#DodgeChallenger

Today we offer up a 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T for your perusal.

We've slowly been saying goodbye to the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and Dodge Challenger -- now we can officially wave goodbye to the platform, including the Hemi.

The Challenger Demon 170 is Dodge’s final sendoff for the cars, and with just 3,300 units planned for the car’s last hurrah, it will be one of the most exclusive models in the expansive series. The lucky few to get their hands on the car include celebrities and automotive royalty like Jay Leno, but there are plenty of “everyday” buyers, too. To help make the experience even more special for buyers, Dodge offers a series of “after-delivery” products exclusively for the car.

It’s no secret that the Dodge Challenger and Charger as we know them are going away, but learning that production is ending at the end of July really brings the point home. So, if you’re on the hunt for a new Dodge muscle car, you’ve only got ten days left to act. 

Today's used car of the day is barely used. A Michigan-based seller has simply decided it's already time to move on to the next thing -- this seller claims not to be a flipper.

We haven't featured too many Dodge Challengers -- if we've featured any at all -- in this slot. So, today, we've got a nice 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T for you.

I almost didn't pick this car because the ad copy is thinner than a sliced piece of deli meat, but I couldn't resist because seeing a slightly-used car priced under MSRP at just a year old is pretty rare right now.

Big change is in the air at Chrysler and company these days, as the rear-drive LX platform heads off into the sunset. With a longevity of two decades - far beyond the reach of the majority of current platforms - it seems fitting to eulogize the LX at this juncture. The end of the LX represents more than just the end of the rear-drive internal combustion vehicle at Chrysler.

It’s also the end of two gasoline-powered Dodge muscle cars, the Charger and Challenger (only the Charger returns as an EV). The LX is also the basis of the last two remaining full-size American sedans: Charger and 300C. In 2023 all the last LX-based vehicles will roll off the line, wearing their various gaudy special edition gingerbread. Before that time comes, we should consider all the cars that brought us to this point.

You may have heard that this is the last model year for the Charger and Challenger as we know them today. As a send-off, Dodge is creating a yaffle of special editions based on past packages or trims – along with allocating the entire year’s run at once. The latter is surely causing dealer principals to talk into their morning hit of cocaine caffeine. 

Here’s the first – a Dodge Challenger Shakedown.

The TTAC podcast is back! In our fourth episode, we talk Ford Lightning, Kia Sportage, Formula One in Miami, and the best cars from 2007.

Dodge decided to nix the six-speed manual for Challenger Hellcat models last November, indicating that it would be a temporary issue. The automaker allegedly planned to deliver an updated version and said it was actively calibrating the powertrain to see what worked ahead of pulling the old version from the assembly line. It was minor news and everyone following the industry promptly forgot about it, assuming three-pedal Challengers would be back in action before anyone noticed.

It’s now four months later and the option is still nowhere in sight.

For the first time since American muscle returned to the assembly line in earnest, Dodge’s Challenger has managed to outsell both the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro inside the United States. Though Mopar fans might point out that Dodge would win every year if we bothered to include Charger sales in the headcount or were more precise when making determinations about what constitutes a muscle vs pony car.

Regardless of semantics, the Big Three have their performance icons and the Challenger has taken the two-door sales crown for the first time in modern history. Sadly, it was less about Dodge making inroads with new customers than it was about the other brands flubbing things. Performance vehicles aimed at the middle class are presently experiencing a rough patch, with the Challenger having lost the least amount of ground in the last decade.

We don’t normally pay too much attention to pony-car pissing contests or quarter-to-quarter sales battles because, well, they aren’t always interesting and/or newsworthy.

What happened this past quarter caught our eye, however.

A 2,000 horsepower 1970 Dodge Challenger was selected Best in Show from a group of 50 vehicles at the Barrett-Jackson auction this past weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona, and awarded the 2021 Barrett-Jackson Cup. The Challenger was among five finalists, including a ’32 Ford Tudor, ’55 Chevrolet Bel Air, ’63 Chevrolet Bel Air Wagon, and a ’70 Ford F-100 Pickup.

Dodge has long been synonymous with high levels of horsepower. Modern-day marketing materials practically scream it into your ear, acknowledging the company’s historic penchant for providing ludicrous amounts of power for hysterically low prices. The reality is a bit more complicated, however. While Mopar brands were indeed offering some of the best bang-for-your-buck muscle cars, back when they were a tad more novel, some of the fastest machines actually came from General Motors and Ford.

Today’s situation is very much the same. When the rest of the industry started downsizing powertrains, Dodge was still trying to squeeze even more juice from its colossal V8 engines — installing them anywhere they might fit. Rivals quickly got wise to its attempt to corner a segment just about everyone else had abandoned, resulting in gems like the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 or Ford Shelby GT500. But with everyone now back on board with the concept of displacement meaning power, Dodge has decided to change tactics.

What if it manufactured the V8 offering the smallest amount of horsepower imaginable?