There have been sightings of a particularly intimidating Dodge Charger Hellcat roaming around the Detroit area, some of which were recorded on video and subsequently shared on social media. Following nearly a week of rampant speculation in the enthusiast community, more light has been (semi-) officially shed on the car.
First of all, it is still in its prototype stages; albeit in its latter phase. That said, specific details on how it fits into the Dodge’s high performance range and what kind of performance boost it will offer, if any, over the standard Charger Hellcat, unfortunately, remain largely mysterious.
What we do learn immediately is that the car will wear a new wide body derivative of the 7th-generation Charger shell, with a noticeably wider track on both front and rear axles matched to extended fender arches. Visually, the car is nearly identical to the design study Dodge showed off Spring Fest 2014, an annual car show in Pomona, California.
The white body colour is accented with grey, black and red decals with the SRT motif, though this does little to actually camouflage anything. The wheels, done in gloss black, look fairly standard, and the car does have a carbon fibre ducktail boot spoiler. In profile, you could mistake it for any typical Charger Hellcat.
These photographs of the same lone prototype were uploaded by Mark Trostle, head of design for Dodge and SRT. And in the accompanying captions he clearly identifies the car as still being a concept and did not even hint at it becoming a production reality. Then again, why parade it around Detroit in the first place if it’s still a shelved project?
If Dodge’s intent was to gauge interest in the wide body Charger, we’re doubtful any red-blooded enthusiast would have any objections. The large super sedan looks far more at home with the widened track and body, though it would naturally be tougher to thread around in traffic or into a parking spot.
At this stage too, we’re still unable to make estimations to whether such a car would require the purchase of a new Charger or if Dodge and SRT could offer it as a package retrofittable for existing Charger Hellcats.
