Back in 1979, Pontiac announced the last call for a big-engine Trans Am. No more 400s — the 6.6-liter V8s that set apart the late-1970s TA as something unlike anything else you could buy at the time.
The word got out quickly. Deposits were made. The cars were sold before they were built. "It shall not pass this way again," noted a wistful review of a 1979 Trans Am with the 400 and the mandatory Hurst-shifted manual transmission.
And here we are again.
It is the last call for the Dodge Challenger with the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 — with any V8. Anno domini 2023 will be it. And then they will be gone.
Better hurry, because it may already be too late.
What It Is
The Challenger is Dodge's hugely popular reincarnation of its 1970s-era muscle car. It comes only as a hardtop coupe, unlike its main rivals, the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, which are available as hardtop coupes and convertibles. It also differs from them both in being a physically larger and much heavier car. It also has a huge trunk, and back seats that people can realistically sit in.
But the thing that sets it apart most of all is the availability of huge and almost surreally powerful V8 engines, exceeding 1,000 horsepower in the Demon, which comes with a factory-installed parachute system.
You can still get one with a V6, if you prefer. The $31,300 SXT and the $34,400 GT come standard with one.
If you're hungry for more, Dodge has more to offer. The $70,590 Hellcat adds a supercharger that (literally) boosts the output of a specially modified, 6.2-liter version of the Hemi V8 to 717 horsepower.
But there's even more than that.
The $78,640 Redeye ups the supercharged V8's output to 797 horsepower — and we're still not done. Super Stock and Jailbreak Challengers up the ante to 807 horsepower.
And for the last call, there's the Demon with 1,025 horsepower on race gas.
What's New For 2023
Dodge is offering some last-of-the-line packages including the Black Ghost, which comes standard with the 807-horsepower supercharged V8, special black paint (with gator-skin graphics on the roof), the Wide Body exterior, a low-profile dual snorkel hood scoop, and no exterior markings to indicate it is powered by the 807-horsepower V8. This one is limited to 300 examples, each identified by a serialized "last call" plaque under the hood.
The Shakedown and Swinger packages are both limited to 1,000 copies each.
What's Good
Even with the standard V6, the Challenger has more power than most classic muscle cars with V8s.
Glorious plethora of available V8s.
The only one of the latter-day muscle cars that is a practical car — even with the 807-horsepower V8.
What's Not So Good
Last call. If you haven't already bought one, you might not be able to.
Under The Hood
The base SXT and GT Challengers come standard with a 3.6-liter V6 that makes 303 horsepower, comparable to the output of about two-thirds of the much larger V8s that came in mass-market muscle cars back in the late '60s and early '70s.
Unfortunately, you can't get a manual transmission with the 3.6 V6.
An eight-speed automatic is the only transmission with this engine. Even so, it is just as quick to 60, which it can do in 6.3 seconds.
It's the V8s that are the stars of this show, however, starting with the 375-horsepower, 5.7-liter V8 that is the standard power plant in the R/T. This one is available with a six-speed manual transmission or an eight-speed automatic. A Challenger R/T can get to 60 in just over five seconds.
Dodge also offers a 6.4-liter, 485-horsepower version of its Hemi V8 that brings the zero to 60 time down to just over four seconds.
It's available with either the six-speed manual or a heavy-duty eight-speed automatic.
More is also available in Hellcat and Redeye iterations of the Challenger. It comes in the form of a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi that starts at 717 horsepower and ascends from there (in Redeye Hellcats) to 797 horsepower, and from there to 807 horsepower in the Jailbreak, Black Ghost and Super Stock elaborations of the Hellcat.
To capstone the era, Dodge is also building 3,300 Demons, which get an 880-horsepower version of the supercharged Hemi that puts out 1,025 horsepower on race gas.
On The Road
The tested Black Ghost, with the 807-horsepower supercharged Hemi, is a car you have to learn before you can drive it.
It takes a while to get a grip on what you're dealing with here. Do not floor it the first time you drive it. Do not floor it the first time you try passing someone — not unless you are truly ready.
Even then, it is almost never necessary.
What you're driving here is a Nextel Cup stock car with AC and a very good stereo — one you'll probably never listen to because there are much better things to listen to: the keening wail of the blower, the pitch of which you can modulate with your right foot, the thunderous sound of the V8 itself, which will echo through eternity like the ancestral memory of what an angry Tyrannosaurus must have sounded like when it threw back its head and let loose what must have caused everything else within hearing range to run.
At The Curb
The Challenger is a very different kind of car than the other two cars it competes with, the Camaro and Mustang. Both competitors are compacts, each only about 188 inches long bumper to bumper. The Challenger, which is 197.5 inches long, borders on being full-sized. This is much more in tune with the original-era muscle car concept, and it shares with them the practicality that is lacking in the Camaro and Mustang. They have rear seats and trunks, but they are vestigial appendages that are as functionally useful as the appendix.
The Challenger's back seats offer a serviceable 33.1 inches of legroom, and you can sit back there without crouching forward to avoid hitting your head on the roof. The Dodge also has a full-sized car's trunk at 16.2 cubic feet, as opposed to the Camaro's absurd 9.1 cubic foot "trunk."
The Rest
It's the last call for the Challenger as well as its four-door sibling, the Charger. They are to be replaced by something with a motor that mimics the sounds of the engine that will no longer be there.
The Bottom Line
History unfortunately repeats.
It shall not pass this way again.
Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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