on” the changes coming at Dodge, said brand boss Tim Kuniskis. It will “show people where we’re going.”

        Shifting gears

        The transition, Kuniskis said during a media background briefing, begins this coming year as the long-lived Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger models make their final stand. At least in their current configuration, that is.  But they will go out in a blaze of glory.

        The Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is back for 2023 model year and re
        The Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is back for 2023 model year and ready to reclaim its rightful mantle as the most powerful SUV on the planet.

        Among other things, Dodge will offer wannabe racers the chance to buy a rolling Challenger chassis for just $8,995. That package comes sans engine and transmission. But if you want something even more basic, you’ll be able to buy a stripped-down body-in-white package for just $7,995.

        You’ll be able to finish the package with whatever drivetrain you want — though you’ll have the option to purchase several different engine and transmission packages from Dodge’s own Direct Connection website.

        If you have to go, do it in a blaze of glory, and that certainly describes the Challenger which ended last year as the best-selling muscle car in the U.S.

        So, to mark the end of the run, Dodge will introduce seven limited-edition models for 2023. The automaker is keeping them under wraps — quite literally — only showing the “heritage-influenced” muscle cars carefully camouflaged during last week’s background session. About all the automaker would reveal is each has a connection to “an iconic Dodge model from the past.”

        Expect to hear more about six of these special edition muscle cars later this year.

        The 2023 Dodge Challenger in plum crazy
        The 2023 Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger lineup will pay homage to the muscle car pair with seven special models.

        A limited run

        Dodge plans to produce only a handful of each and they will be shipped to select dealers around the country. Kuniskis acknowledged the likelihood that there could be something of a battle ahead as Dodge fans and collectors race to nab the heritage editions. He promised Dodge will be “completely transparent about where it ships not only the special editions but also all of the final-year production of the Challenger and Charger models to help potential customers track them down.

        You’ll be able to find them on a special website: DodgeGarage.com.

        The seventh heritage model is being billed as “the very last of its kind,” and will be unveiled during the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas scheduled for Nov. 1-4, 2022.

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

        The Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger Hellcats
        The Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger, in current form, are coming to an end, but not for one more year.

        More on the agenda

        Among other plans for the coming model year, Dodge will expand the number of “jailbreak” versions of the Charger and Challenger to include the 717-horsepower SRT Hellcat packages.

        For those who’ve longed for a ragtop version of the Dodge muscle twins, you’ll be in luck this coming year. Well, sort of. “Dodge dealerships will offer an expedited ordering process for third-party convertible modifications for the 2022 Dodge Challenger through Drop Top Customs, the oldest convertible coachbuilder in the U.S.,” the automaker announced Monday.

        This will mark the first time you can get a Challenger convertible since 1971. But it won’t come cheap, Drop Top Customs dealers expected to charge $25,999 for the conversion process.

        The ongoing demand for the two Dodge muscle cars flies in the face of ongoing industry trends. But the automaker isn’t ignoring reality. Expect to hear more about its newest SUV, the Hornet, later this week. And brand boss Kuniskis already has confirmed that the most powerful version ever of the big Durango will be back for 2023.

        Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat
        The 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat’s supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 will punch out 710 hp and 645 pound-feet of torque.

        The 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat’s supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 will punch out 710 hp and 645 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough to launch the SUV from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and, according to the NHRA, should deliver quarter-mile runs of 11.5 seconds, hitting 180 mph as you blast through the traps.

        “The Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat has generated a crazy amount of enthusiasm and demand since it was introduced in 2020 — we even extended its initial production run — so it seemed appropriate to bring back the most powerful SUV ever as part of our historic 2023 model-year Dodge line-up,” said Kuniskis.

        Note that Dodge is only promising to have the Hellcat back for 2023, though Kuniskis told TheDetroitBureau.com he hopes to be able to extend the run for the supercharged package.

        The challenge will be justifying the cost of producing that big V-8.

        When the 2023 model year wraps up, Dodge not only will pull the plug on the Charger and Challenger models but also halt production at its big assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario. The factory won’t be down for long, however. It will undergo a massive transformation that will see it return in 2024 equipped to produce battery-electric vehicles.

        And that is expected to include the eagerly anticipated Dodge electric muscle car that we should hear more about later on during Speed Week.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: A Sports Car from a Company You’ve Never Heard Of

        Sept. 30, 2023

        Analysts Predict Declining Tesla Sales in Q3

        Sept. 29, 2023

        Overlanding is the New Hotness

        Sept. 29, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: