Dodge's Last Call Finale Is Delayed Because Its Engines Keep 'Blowing Up'
Things are about to change for the folks at Dodge. The automaker’s popular Charger and Challenger offerings are leaving the market after the 2023 model year, slated to be replaced by an all-electric take on the muscle car formula. Dodge has been celebrating its longstanding nameplates recently with a slew of special edition models known as the Last Call lineup. The seventh and final special edition model was slated to arrive at the 2022 SEMA Show, but that’s no longer the case. According to CEO Tim Kuniskis, the reasoning is rather explosive.
Dodge has already pulled the cover off of six of the Last Call special edition models, including highlights like the Challenger Black Ghost and the Charger Super Bee. That said, the automaker has been hyping fans up about the seventh model for weeks at this point. We’ve been told that this final offering will be the most exciting of the bunch, initially making it a perfect fit for a SEMA Show debut. According to a report from The Detroit Bureau, Kuniskis shared a few more details about the final Last Call model during a backgrounder event for the upcoming festivities in Las Vegas. The executive specifically noted that the car will put the traditional Hellcat-powered vehicles to shame, but acknowledged that it won’t be ready in time for the show. That’s because Dodge has run into some issues with the powertrain stuffed inside this upcoming model.
“But we ran into some problems,” Kuniskis told media. “To be more precise, the modified V-8 has been blowing up when pushed to the limits in the Dodge test lab. We’re not talking about a minor breakdown. Apparently, the engines really have been blowing up.”
As R&T first reported back in July, rumors have swirled that Dodge is planning to unveil a variant of the Challenger capable of running on E85 fuel. This model was rumored to bring as much as 909 hp to the table, which is 202 more than the original 6.2-liter Hellcat engine provided when it arrived in 2015. In fact, that’s quite a bit more power than provided by the Dodge Demon, which makes just 840 hp when running on race fuel. Those sorts of power levels could explain why Dodge is currently struggling with reliability as far as the final Last Call model is concerned. Dodge requires all of its production engines to survive extensive dyno testing, during which time the engines may be run at full tilt for hundreds of hours.
“I think we’ve got it figured out — if we don’t blow up any more engines,” said Kuniskis. “We think we got it fixed but I’m still holding my breath.”
Kuniskis went on to note that it is possible that we’ll see this high-powered muscle car before the year is out, but that will depend solely on whether or not the team can make the motor work reliably. Here's hoping we don’t have to wait too long for that to happen, as Stellantis already has plans for the Brampton, Ontario assembly plant where the Charger and Challenger are built. The facility is slated to undergo a yearlong retooling process ahead of the debut of the electric muscle car offerings after the 2023 model year wraps up. Hopefully we see another version of the gas-powered muscle car leave the plant before that takes place.
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