Fast Family
Do you need a four-door sedan with face-altering amounts of horsepower and rear tires wider than the Prairies? Dodge has an answer for you.
Well, 501 of you anyway. That’s the number of copies Dodge will be building of the machine shown here: the 717 hp Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition. Powered by the SRT’s mighty 6.2L supercharged Hemi, engineers have put an extra 10 horses to work compared to the now admittedly workaday 707hp Charger Hellcat. All those ponies get woken at 6100rpm, by the way.
As a nod to its design heritage, the Charger Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition features a unique “Daytona” decklid and rear-quarter decal with matching spoiler, paying tribute to the 1969 Charger Daytona which also had a run of just 501 units.
“The Dodge brand continues to push the boundaries of performance with the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, the Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody,” said Tim Kuniskis, Global Head of … erm, a bunch of stuff at FCA. “Today we are both recognizing the Dodge brand’s performance heritage and staying true to our roots by offering high-performance, collectible vehicles that continue to defy the trends and deliver attainable performance that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Your author likes to think that “defy the trends” is a subtle thumb-in-the-eye to brands which loudly tout their EV intentions. Whether it is or not, a 717hp supercharged sedan that can comfortably seat the whole family is a defiant statement all on its own. Those enormous rear meats are sized 305/35ZR20, in case the question comes up at pub trivia night.
Widebody Chargers are 8.8 centimetres (3.5 inches) wider than the standard car, swelling its flanks like a ‘roided out wrestler. This 50th Anniversary Daytona edition will be available in four colours: B5 Blue, Pitch Black, Triple Nickel, and White Knuckle. We’ve seen several stunning B5 Blue Chargers in person and, believe us, it is the one to get.
Performance enthusiasts can check out Dodge’s lineup of hi-po whips at this weekend’s Woodward Dream Cruise in Pontiac, Michigan. The brand will display this new Daytona model along with the non-Daytona Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody and the 797-horsepower Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye and on Saturday, Aug. 17, at 50881 Woodward Ave, between Orchard Lake and Pike streets.
Speed freaks with families will be able to place dealer orders for 2020 Dodge Charger models, including the Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition, this autumn with deliveries starting early next year. Like other Chargers, this one will be built right here in Canada.
Keyword: Dodge Introduces 717hp Charger SRT Hellcat Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition