Charger could live again

One of the most famous Australian muscle-car nameplates of the 1970s could soon return to local showrooms.

Last seen on the two-door version of Chrysler’s Australian-made Valiant sedan sold between 1971 and 1978, the Charger name is central to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia’s latest attempt to import North America’s cool Dodge Challenger.

If it comes to fruition, the Challenger plan could result in a locally-converted, Charger-badged V8 coupe line-up topped by the wicked new 594kW Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye revealed last week in the US.

That would give Australians deprived of homegrown V8 Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons access to yet another affordable muscle-car, alongside Ford’s popular Mustang – Australia’s top-selling sports car – and the Chevrolet Camaro SS, which will soon be officially available via GM Holden dealers following right-hand drive conversion by HSV.

It would also give them access to a Challenger with the same supercharged 6.2-litre HEMI V8 as the limited-edition Dodge Demon – the world’s fastest rear-drive V8 production car.

The 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is powered by a 594kW/959Nm version of the Demon’s 626kW/1000Nm engine, making it only slightly slower to 60mph (3.4 v 2.3sec) and over the quarter-mile (10.8 v 9.65sec).

Combined with a claimed 327km/h top speed, Dodge says the Redeye is the world’s quickest, fastest and most powerful muscle-car.

The catch is just 20 Dodge Demons will be available in Australia (from a global production run of 3300) and all of them are spoken for despite a cool $270,000 pricetag including shipping and RHD conversion.

If FCA Australia’s plan to import and convert the Challenger alongside the Camaro at the Walkinshaw Group’s Clayton factory includes the Redeye, it will be a lot cheaper than that.

In the absence of any official RHD Shelby versions of the Mustang (GT350, GT350R and GT500) or — so far — the top-shelf 485kW Chevy Camaro ZL1, the most powerful version of the born-again Charger would have no rival here.

At the other end of the range, the 280kW 5.7-litre HEMI-powered R/T Coupe is the cheapest V8 Challenger in the US, where it’s priced from $US34,100.

So even after local RHD conversion it could undercut the HSV Camaro 2SS, which costs $US42,000 in the US and will be about $80,000 here. Neither model will get anywhere near the 2018 Mustang GT Fastback’s $62,990 entry price.

Also part of the MY19 Challenger line-up announced last week is a 362kW R/T Scat Pack and an optional Widebody Pack for the SRT Hellcat, which gains more power (now 535kW), a dual-snorkel bonnet and a $US10K price reduction to $US$58,650. Locally converted MY18 Challenger SRT Hellcats command $180,000 pricetags here.

But before we get too carried away, disappointed Dodge fans know there have been many failed plans to officially sell the Challenger here, both in factory RHD form and following local conversion – most recently by the previous FCAA management team in 2015.

To avoid another false start, FCA HQ would have to approve a business case in which a predetermined number of Challengers were shipped to Australia at wholesale prices and then sold across the FCAA dealer network at a price that’s competitive and profitable.

In between, the left-hand drive cars need to be converted to RHD with full-volume ADR compliance by an approved engineering outfit that meets OEM safety, quality and emissions standards and has access to a host of RHD components including dashboards, steering columns, wipers and the like, as well as local badging and Australian-compliant wiring looms, etc.

As part of the business case, FCA would need to decide whether to market the vehicle as a Chrysler or Dodge, provide full factory warranty coverage, stock spare parts, train service technicians and invest in marketing and advertising for the new model range.

However, GM and HSV are already doing all this with the Camaro. In the first year they plan to sell about 600 examples -- each priced up to $20,000 higher than the equivalent Mustang, which found over 9000 Australian homes last year.

Second, Australian-born FCAA boss Steve Zanlunghi is a muscle-car fan and has made bringing the Challenger here — badged as a Charger to leverage ‘the other’ American brand’s historic muscle-car nameplate — one of his top priorities.

Third, the local Challenger business case is officially ‘live’ and our sources say it’s closer than ever to being signed off, although FCAA’s official line is: “There is nothing to announce at this stage”.

Another positive for the latest local conversion plan is the fact both next-generation Dodge models have been delayed until about 2021. According to FCA’s previous five-year plan revealed in 2014 they should have been released by 2019.

What’s more, they will continue on heavily revised versions of their current Mercedes-based LX platform, which dates back to 2008 for the Challenger and 2011 for the Charger.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed the news as part of the company’s 2022 investor briefing in May, when he ruled out a shift to Alfa Romeo’s newer and more expensive Giorgio platform for rear-drive Dodge muscle-cars.

Apart from giving FCA more time to recoup its RHD conversion costs, that should simplify and reduce the development costs for both next-generation models, whether they’re produced in RHD in the US or Australia.

Most significantly, though, we can confirm that senior FCA engineers from the US have given their tick of approval after touring the Walkinshaw facility that converts the Camaro, Silverado and – as part of a deal with FCA and Ateco Automotive – RAM pick-up trucks.

Naturally, Walkinshaw Automotive Group managing director Tim Jackson declined to comment on the Challenger deal, in which the HSV sister company would be an engineering contractor to FCA – as it is to Ateco for MY2018 RAM Trucks.

Separately, FCAA has confirmed there are
“no conversations about an end date” for production of the Chrysler 300 SRT sedan, which continues to be produced only for the Australian market.

This follows confirmation the 300 SRT Core will replace part of the NSW Police force’s 580-strong fleet of Traffic and Highway Patrol Command vehicles in late May.

The 300 SRT-NSW Police deal, which could be the first of many similar state police force announcements, comes despite FCA’s confirmation that Chrysler will live on primarily as a people-mover brand after being absent from FCA’s five-year business plan.

While Dodge no longer exists as a brand in Australia, the only new Chrysler models for sale here are the 300C Luxury and 300 SRT sedans.

But together, the Dodge ‘Charger’ coupe and Chrysler 300 SRT sedan would give FCA broader coverage of the lucrative V8 muscle-car market than any other car-maker.

Homegrown V8s or not, things have never looked brighter for Aussie muscle-car fans.