One Last Hurrah: 2023 Dodge Challenger And Charger Special Models Are The Cars’ Swansongs

It’s a sad day for muscle car enthusiasts – Dodge has announced the Challenger and Charger are to be killed off in December 2023. As a last hurrah to the models, Dodge will be bringing back discontinued heritage colours, introducing special edition models and, for the first time, offering the Challenger as a convertible in a collaboration with third-party company ‘Drop Top Customs.’

Orders for the convertible Challenger will be open from today. Customers can go to a Dodge dealership and order any Challenger from the R/T model upwards – then it’ll be sent to Drop Top Customs for a convertible conversion. That means you could get yourself a Dodge Challenger Hellcat convertible if you so wished… please, someone do it.

Don’t expect the convertible to come cheap, though. The conversion costs around $26,000 (Around £22,000) and you’ll have to buy the car first. For that, Drop Top Customs will chop off the roof, fit the hydraulic insulated soft top complete with a glass window, and reinforce the chassis to make it safe and drivable.

Dodge will also be releasing seven special editions of the Challenger and Charger models, which are yet to be revealed. The most unique special will be unveiled at SEMA in November, and the other editions are to be revealed over the coming months. These special editions will allegedly pay homage to past Dodge models.

In the run up to the end of the Challenger and Charger, each car will be fitted with a commemorative ‘Last Call’ plaque with the model name and an inscription reading ‘Designed in Auburn’ and ‘Assembled in Brampton.’ Some popular colours such as B5 Blue, Plum Crazy, Sublime and Destroyer Grey will be making a return, too.

While the Challenger and Charger models are on their way out, Dodge has also just announced that for at least 2023 it will be continuing production of the previously-limited-edition Durango Hellcat SUV complete with its supercharged, over-700bhp, 6.2-litre V8 – perfect if you need to get the kids to soccer practice reaaally quickly…