RE: 'Last Call' Black Ghost confirmed for Europe
RE: 'Last Call' Black Ghost confirmed for Europe
Wednesday 24th May 2023

'Last Call' Black Ghost confirmed for Europe

Number two-of-seven Hemi specials is the 807hp Challenger - and it's coming here (well, sort of)


Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… It’s a countdown, but rather than an exciting one, like the launch of a space rocket, this is more of a countdown to doomsday. The end of the petrol-powered Dodge Charger and Challenger, and in turn, the wonderful Hemi. On the plus side, each count represents a new, special edition, each one harking back to past Dodge icons.

The first of these ‘Last Call’ series of models was the Dodge Challenger Shakedown. Next in line is this, the Challenger Black Ghost. Not all the seven specials are bound for Europe, though. We’ll only see five of them. But Dodge has now confirmed that the Black Ghost is among them. Hurrah, because, well, just look at it.

As we explained when the manufacturer revealed the car last year, the Black Ghost is a reinterpretation of the 1970 Dodge Challenger RT SE. That car was owned by Godfrey Qualls and its ionic black livery suited its purpose as an underground racer on the streets of Detroit.

As such, the Black Ghost’s black-and-chrome appearance, and black ‘gator skin’ roof vinyl graphics, mimic the original. It also comes with other delectable trinkets, such as black Mopar ‘hood pins’ and ‘20-by-11-inch Satin Carbon Warp Speed wheels’.  The black theme runs right down to the black, six-piston Brembo calipers.

The Black Ghost will also be recognisable by its Challenger script badges on the grille, wings and spoiler, and inside it comes with Alcantara and Laguna leather seats, an Alcantara steering wheel with red SRT logo, and a Dynamica suede headliner. It also some proper carbon fibre for the bezels.

That’s all fine, but for a model celebrating the underground muscle car fraternity and Hemi pedigree, what’s under the ‘hood’? How about 807hp? Yep, thought that would make your eyes widen and turn that frown upside down. The base car is the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, and only 300 of these Black Ghosts specials will be made - which makes it quite something that Dodge has opted to offer the car in the Old World. 

“There are so many legendary muscle cars in Dodge brand history, it was hard to choose the seven vehicles we wanted to pay homage to with our Last Call lineup,’ said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer, ‘but the Black Ghost was an easy pick’.

Once all 300 are sold, the countdown begins again with model number three in the Last Call series. It’ll be one nearer to doomsday, true, but this is a double-edge sword – as in, we can’t wait to see what’s next. We do know the names of them, just not the specs yet. One of them will be called the Charger Scat Pack Swinger, so expect to see one of those parked in the driveway any house with a pampas grass outside. 


Author
Discussion

Big Rat

Original Poster:

384 posts

76 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Been fortunate enough over the years to had some great cars Porsche, Aston Martin, ‘M’ cars and so on but never ever anything from the states……
Thought about a 60’s muscle car just not sure about this later stuff….
I do get some of the appeal as a last gasp of ICE…….

a11y_m

1,861 posts

252 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Yep, I would.

Anyone who's not familiar with the Black Ghost history, this is a good watch:

https://youtu.be/Jd0io1zktqI

FaustF

812 posts

184 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Would love to see some driving round this Isle.

What a good humoured car, knows exactly what it is and what it stands for.

DodgyGeezer

48,995 posts

220 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
love it - though truth be told I'd be happier with one of the other last call models (I don't really like black)

Cledus Snow

2,143 posts

218 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all


coffee

Matt Harper

7,046 posts

231 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Cledus Snow said:


coffee
Was about to post this very same vid. All is not what it initially seemed..... it would seem.

ManyMotors

1,108 posts

128 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Get one and be the burnout King or Queen.

gruppeb86

641 posts

43 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Quite interested in one of these if only to dispatch the school run in the shortest amount of time.

Bobupndown

2,977 posts

73 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Wonder will they do a final edition Charger in orange?

Big Rat

Original Poster:

384 posts

76 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Don’t know how much YouTube stuff others watch but as a convalescing old man on the sofa the last few weeks been watching a load of stuff from The Arkansas State Police huge amount of car crime pursuits etc involving these type of cars Mustangs Hellcats Chargers Challengers and so on..

One individual cop called Trooper Byrd seems to get a fair bit of involvement……seems almost epidemic the numbers that get nicked….

nismo48

7,136 posts

237 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
ManyMotors said:
Get one and be the burnout King or Queen.
smile it's all about getting the power down onto the tarmac!!

Matt Harper

7,046 posts

231 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Big Rat said:
Don’t know how much YouTube stuff others watch but as a convalescing old man on the sofa the last few weeks been watching a load of stuff from The Arkansas State Police huge amount of car crime pursuits etc involving these type of cars Mustangs Hellcats Chargers Challengers and so on..

One individual cop called Trooper Byrd seems to get a fair bit of involvement……seems almost epidemic the numbers that get nicked….
Arkansas State Police do have a bit of a no-nonsense reputation and their pursuit policy is quite different from most agencies. Trooper Jacob Byrd ("The Byrdman") uses a 392 Scat Pack Charger, which is significantly faster than the 5.7 hemis of his colleagues. Consequently he ends-up as lead in a lot of pursuits.

Little Rock AR has two busy arterial interstate highways (I-30 and I-40) converging right in the middle of the city, so lots of miscreants from OK, TX, LA and TN passing through.

My daughter is one of only a handful of PIT certified deputies in her agency, where her current assignment is LEVO training. They use some of those ASP YouTube clips to illustrate good (and bad) protocols and techniques.

Matt Harper

7,046 posts

231 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
EmailAddress said:
One of the comments makes the point that it wasn't a legendary street racer in the historical sense.

But more of a local hero car.

Akin to having a 330d when everyone else has Mondeos or something.

Being the coolest car on the block, not the scene.
I personally think that the most troubling aspect of this is that the son of the original owner is a self-identified content creator and story-teller. So, as romantic and mysterious as the tale is, to might just be a load of hogwash formulated to create a legend that ended-up in a $1m+ sale of a $150k car...

ducnick

2,276 posts

273 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Big Rat said:
Been fortunate enough over the years to had some great cars Porsche, Aston Martin, ‘M’ cars and so on but never ever anything from the states……
Thought about a 60’s muscle car just not sure about this later stuff….
I do get some of the appeal as a last gasp of ICE…….
As someone who owned one of the new mustangs…. I would advise you not to scratch the American car itch. They really are made to an entirely different standard to hit their very low US price points. Compared to a European car they really are lashed together with minimum quality control, cost saving everywhere and very poor material quality. Understandable on a $30,000 v8 muscle car. Not acceptable once duty paid, import, taxes , and U.K. mark up. Cheaper to just buy a Porsche.

hu8742

369 posts

155 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
I know these types of cars are seen as blunt instruments (all power, poor handling, questionable build quality) and generally a bit rough around the edges but come on, in a world transitioning away from ICE to EV, I for one am very glad they exist. Would love to have a go in one (on a wide road, not a narrow country lane!)

Big Rat

Original Poster:

384 posts

76 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
Matt Harper said:
Arkansas State Police do have a bit of a no-nonsense reputation and their pursuit policy is quite different from most agencies. Trooper Jacob Byrd ("The Byrdman") uses a 392 Scat Pack Charger, which is significantly faster than the 5.7 hemis of his colleagues. Consequently he ends-up as lead in a lot of pursuits.

Little Rock AR has two busy arterial interstate highways (I-30 and I-40) converging right in the middle of the city, so lots of miscreants from OK, TX, LA and TN passing through.

My daughter is one of only a handful of PIT certified deputies in her agency, where her current assignment is LEVO training. They use some of those ASP YouTube clips to illustrate good (and bad) protocols and techniques.
Matt
That is really interesting puts more perspective into it than is seen on the Tube, appreciate the post and for me goes to demonstrate that policing in the states is a lot more professional and difficult than the media frequently portray…..

Big Rat

Original Poster:

384 posts

76 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
ducnick said:
As someone who owned one of the new mustangs…. I would advise you not to scratch the American car itch. They really are made to an entirely different standard to hit their very low US price points. Compared to a European car they really are lashed together with minimum quality control, cost saving everywhere and very poor material quality. Understandable on a $30,000 v8 muscle car. Not acceptable once duty paid, import, taxes , and U.K. mark up. Cheaper to just buy a Porsche.
Appreciate the insight from an owner ……I guess at my advanced age better just get a Prius and leave it at that then…..

DodgyGeezer

48,995 posts

220 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
ducnick said:
Big Rat said:
Been fortunate enough over the years to had some great cars Porsche, Aston Martin, ‘M’ cars and so on but never ever anything from the states……
Thought about a 60’s muscle car just not sure about this later stuff….
I do get some of the appeal as a last gasp of ICE…….
As someone who owned one of the new mustangs…. I would advise you not to scratch the American car itch. They really are made to an entirely different standard to hit their very low US price points. Compared to a European car they really are lashed together with minimum quality control, cost saving everywhere and very poor material quality. Understandable on a $30,000 v8 muscle car. Not acceptable once duty paid, import, taxes , and U.K. mark up. Cheaper to just buy a Porsche.
as the owner of a newish Challenger I can say that, on the whole, it's a nicer place to be than our old GLC and so I'm very happy with the quality.

kbf1981

2,350 posts

230 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
ducnick said:
Big Rat said:
Been fortunate enough over the years to had some great cars Porsche, Aston Martin, ‘M’ cars and so on but never ever anything from the states……
Thought about a 60’s muscle car just not sure about this later stuff….
I do get some of the appeal as a last gasp of ICE…….
As someone who owned one of the new mustangs…. I would advise you not to scratch the American car itch. They really are made to an entirely different standard to hit their very low US price points. Compared to a European car they really are lashed together with minimum quality control, cost saving everywhere and very poor material quality. Understandable on a $30,000 v8 muscle car. Not acceptable once duty paid, import, taxes , and U.K. mark up. Cheaper to just buy a Porsche.
I have a new Ram Rebel and it's miles better than any other UK available pick up. Much more solid. Basically proper truck running gear you'd see on a 7.5 tonner

Matt Harper

7,046 posts

231 months

Wednesday 24th May 2023
quotequote all
kbf1981 said:
ducnick said:
Big Rat said:
Been fortunate enough over the years to had some great cars Porsche, Aston Martin, ‘M’ cars and so on but never ever anything from the states……
Thought about a 60’s muscle car just not sure about this later stuff….
I do get some of the appeal as a last gasp of ICE…….
As someone who owned one of the new mustangs…. I would advise you not to scratch the American car itch. They really are made to an entirely different standard to hit their very low US price points. Compared to a European car they really are lashed together with minimum quality control, cost saving everywhere and very poor material quality. Understandable on a $30,000 v8 muscle car. Not acceptable once duty paid, import, taxes , and U.K. mark up. Cheaper to just buy a Porsche.
I have a new Ram Rebel and it's miles better than any other UK available pick up. Much more solid. Basically proper truck running gear you'd see on a 7.5 tonner
Absolutely nothing wrong with the build quality of my 2019 Scat Pack Challenger either - no rattles, squeaks - and thunderous performance. The reality is that people who buy cars like this tend not to be dash-fondlers.