1970 Dodge Challenger Conv on 2040-cars

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As Dodge Challenger changes, hybrid or however else, it's sure to stay retro

Unverified rumors claim Dodge will make major technical changes to the Charger and the Challenger (pictured) to comply with looming regulations. They'll likely be lighter than they currently are, they could get smaller in nearly every direction, and you can safely bet that they'll incorporate some degree of electrification. The retro-inspired, heritage-laced design is here to stay, however. Mark Trostle, Dodge's horsepower-addicted chief of design, told Muscle Car & Trucks that looks deserve a big chunk of credit for making the Charger and the Challenger as popular as they are. Horsepower and quarter-mile times help sell cars, but it's the "magic of their design" that lures buyers into showrooms to check out the modern-day muscle cars in the metal. "I wouldn't want to ruin something that's been so successful for us," Trostle concluded. He compared the Challenger to the Jeep Wrangler, another design icon in the Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) portfolio. The offroader entered its fourth generation in 2018; every part of it is new, and it's not a Xerox copy of its predecessor, but it's still immediately recognizable as a Wrangler. Trostle hinted he's planning this type of evolutionary design for the next-generation Challenger. After all, it's part of the company's history, and heritage is something no amount of money can buy.  While it sounds like development work on the next-generation Challenger is ongoing, Dodge isn't finished with the current-generation car yet. The nameplate will celebrate its 50th birthday during the 2020 model year, and it's reasonable to assume Dodge has something special planned for it.

2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 gets race-focused upgrades

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is one hell of a machine. It's a single-minded 840-horsepower jackhammer, meant solely to burn rubber and win drag races. It's packed with all sorts of goodies like a transbrake, line lock, and a torque reserve mode. Still, it was an extremely limited-production model. It's also sold out. What do you do if you want some fun on the drag strip and you can't find our don't need the power of a Demon? Buy the new 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320. You can really think of the Scat Pack 1320 as a Demon without the wide bodywork and the supercharged 6.2-liter V8. Instead, you'll find Dodge's tried-and-true 6.4-liter naturally-aspirated V8 under the hood making 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. The TorqueFlite 8HP70 eight-speed automatic is the only available transmission. It's required equipment to use the TransBrake and Torque Reserve system. All-four wheels are wrapped in Nexen SUR4G Drag Spec 275/40R20 street-legal drag radial tires. The 1320 names comes from the length of a quarter-mile drag strip — 1,320 feet. The Scat Pack 1320 can run the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at 115 mph and hits 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds. Of course, that's in its lightest configuration. Like the Demon, the Scat Pack 1320 only comes with a driver's seat. The passenger and rear seats are each $1 options. The goal was to give grassroots racers a bare-bones performance car at a relatively reasonable price. You don't need passengers if you're only racing. You also shave 114 pounds from the car's curb weight. Other upgrades include an SRT-tuned suspension, a 3.09 rear axle ratio, 41-spline rear half-shafts, 20 x 9.5-inch aluminum-forged wheels with knurled bead seats (to keep the tires from slipping on the rim) and upgraded Brembo brakes with four-piston calipers. The Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 joins a number of other upgraded 2019 Dodge models. That includes the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye and the upgraded 2019 Charger SRT Hellcat. The Scat Pack 1320 adds $3,995 to the Challenger R/T Scat Pack's base MSRP. That's not the whole story. Since the automatic is mandatory, you need to tack on another $1,595. Add in destination, and the Scat Pack 1320 will set you back at least $45,980. Cars will hit dealer lots early next year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Guy trying to sell Challenger Hellcat for $89,000 because VIN ends in '666'

The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is undoubtedly one of the baddest cars on the road today. With a 707-horsepower supercharged V8 snarling under the hood, the coupe can go down the road like a bat out of hell. There's not much that could make one of these muscle machines much more menacing, but a seller on Craigslist has one bizarre solution: offering a hellacious Hellcat with a VIN marking the Dodge as the beastly 666. What's the price for such unholy identification? That's a cool $89,000 – around $30,000 more than a brand new, less sacrilegious example. The seller claims that the Challenger's blasphemous number makes the vehicle "one of a kind," which is true only to the extent that VINs ending 665 and 667 would be similarly unique. The seller also says in the Craigslist ad, "This car is sure to become a collector's item and will only increase in value." There's no question that the Hellcat is a special machine, and the models just might be worth something decades into the future. Expecting that a future owner is going to care about the VIN seems pretty optimistic, though, unless this is either the first or last example, which it's not. To the credit of this superstitious seller, the Challenger appears completely untouched with all of the warning stickers, paperwork and even the plastic still covering the seats. So, the new owner is at least getting a practically untouched example. While we applaud audacity here, a roughly $30,000 premium for an unholy VIN seems a bit... devilish.