Yes, you read that right, the current, gas-powered Dodge Challenger and Chargers are reaching the end of the road. Production will wrap up at the Brampton, Ontario, plant in December 2023. The good news is that the Ontario factory will be building something else in the future. The bad news is that, well, we’re losing some charismatic cars. Dodge at least is sending the cars out in style, bringing back colors, adding special edition models and even working with a third party to offer Challenger convertible conversions.
The latter is arguably the biggest news. Starting August 16, prospective Challenger buyers will be able to go into a Dodge dealer to order a convertible Challenger, something the automaker never did from the factory. Dodge itself still isn’t, but customer-ordered cars will be sent to Drop Top Customs, a company that’s been doing convertible conversions for 46 years, to be modified. The conversion adds chassis reinforcements and a power hydraulic roof. The soft-top is insulated and features a glass rear window. It’s available for 2022 and upcoming 2023 models. Available trims start with R/T and go all the way up from there. So you can have a droptop Hellcat if you want. Once the conversion is done, it’s sent back to the customer’s local Dodge dealer for pickup. It won’t be cheap, though. The conversion costs $25,999 plus the price of the car that’s being converted. By our calculations, a base R/T convertible will come in at just over $66,000.
Next up is a series of special edition Charger and Challenger models. In total, there will be seven of them, available on a variety of trims. They’re going to be revealed over the next couple of months, with the most unique model being shown at SEMA. All of them are inspired by past Dodge models, and they’ll be available at top-selling Dodge dealers around the country. Dodge will publish lists of where all these models are being allocated, along with the whole 2023 production to help buyers find examples.
Finally, Challengers and Chargers are getting a few special visual treatments for 2023. All models are part of the “Last Call” as Dodge puts it, and they will have plaques under the hood displaying the model name and the phrases “Designed in Auburn Hills” and “Assembled in Brampton.” R/T models get “345” badging on the outside, denoting the size in cubic inches of the 5.7-liter V8 they come with. Four popular colors are returning: B5 Blue, Plum Crazy, Sublime and Destroyer Grey. And, the Jailbreak special edition will be available on regular Hellcat models, rather than just Redeyes.
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Source: www.autoblog.com