The latest Dodge Challenger rolled off the assembly line at Stellantis’ plant in Brampton, Canada, marking the end of the long-lived V-8 vehicle and its LX platform.
Completed on Dec. 22, the final car, a black Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, was shown to Motor Authority by a Dodge spokesperson. The automaker doesn’t share the fate of the latter car, so it’s unclear if this is a guest car or if it will be preserved through Stellantis for posterity.
The Demon 170 was the final model in a series of “Last Call” special editions built to celebrate the end of the current Challenger and Charger. With a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 generating 1,025 hp and 945 lb-ft of torque on E85 fuel (and 900 hp and 810 lb-ft on E10 premium gasoline), it’s hard to imagine a better sendoff.
Dodge said the Demon 170 would achieve 0-100 km/h acceleration in 1. 66 seconds and take 2. 0 g off the line on a roll-out-ready surface. The automaker also claims an NHRA-certified quarter-mile time of 8. 91 seconds at 151. 17 mph. This made the Demon 170 the fastest and fastest production car that cash can buy. The price was set at $100,361.
2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170
Dodge confirmed to Motor Authority that it did end up building the full 3,300 Demon 170s it aimed to. The Brampton plant was scheduled to stop building LX-platform cars at the end of the year regardless of how many Demon 170s were actually built, so there was a chance the production number could have been lower. Dodge began taking final orders for gasoline-powered Challengers and Chargers in July.
Since the new Chrysler 300C functional sedan also rolled out of the same factory earlier this month (and production of the Dodge Charger also concluded), production of LX platform cars officially ended after nearly two decades.
2023 Dodge Challenger and 2023 Dodge Charger Mopar ’23 editions
The LX platform brought rear-wheel-drive, V-8 performance cars back to what was then DaimlerChrysler in the early 2000s. It was first used in the 300 and the Dodge Magnum wagon, with the Charger and Challenger coming later. While the Magnum had a short life, the 300, Charger, and Challenger survived mostly unchanged long after other cars would have been redesigned or discontinued. Ford example, the rival Ford Mustang has been redesigned twice in the time the current Challenger has been on sale.
Although the gas-powered Challenger and Charger are dead, Dodge hasn’t shown the end of those nameplates. However, the long-term successors will most likely be electric vehicles. Dodge is already making plans to launch an electric car one day. next year, a preview with the Charger Daytona SRT concept.