In September, Dodge announced the delay of its final Last Call special edition Challenger's SEMA debut (teaser image above) due to what the company called "product and supply challenges." Now, Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis tells more of the story. It turns out that the engines keep blowing up during the powerplant's development.
"I think we’ve got it figured out — if we don’t blow up any more engines," Kuniskis told The Detroit Bureau. "We think we got it fixed but I’m still holding my breath."
Gallery: 2023 Dodge Charger, Challenger Lineup Teased
With the problem potentially solved, Kuniskis expects to unveil this Last Call Challenger before the end of the year. "It’ll be a funny story later," he said referring to the development difficulties.
There's no official info available about what Dodge is planning for the final Last Call Challenger. A rumor suggests that the company is modifying the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 to run on E85 fuel. This would allegedly boost the output to 909 horsepower (669 kilowatts). For comparison, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has 808 hp (603 kW) when running on 91-octane gas and 840 hp (626 kW) when drinking 100-plus octane.
Dodge recently announced full pricing for the 2023 Charger and Challenger, including the Last Call models. At the same time, the company launched the Horsepower Locator site for buyers to find these vehicles. Users enter their zip code, select a model, and a person can find local dealers that have an allocation for what the customer wants.
While the final Last Call model isn't at this year's SEMA Show, Dodge has plenty of other exciting vehicles on display there. There's the new HurriCrate engine that lets buyers install the twin-turbo 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six into their project. Customers can select versions with estimated outputs of 420 hp (313 kW), 550 hp (410 kW), or a racing version with over 1,000 hp (746 kW).
The Hellephant crate engine offerings include new variants with a 3.0-liter supercharger. The available outputs are 900 hp (671 kW), 1,000 hp, over 1,000 hp, and more than 1,100 hp (820 kW).
Dodge's SEMA display includes a new version of the electric Charger Daytona SRT Concept in tri-coat Stryker Red paint with a black roof. The production version will be available in a variety of outputs: 455 hp (340 kW), 495 hp (370 kW), 535 hp (400 kW), 590 hp (440 kW), 630 hp (470 kW), and 670 hp (500 kW). The 800-volt SRT Banshee models will have over 800 hp (597 kW).
For more discussion about the Dodge Last Call models, check out this episode of the Rambling About Cars podcast:
