Challenger Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak | Spotted
One of the very final 6.2 Challengers has made it here, widebody and all - approach with caution...
There weren’t meant to be any more muscle car icons, really. Those legendary names from the past - Chevelle, Challenger, Camaro, Charger, Superbird, Galaxie, GTO - were sufficiently well established that it was hard to imagine their ranks being bolstered. Especially in leaner times for the genre. But no one told Dodge. Yes, the 21st-century Challenger and Charger obviously used historic names, but their respective reputations as modern muscle car pinups were really cemented by the introduction of a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 to the lineup. You’ll know them better as the Hellcats.
Both Challenger and Charger were likeable enough nostalgia fests with 5.7 litres, of course - but the introduction of the Hellcat motor, however, is what really secured them special status. Here was more than 700hp in a car that cost less than a BMW M4. And from an auspicious start more than a decade ago - with the Charger claiming a ‘fastest sedan in the world’ crown at 204mph - things just got sillier and sillier. If the muscle car genre is all about glorious excess and to heck with the consequences, Dodge proved the absolute masters.
A few years after the regular Hellcat came the Redeye, nudging 800hp and still available with four doors. The standard supercharged V8 went in both the Grand Cherokee and the Durango SUV, because they could. There was a Hellcat Demon for crying out loud, complete with a Demon Crate to make it even faster down a drag strip; then, because 850hp wasn’t enough, there was an SRT Demon 170, a factory-built Dodge with more than 1,000hp. The Challenger name might have been a classic one, but the Hellcats were undoubtedly a very modern kind of muscle car hero.
The end was announced in 2021, with a pair of Hellcat Redeye Widebody Jailbreak machines. A further tweak of the V8 liberated more than 800hp, some cool colour combos were offered, and there was something of a bunfight to get them with electrification looming. And even by the standards of EV performance cars, Charger and Challenger haven’t gone great.
This Challenger is one of the final few, and is notable as a brand-new, unregistered example. Production may have wound up in 2023 (or so it was said), but this one’s factory fresh with 10 miles. And even after so long seeing them on phone screens and TVs (for us, at least), there’s nothing to match the sheer visual wallop of a Challenger. Particularly with the bulked-up arches of the Widebody, those outrageously prominent hood snouts and F8 Green paint. You could spend a lot more than this Challenger is for sale at and make much less of an impact.
Representing the last vestiges of a much-loved muscle car era, there’s undeniably a significance attached to something like this Challenger. Whatever Dodge does next in its latest combustion strategy, it’s unlikely to be as unhinged as the Jailbreak. Even at 911 Carrera S money, it’s easy to imagine one or two committed Hellcat enthusiasts taking an interest. Because if any Chargers and Challengers are going to be collectable here, it’s the final ones. This is the very embodiment of classic muscle car theatre, entertainment and ain’t-no-replacement potency, but it’s going to be sold on a 26 plate. That appeal shouldn’t take very much effort to understand.
) Scatpack with 'only' 485/475 bhp/lb ft - not to mention as cool as the nostrils are I just can't get away from a 'Shaker Hood' and 'Goldschool' wheels...
Shame they are so heavy.
Underside corrosion needs to be checked as they were either not under sealed at the factory or it was a dealer option ? We found a low ish miles Plum Crazy one in the States, which was a West side of the country car, but it’s underside floorpans were a bit scabby and if definitely hadn’t been under sealed
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