Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170
Photo: Stellantis
After nearly 20 years, the platform that underpinned three of America’s most muscular cars is coming to an end. The last of the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger have rolled off the line at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario, which will now undergo a two-year retooling process to produce the next-generation Jeep Compass and other similar vehicles. Production for future Dodge performance models will move to the nearby Windsor Assembly Plant.
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The last Challenger produced was the most powerful one yet: an SRT Demon 170 special edition capable of cranking out 1025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque, when running on E85 gasoline. Even on regular 91 octane fuel, its supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8 still puts out 900 hp. Dodge says that on a prepped surface, it clocked this demonic machine doing the quarter mile in just 8.91 seconds, with a trap time of 151 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 1.66 seconds. No wonder the company blew up a few engines while developing the thing.
This overcharged model was part of Dodge’s Last Call series for the outgoing Charger and Challenger, which celebrated the two cars’ successful run as American muscle icons. Limited editions also included the Challenger Black Ghost, Charger King Daytona, Charger and Challenger Swinger, Charger Super Bee, and Challenger Shakedown. “These are like our babies, these products, and we very much take pride in that,” said Vito Beato, president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents Brampton automotive workers. “Even though we see it every day, we still get a kick out of it, too, when we hear those cars coming off the end of the line.”
A successor to the final Dodge Challenger and Charger is in the works, but the two models will likely be merged into a single one — previewed by the Charger Dayton SRT Concept revealed in 2022. It will have both electrified and internal combustion powertrains. That includes an 800-volt “Banshee” architecture that Dodge says will beat the old V8 models “in all key performance measures,” and the twin-turbo straight-six “Hurricane” that made its debut in the Grand Wagoneer. The concept also has all-wheel drive, a creative front splitter, and exhaust amplifier that actually makes the electric whine sound interesting. As for the Chrysler 300, there’s currently no public plan to replace it.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.
