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Challenger SRT Demon 170 is 'new pinnacle of factory-backed crazy' in Dodge 'Last Call'

Breana Noble, The Detroit News on

Published in Automotive News

An up to 1,025-horsepower Dodge Challenger Demon that can travel the quarter mile in under nine seconds and requires the signing of a waiver to purchase marks the end of the Hemi-powered muscle car as the brand moves into a new era of performance.

For $96,666 plus destination and other fees and the notarized disclosure, speed enthusiasts can get their hands on one of the no more than 3,300 models of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, the seventh and final special edition Dodge muscle car as a part of the Stellantis NV brand's "Last Call" lineup.

"We are going to celebrate the end," Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said in a briefing ahead of the Monday night reveal, "with what is now going to be the new pinnacle of factory-backed crazy."

Allocation to dealers is now visible on the Dodge Horsepower Locator tool, which launched in October with the full final year of allocation to dealers to help customers who want a 2023 model get one. Orders of the Demon 170 begin March 27 and close May 15 with production launching in July. Those at the manufacturer's suggested retail price will receive priority scheduling over dealers that charge more in a recovering-inventory environment from a global microchip shortage.

At least 2,500 models will be built with the hope to get up to 3,000 for the United States and 300 for Canada. That will depend on microchip availability, Kuniskis said.

Automakers typically don't end production of popular models. But thousands of dealers and high-octane addicts descended Monday upon the Las Vegas Motor Speedway like a death knell for the Challenger and Charger as they've been known because of the move to a zero-emission future.

 

Production of them will end in December at Ontario's Brampton Assembly Plant, and an all-electric Dodge muscle car will be launched in 2024. Dealers are expected to learn more about that and what the next five years for the brand hold later this week at Stellantis' dealer meeting, its first since 2015.

"We're going to show them the end of the era Monday," Kuniskis said. "And then we're going to show them the future on Wednesday."

Kuniskis wouldn't disclose how this Demon with a fully rebuilt powertrain will compare to the performance figures of the top-of-the-line Banshee trim, the battery-powered replacement for the Hellcat in Dodge's EV era.

But the brand has disclosed that on the middle 400-volt trim, factory-backed, aftersales Direct Connection kits will boost the future EV to 500 kilowatts with 670 horsepower. The Banshee will carry an 800-volt system with "a lot more" power, Kuniskis has promised, and history proves Dodge loves to outdo itself.

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