New Dodge Charger Finally Gets A Hemi, But Not For The Road

Ever since the new Dodge Charger was unveiled last year, one question has been on the lips of enthusiasts: ‘What the heck does Scat Pack mean?’ Okay, two questions – that, and ‘Where’s the Hemi?’

Initially unveiled as a pure electric car, which went over about as well as you’d expect, it recently gained the option of Stellantis’ new twin-turbo Hurricane straight-six, but the good ol’ V8 that defines the Charger name in the eyes of many is still conspicuous in its absence, despite growing rumours of its return.

Well, there’s some good news in that department. Sort of. Dodge has unveiled a new Charger with a Hemi, but it’s only making 50 of them. Oh yeah, and it’s a purpose built drag racer that isn’t road legal.

It’s called the Charger Hustle Stuff Drag Pak, and we promise we haven’t made up any part of that name. It’s built specifically for the Factory Stock Showdown class in NHRA-sanctioned drag racing (a rather misleading name, given that this doesn’t really have anything to do with an actual factory stock Charger besides looking like one that’s been slightly stretched in Photoshop).

Under the bonnet (sorry, hood) is a new version of Dodge’s 5.8-litre aluminium (sorry, aluminum) racing Hemi V8, topped off with an almighty 3.0-litre Whipple supercharger. Other good stuff includes aluminium pistons and a forged crankshaft. The manufacturer hasn’t provided power numbers, but a car powered by the old version of this engine currently holds the quarter-mile record for its class at 7.6 seconds.

Dodge is offering up just 50 of these strip-ready Chargers, which come in white as standard but can be optioned up in various groovy retro ‘High Impact’ hues like Go Mango and Plum Crazy. It costs from $234,995 (around £180,000), plus whatever charge its destination state levies on Hemi-powered dragsters. Now, if Dodge could just hurry up and figure out getting an eight-pot in the road car, too.