It’s fair to say that the new Dodge Charger hasn’t exactly set the muscle car world alight since being unveiled last year. Only available either as an EV or with a twin-turbo straight-six, the battery-powered car in particular has been struggling, but the model’s biggest problem in the eyes of long-time Dodge fans is the absence of any V8 versions. That could be about to change, though.
Things have changed dramatically at Dodge and at the North American branch of its parent company, Stellantis, since the new Charger was unveiled last year. Back then, the company’s beloved Hemi V8 was living on borrowed time, with plans to phase it out entirely well in motion, much to the chagrin of enthusiasts.
Dodge Charger saloon and coupe
Those plans were thought to have been largely backed by now-former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, and allegedly went against the wishes of many others at the company. Since Tavares left that role, the company’s US brands have made almost complete 180s.
The Hemi has returned to the Ram pickup after a year’s absence, and plans have been announced to relaunch the almost-dormant SRT performance badge, complete with a teaser underscored by rumbly V8 noises.
Hemi V8
Amid all this, rumours of the reinvigorated Hemi being installed in the new Charger have been bubbling away, and now Dodge is teasing the arrival of ‘new muscle’ at the Roadkill Nights event in Detroit tomorrow, Friday 8 August.
While nothing’s confirmed, everything would seem to point to a V8-powered Charger being unveiled at the show. Should it happen, it would be quite the turnaround – as recently as last December, Dodge was adamant that a Hemi version of the car would never happen, both for brand image and practical engineering reasons. Still, with the speed at which the brand has been trying to turn around its image, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s found a solution.
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