Dodge will try to change the paradigm of ‘American muscle cars’ with the eighth iteration of the legendary Charger – now a Daytona all-electric or a Sixpack Hurricane built in Canada instead of a V8-toting ‘monster.’
In the United States, the Charger nameplate has been used across no less than eight generations for mid-size cars, personal luxury coupes, subcompact hatchbacks, two-door fastbacks, and hardtops, or, most recently, on full-size sedans. Starting with 2024, Dodge will try to blend heritage with innovation and is set to offer the Charger Daytona with EV powertrains as a two-door fastback coupe and also a four-door sedan.
From 2025, the company will also put into production the direct successor of the Hemi V8 models – the Charger Sixpack equipped with Stellantis’ fresh 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six twin-turbo mill offering either 420 or 550 horsepower with the same body styles as the EV counterpart. However, it’s most likely that not everyone likes the direction they’re taking – perhaps due to their decision to drop the Hemi V8 from the lineup or the fresh styling. Or maybe both?
Anyway, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any solutions. The L-bodied Dodge Charger sedan and Challenger coupe are still on the market even though the automaker stopped producing them in December 2023 – you just have to find the right locale with inventory. Alternatively, you could envision the perfect ‘restomod’ project that blends the old-school style with all the modern amenities of a veritable Hellcat.
Sure, maybe it’s hard to imagine it. No worries, as the dreamy realm of digital car content creators have a solution – the virtual artist tucked behind the Carmstyledesign moniker on social media dropped the modern CGI shenanigans a while back for some old-school ideas, and now he’s also focused on a 1968 Dodge Charger. This second-generation ride is easy to recognize as a classic muscle car, but it’s also a modern hoot, through and through.
The details are always what make a project car delicious – this Charger has a semi-widebody kit with the big front wheels tucked under the fenders and the rear ones displaying the massively concave aftermarket-style wheels in all their glory. The body is dressed in satin blue with classic black stripes at the rear, and the round headlights plus double taillights are still here – albeit with a modern, pulsing LED treatment.
Also, note the black top and piano black aerodynamic elements sitting as close as possible to the CGI surface thanks to the slammed attitude. It’s a rascal, all right, as the pixel master made sure to let us know there’s a mighty V8 under the hood – every time we circle around the digital rear there’s an omnipresent burble and he also gives us a quick rev for some delightful V8 roars. Cool, right?