50 Years Deep: Dodge Challenger Special Editions Keep On Coming

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

When Dodge first built a Challenger, back in 1959, it was actually a Coronet. A decade later, the car returned as the spiritual foundation of the coupe we know today. Presumably, the name is intended to represent Chrysler rising to meet the Challenges laid by rival manufacturers already building American muscle. But we can nitpick here endlessly, going back to the 1950s and giving the pentastar brand plenty of credit for going bananas on horsepower.

It would actually take decades for us to realize the Challenger’s true purpose — serving as a canvas for a hilarious number of special edition vehicles. Thankfully, they usually turn out to be fairly enjoyable and totally on brand, leaving us with little to complain about.

For the Challenger’s 50th anniversary, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to offer limited production Dodges in new colors with commemorative bling. It’s basically the same recipe Ford used for the 50th Anniversary Mustang but with some additional brashness from Dodge. However, while those Fords only came in Wimbledon White and Kona Blue, the Challenger comes in every high-impact paint color FCA has at its disposal — including Gold Rush.

Both models paid homage to the vehicles’ heritage, but Dodge has always managed to stay much closer to its roots (and out of its mind) with the Challenger. That’s a double-edged sword, with no shortage of pitfalls. You can’t argue with the results, especially if you’re interested in a roaring grand tourer positively dripping with nostalgia. However, we also know it’s not an automobile suited to everybody’s taste.

FCA says all Challenger 50th Anniversary Editions will receive an interior comprised largely of Nappa leather and Alcantara with Sepia accent stitching, real carbon fiber accents, and unique 50 badging throughout. That includes the gauge cluster and seat backs, in case you suddenly forgot where the extra money went.

Limited to just 1960 examples, Dodge is breaking everything down by color — issuing 280 models in Gold Rush, Frostbite, Hellraisin, Sinamon Stick, TorRed, F8 Green (a personal favorite), and Go Mango. That is further broken down into four models, which get 70 examples of each color.

Those include the Dodge Challenger GT RWD (the only model that doesn’t receive a shaker hood as standard), R/T Shaker, R/T Scat Pack Shaker, and the latter’s wide-body counterpart. They’ll all be issued a plaque indicating their production order in the aforementioned groups of 70. Special edition models receive retro wheels Dodge is calling “Gold School” and gunmetal brakes. The latter item is, once again, optional on the rear-drive GT.

AWD Challengers are ineligible, but 50th anniversary touches will be fitted to all 2020 model-year Challenger SRT Hellcat and Hellcat Redeye models by default.

Dodge says it’s asking an extra $4,995 for the Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition, but that only applies to the lowest trim level. Climbing the ladder ends at $5,995 with the Scat Pack cars, which do come with the most content. Orders open next month, with deliveries commencing in the spring.

[Images: FCA]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Dantes_inferno Dantes_inferno on Nov 21, 2019

    >50 Years Deep: Dodge Challenger Special Editions Keep On Coming... And so do the recalls: https://www.cars.com/articles/2019-dodge-challenger-charger-recall-alert-412441/ FCA = Dodge testing, RAM into production...

  • Kkop Kkop on Nov 21, 2019

    About to trade my 2012 Challenger R/T in. 106,000+ mostly trouble-free miles, with a sticky steering rack being the only hiccup. Will hate to see it go, but our current situation calls for a 4WD-capable truck, not a sedan. Would recommend the Challenger without hesitation. As far as the "Complete with the wait-just-a-second I’ll-get-around-to-it throttle delay", that just means you're doing it wrong by driving an automatic Challenger ;-) Seriously, I own a Ram 1500 with that same ZF transmission, and the smooth and immediate response is what I (and many others) love about it. Perhaps that Challenger's transmission's programming needed an update?

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