Thirteen months ago, I claimed that the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT EV concept looked surprisingly production-like. It turns out, I wasn’t wrong. Pictures of what appears to be the unibody for Dodge’s Challenger replacement have leaked online, and from what we can see, it looks almost exactly like last year’s concept car.
These photos leaked on Twitter day, as you can see below, though it’s not clear where they originated. The images are claimed to be from inside a Stellantis production facility.
Granted, there’s only so much we can see from these pictures, given that they contain no subframes, no doors, no bumpers, no glass, no trim, no suspension, and no powertrain bits. We’re literally just talking about the unibody. However, we are looking at a two-door liftback coupe with a pronounced shoulderline and fixed quarter windows, which totally makes this thing Dodge’s Challenger replacement. Sure, the pillarless greenhouse of the concept doesn’t carry over, but I guess we can’t have everything. We haven’t seen a liftback in the American pony car segment since 2002, so this should be a welcome dose of practicality in an otherwise indulgent form.
These photos appear to have possibly been taken inside Stellantis’ Windsor Assembly plant, which would make sense given Stellantis’ investment in the Windsor area for electric vehicle battery pack production, and a previous announcement claiming STLA Large vehicle production will occur in Windsor. Dodge has been hyping up its future electric lineup, so it would be good practice for future models to be built closer to where the batteries are. It’s worth noting that STLA Large is a flexible architecture, and these shells appear to be set up for combustion power. Stellantis has confirmed in a product roadmap that a battery electric option will be available at launch.
New Charger, who dis? pic.twitter.com/2HjbZ0U5JK
— Takuro Spirit ???? (@TakuroSpirit) October 17, 2023
In addition, multiple unibodies are shown in leaked pics, which suggests that the automaker is gearing up for pilot builds. Dodge has previously announced that its next generation of muscle cars will arrive in 2024, and given standard development timelines, it seems plausible Stellantis is in the manufacturing phase of pre-production.
In any case, we’ll likely just have to hold onto our butts for now, taking solace in the knowledge that the next generation of Dodge performance cars will look pretty much like the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee concept from 2022. Expect a mixture of combustion-powered and battery-electric models, and an official launch sometime next year.
Hat-tip to Discord member JCat for the tip! Sign Up for the Discord here.
(Photo credits: Unknown, Stellantis, Thomas Hundal)
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It is a very nice rig for today’s 4 inch windows but for what it is going to cost give me a dozen decent old beaters.
Interested to see how the front end ends up… The front wing/airflow setup is very cool way of getting aerodynamics with a bigger front end on the electric… but wonder if that will carry over to the ICE version, or just a normal front end.
Mopar Insiders has speculated that the R-wing on the front of the Charger Daytona BEVs will be standard across the entire Daytona BEV line. But when it comes to the ICE versions of the Charger (missing the Daytona name), that they will probably have a similar look but without the R-wing to package in the radiator for the engine.
https://moparinsiders.com/dodge-could-offer-two-drastically-different-versions-of-its-next-gen-muscle-cars/
It looks very “late model Camaro” to me. Dangerous territory, if you ask me.
Are you sure we’ll be able to see out of the side windows?
While I like it a lot so far, the red one makes me more than a little claustrophobic just by looking at it. I hope the view from inside is better.
See out of side windows? I’m pretty sure most charger owners don’t look before changing lanes.
If the Charger Daytona were the size of a Camaro, sure it might be a little claustrophobic. I saw the Charger Daytona Banshee at the LA Auto Show. it’s a BIG car, about the same size as the current Charger. Window size looked to be decent.
I like a lot of what’s going on here looks wise but the front and the side just don’t seem to go together looking at the 3/4 view. I think it was always a problem with the Challenger (I’m calling this a challenger) is the side just always had these huge flat doors that look like a barn. Would love to see Frank Stephenson pen some lines over these pictures to see what he thinks.
The wheel and tire combo on that red one is really doing it for me
of course they abandoned the no B pillar which is what made the show car sexy.
That’s better looking than I expected. But given the 2 door body style, wouldn’t this actually be the new Challenger? The Charger would be a 4 door, no?
I dig the look.
Honestly, I would love to see Stellantis resurrect the AMC car brand to sell EVs (AC Motor Company). This could be the AMC Javelin.
We could get Eagle Wagons, AMX’s, and Ramblers that are electric, powerful, and have some heritage, but won’t take away from the style language of the existing dino powered fleet. It doesn’t take away from what they are doing. It is additive.
The only problem… Stellantis currently has 50 car brands (or something like that). Never going to happen.
I agree; I’d certainly consider an EV Gremlin.
I once owned a Hornet
FastHatchback. I’d love to see that reimagined…Instead, the Hornet name got plastered on yet another compact CUV.
Maybe it would be EMC, secretly meaning European Motor Corporation, but advertised as the Electric Motor Company.
The AMX was a very good-looking car, and would make a great starting point for a modern electric or hybrid muscle car.
the overall shape actually reminds me of the Dixie version of the Rodger Dodger with the flat hood. I get the reason for the hatch considering the short ass end, but I still am not enamored with a hatch.
Fugly
You’re Fugly!
Thanks. Great talk.
But seriously the Challenger has always been fugly and this “ev film noir” version doesn’t help.
I was just kidding. But one discrepancy I see… they are calling this a Charger when it’s a 2 door model. I would think the 2 door would be the Challenger and the 4 door would be the Charger.
The current Challenger always looked a little too stubby to me… like the design needed a bit more length to look right.
This new one looks quite a bit better to me.
I personally don’t want it, in my books muscle cars are weekend/car event toys that have V8 and costs fuckton of money to run & maintain (in my side of the pond). But I don’t mind that it exists.
However it kinda looks like the new Nissan Z. Again, I don’t mind it, but doesn’t really make it more desirable.
On this side of the pond they are rather expensive by now, cost a lot (for fuel) to run, but are pretty cheap to maintain. Most of the parts were used in ordinary, mass-produced cars.
As much as I’m not a fan of the current crop of challenger/charger/etc, I’m really happy these are going into production. We need more cars with character, and especially going into the EV age. Anyone bringing out an EV with 2 doors and some personality’s gold in my book, even if they do wind up shipping with little yellow scrape guards on the bumpers.
Someone at WAP is getting fired….. Maybe it’s a shot at Stellantis for being slow on negotiation with Unifor lol ????
These kinds of “leaks” are typically approved by the manufacturer. It’s “leaked” to drum up excitement during slow news cycles. It gives us all something to keep us engaged and discussing about it during the slow process from concept reveal until production reveal.