The Dodge Challenger comes after the 2023 model year with the associated Charger and just in time for last year the Challenger SRT Hellcat will again be available with a manual transmission.
The manual has been removed from the Challenger SRT Hellcat for the entire 2022 model year. The reason lay in the development of a revised calibration, a spokesman said when the news was first reported in late 2021.
The spokesman said the manual will eventually return, and Car and Driver reported Wednesday that that return is for the 2023 model year.
The gearbox is a 6-speed Tremec. It continued to be available on other Challenger variants such as the R/T and R/T Scat packages, which have 5.7- and 6.4-liter V-8s respectively. The SRT Hellcat is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 with 717 hp, and about 35% of all orders are manual, Dodge said in 2018.
Dodge has many more changes for 2023 to mark the final year of the Challenger and Charger. All Challengers and Chargers built for the 2023 model year will feature special extras that mark them as the last of their kind. While this will vary by model, all will feature a plaque under the hood that reads “Last Call,” “Designed in Auburn Hills,” and “Assembled in Brampton.” Popular color options will also return including B5 Blue, Plum Crazy and Sublime.
Dodge will also offer seven limited-production special editions related to classic Challenger and Charger models. The top six are Challenger Shakedown, Charger Super Bee, Challenger and Charger Scat Pack Swinger, Charger King Daytona, and Challenger Black Ghost. The final seventh special, which will be based on the Challenger, will be revealed in the near future after missing its November 2022 debut at the SEMA show. The reason for the delay? Dodge blew up engines during development.
Further out, Dodge will transition to electric propulsion, and that future was already anticipated with the Charger Daytona SRT concept unveiled in August, which is expected to spawn a production version in 2024. A high-performance version of the concept, called the Banshee, was shown in November.
