Mopar is up to something again.

Something big, apparently, at least in their words. They released a teaser for SEMA showing a Hellcat's pawprints getting smashed into the pavement with an elephant footprint.

The beauty of it being Mopar is that it could just about be anything, because after all, this is the company that gave us a street-legal, wheelie-pulling, 804hp drag machine as well as a 707hp AWD SUV. Nothing really seems off the table with them lately. Hellcat Durango? Demon-powered Grand Cherokee? 300C Hellcat? The Ram Rebel TRX Hellcat-powered Raptor fighter? There are also rumors of a new 7.0L naturally-aspirated Hemi in the works, codename "Banshee" (Boy, does ChryCo know how to pick them, or what?)

I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be loud, powerful, brutish and without a hint of subtlety.

This is how you get Mopar fanatics for life.

“Introducing the all new Dodge Beast. It’s wild!”

Return of the Elephant! 426 Gen3 Hemi

My guess is it'll be some kind of SUV or truck equivalent of the Demon. 

Y'all know im a mopar guy, right?

And im sad. My 425rwhp small block used to be top shelf stuff. The factory is making me look like a chump.

Wonder if i sell a kidney if i can get a crate hellcat?

Mastadon would be a good truck name...... 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mastadon would be a good truck name...... 

for the win!

Yep - RAM w/demon motor is my guess.

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mastadon would be a good truck name...... 

I'd buy a 2020 Ram SRT Mastodon with the 7.0L Banshee V8 just for the name alone.

Dusterbd13 said:

Wonder if i sell a kidney if i can get a crate hellcat?

Offer them a kidney in trade. They might be crazy enough to accept it.

NickD said:

I'd buy a 2020 Ram SRT Mastodon with the 7.0L Banshee V8 just for the name alone.

That's approaching '80s Japanese car name territory.

Ram50Ron said:

Return of the Elephant! 426 Gen3 Hemi

This!

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

What's funny is that the Challenger's basic bones are unchanged from when it was introduced, yet it has been outselling the 6th-gen Camaro and Mustang, despite the Mustang and Camaro being smaller, and lighter, and more modern and sophisticated

Dusterbd13 said:

Y'all know im a mopar guy, right?

And im sad. My 425rwhp small block used to be top shelf stuff. The factory is making me look like a chump.

 

Wonder if i sell a kidney if i can get a crate hellcat?

Yeah, really.  This is making me feel really sad about the 350 - 370-ish hp my smallblock is making...  Something something I need to stroke it, put in a bigger cam, add some boost and build the trans...

NickD said:

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

What's funny is that the Challenger's basic bones are unchanged from when it was introduced, yet it has been outselling the 6th-gen Camaro and Mustang, despite the Mustang and Camaro being smaller, and lighter, and more modern and sophisticated

That's because it looks killer!

I just can't bring myself to buy one because of how huge and heavy they are. If they could keep the same menacing looks, get some weight out of the car and shrink it down a bit it would be amazing. 

Oh and make sure you can put some tire on it as well. 275s on 4300lb car with 485hp is not even close to enough.

z31maniac said:

NickD said:

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

What's funny is that the Challenger's basic bones are unchanged from when it was introduced, yet it has been outselling the 6th-gen Camaro and Mustang, despite the Mustang and Camaro being smaller, and lighter, and more modern and sophisticated

That's because it looks killer!

I just can't bring myself to buy one because of how huge and heavy they are. If they could keep the same menacing looks, get some weight out of the car and shrink it down a bit it would be amazing. 

Oh and make sure you can put some tire on it as well. 275s on 4300lb car with 485hp is not even close to enough.

I think in a way though, the size (and its resultant weight) have helped sales, due to the fact that it's the easiest to live with. Better visibility, a backseat that isn't outlawed under the Geneva Convention and a trunk that is actually useful make it a car that a backup "normal" car isn't as required. 

Dodge does a good job of capitalizing on image and emotion, instead of chasing performance bogies. I sat in a Challenger, and even though it was a V6/auto car, something about it just made you feel like a badass. The Mustang and Camaro have never done that with me.

I don't have an issue with the size of it, but I'd love to see it get trimmed under the 4000 lb mark.  I'd have a really hard time with buying a performance car that's as heavy as the heaviest version of my Jeep was from the factory...

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mastadon would be a good truck name...... 

It's also a damn fine name for a band.

And it should have ^ as a hood emblem. Just saying.

NickD said:

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

What's funny is that the Challenger's basic bones are unchanged from when it was introduced, yet it has been outselling the 6th-gen Camaro and Mustang, despite the Mustang and Camaro being smaller, and lighter, and more modern and sophisticated

Sometimes "better" isn't. 

In reply to NickD :

Actually, these figures show Mustang still the clear leader in this segment, but Challenger pulling ahead of Camaro at times.

http://motrolix.com/automotive-sales-figures/automotive-sales-comparisons/sales-comparison-chevrolet-camaro-vs-ford-mustang-vs-dodge-challenger/

NickD said:

z31maniac said:

NickD said:

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

Are they going to introduce a new car at some point?

What's funny is that the Challenger's basic bones are unchanged from when it was introduced, yet it has been outselling the 6th-gen Camaro and Mustang, despite the Mustang and Camaro being smaller, and lighter, and more modern and sophisticated

That's because it looks killer!

I just can't bring myself to buy one because of how huge and heavy they are. If they could keep the same menacing looks, get some weight out of the car and shrink it down a bit it would be amazing. 

Oh and make sure you can put some tire on it as well. 275s on 4300lb car with 485hp is not even close to enough.

I think in a way though, the size (and its resultant weight) have helped sales, due to the fact that it's the easiest to live with. Better visibility, a backseat that isn't outlawed under the Geneva Convention and a trunk that is actually useful make it a car that a backup "normal" car isn't as required. 

Dodge does a good job of capitalizing on image and emotion, instead of chasing performance bogies. I sat in a Challenger, and even though it was a V6/auto car, something about it just made you feel like a badass. The Mustang and Camaro have never done that with me.

Yeah, you make some very valid points. 

Although the when I drove the new Camaro SS 1LE last year, damn. It feels like in your the cockpit of a fighter jet and when you press the loud pedal.......yeah, I felt much more awesome than I really am. 

Im a Mopar guy, and was a Hell cat hater till I drove one. There is something about silly power and no cares in the world. 

 It's a Crate Hemi 

Hopefully a huge one. 

The Challenger styling is holding up well (and they haven't screwed it up like they did the Charger) but it's large by fat.  I don't care about the age of the platform per se; I care about it being huge, heavy, with bad blindspots.  I could almost see owning a Mustang again but no way could I see owning a Challenger.  This is about my own point of view and I know some folks love these things.