Such a Tease: Fiat Chrysler's At It Again

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Remember the ridiculously long lead-up to the release of Dodge’s Challenger SRT Demon? That never-ending trail of breadcrumbs leading to the hottest LX-platform car to date? Yeah, that one.

The teasing grew tiresome after a while. Many buyers and writers (circles that rarely cross) were about to get up and leave the bar, until FCA finally debuted the limited-run, 840-horsepower drag beast.

Well, it looks like FCA’s on the make again.

FCA design boss Ralph Gilles kicked things off by selling a used car. Not just any used car, but his 2018 Demon — a barely-driven vehicle bearing 1,302 miles on the odometer, according to the Detroit-area listing. The asking price is just south of $140k, which isn’t unexpected given the model’s scarcity and connection to FCA royalty. Gilles headed up the automaker’s SRT division before donning his design hat.

The listing came to everyone’s attention via an Instagram post from the seller himself, and contained within was a tease of something looming just over the horizon.

Claiming that he only put 1,200 miles on the thing, Gilles said the vehicle’s history contains zero trips to the drag strip, which sounds like the experience of most other Demons thus far. He also added the reason he’s letting it go.

Drumroll, please.

“Sadly it’s time to move on as I need to make room for another equally devilish project…,” Gilles wrote, sending the rumor mill into a high boil.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @ralphgilles on Dec 5, 2019 at 3:09pm PST

Is speculation about a possible return of the Viper more credible than we’re led to believe, or is there somehow a hotter Challenger variant on the way? Given the company’s finances and attitude, the latter scenario is more likely. Gilles wouldn’t elaborate beyond that one comment.

Expect this to be the first of many teases of whatever this thing is. FCA loves milking the buildup to new releases, and the Challenger’s healthy sales and secured near-term future means there’s still space left on this palette on which to paint.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Garrett Garrett on Dec 11, 2019

    Hellcat powered Grand Caravan, with a wide body kit that makes it as wide as a Ram 2500. Please.

  • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Dec 11, 2019

    BTSR if you're out there you'd better buy this with some of that Tesla stock you allegedly had.

  • Arthur Dailey Good. Whatever upsets the Chinese government is fine with me. And yes they are probably monitoring this thread/site.
  • Jalop1991 WTO--the BBB of the international trade world.
  • Dukeisduke If this is really a supplier issue (Dana-Spicer? American Axle?), Kia should step up and say they're going to repair the vehicles (the electronic parking brake change is a temporary fix) and lean on or sue the supplier to force them to reimburse Kia Motors for the cost of the recall.Neglecting the shaft repairs are just going to make for some expensive repairs for the owners down the road.
  • MaintenanceCosts But we were all told that Joe Biden does whatever China commands him to!
  • Rick T. If we really cared that much about climate change, shouldn't we letting in as many EV's as possible as cheaply as possible?
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