Dodge Drops Big 2023 News; Carbon Fiber Charger, Legacy Colors & More
Dodge Challenger, Charger and Durango all get some added options for 2023, as does the Direct Connection program.
On Monday, August 15, Dodge hosted the first of three days of “muscle announcements” at the M1 Concourse racing facility in Metro Detroit. This first day was scheduled to focus on the current lineup, and it comes as little surprise that Tim Kuniskis and his team have pulled out all of the stops for the final year of the current generation Challenger and Charger.
“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, Dodge brand chief executive officer – Stellantis. “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.”
There was even some exciting Durango production news, along with an array of new parts coming to the Direct Connection lineup and today, we bring you a look at all of Monday’s Speed Week News.
Durango Hellcat is Back
First up, the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is returning for the 2023 model year. When introduced for the 2021 model year, the brand said that it would only last for one year due to the fact that the supercharged Hemi wouldn’t meet federal emission regulations, but the engineers found a way to comply to the absurd laws and they did so without cutting into the output.
This roomy SUV still packs 710 horsepower and 645 lb-ft of torque, leading to easy 11-second quarter mile passes, but it will also pull an 8,700-pound trailer.
Challenger Convertible Arrives
For many moons, Dodge enthusiasts have asked for a convertible Challenger that offered the open air comfort that Mustang and Camaro owners enjoy. Dodge dealerships will offer a Challenger convertible for the 2023 model year and as an interesting twist, those folks buying a 2022 model can also opt for the convertible package.
The Dodge Challenger Convertible package is being offered by dealerships, but it is not being fully built at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada. The car is built as a coupe, on the line with the rest of the coupes, but before being delivered to the dealership where it was ordered, it heads to Drop Top Customs for the convertible conversion. That well-known company, which has been building Challenger convertibles for more than a decade, removes the hard top, adds a power soft top and chassis supports, then ships it to the dealership for delivery.
The process for the customer is no different than when buying a Challenger coupe; it just costs a bit more. A whole lot more, actually, with the MSRP being $25,999. Mind you, that doesn’t include the price of the car itself, so if you order an $80,000 Challenger Hellcat Redeye with the convertible package, you will be paying upwards of $106,000. With a price like that, the take rate will likely be lower than the competition, but this offering will lead to some unique collectible cars being built in the final year of production.
2023 Challenger and Charger Updates
In addition to the arrival of the Challenger Convertible, Dodge has several other changes to the lineup for both of their cars in the 2023 model year.
Three popular colors from the past are returning to the 2023 Challenger and Charger lineup, with B5 Blue, Plum Crazy and Destroyer Grey joining the lineup, leading to a total of 14 available exterior colors.
The Jailbreak package, first introduced last year for the Challenger and Charger in SRT Hellcat Redeye trim, will be available for the non-Redeye Hellcat cars in 2023. This will allow people who are ordering one of the 717-horsepower muscle cars to put together whatever combination they want of exterior colors, interior colors, wheel design, badge colors and more.
Next, regardless of the vehicle, model or trim level chosen, every 2023 Dodge Challenger and Charger will have a “Last Call” commemorative plaque in the engine bay.
The last bit of information on the 2023 Challenger and Charger focused on seven new models which will debut starting later this month and extending through September and into November. The first six, which will debut in the final two weeks of August and throughout September, are “buzz models” inspired by the brand’s heritage. These cars will not be something that customers can order.
Instead, they will be built at random in limited numbers and shipped to the top dealerships in the country. Customers can watch for these cars on the Dodge website, where the brand will display their entire 2023 inventory and allocation figures, and try to rush to dealerships to buy these special vehicles on a first come, first serve basis.
Finally, the seventh new model is one that Kuniskis has promised will not be a buzz model but instead, it will be the next automotive legend. We expect this to be a big-power Challenger and it will debut in November at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It was teased at the Monday event in Metro Detroit with a license plate that reads “1FAST29”…but we aren’t sure what that could mean.
New Direct Connection Items
In addition to all of the cars mentioned above, the Brampton Assembly Plant will build two “cars” for Direct Connection during the final year of production for this Challenger. We put cars in quotes because they aren’t exactly complete cars. One is a body-in-white, which is literally just the body and fixed chassis components and the other is the new Drag Pak Rolling Chassis.
The Direct Connection Drag Pak Rolling Chassis comes with double-adjustable Drag Pak-specific tuned Bilstein coilover shocks, a four-link rear suspension setup, a Strange Engineering 9-inch rear end, Strange Engineering Pro Series II racing brakes, Weld beadlock lightweight wheels with Mickey Thompson drag racing tires and a chromoly roll cage that is NHRA approved to get down to 7.50 in the quarter-imile. The buyer just adds their engine and transmission and they are ready to go drag racing.
The Challenger body-in-white costs $7,995 and the Drag Pak Rolling Chassis costs $89,999.
Next for those folks looking to build a race car or a very stout street car, Direct Connection will soon begin offering the 2.7-liter Redeye/Demon supercharger, the 3.0-liter Hellephant supercharger, American Racing Headers for a variety of engines and a collection of carbon fiber body parts from Speedkore.
Finally, Finale Speed has contracted with Direct Connection to produce entire 1970 Dodge Charger bodies in carbon fiber, and in the near future, there will be Roadrunner and Barracuda bodies offered as well – all of which will lead to some incredible project cars for folks with deep pockets.
Photos: Patrick Rall
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