This is where the arguments start. Because where it is one thing to argue if a top 32nd rank vehicle belongs in the number 25 slot, it is another to decide the top ten models of any brand, much less one with a 123-year history. Benna CDJR didn’t determine the top 10. As with all previous versions of this series, the selections were made by the Autoevolution website. So, here we go with the top 10 Dodges of all time.
10. 1970 Challenger Hemi
Though Dodge was busy in the 60s putting high-powered engines in smaller vehicles, they did not have a pony car competitor until 1970, five years after the launch of the Mustang and Barracuda. Though its body looked much like the 3rd generation Barracuda with which it shared a platform, the Challenger had a two-inch longer wheelbase (110”) and was positioned against the upper end of the pony car class such as the Cougar and Firebird. An astounding eight engines were offered, including two “Slant-6”s: and six V-8s. The most coveted is the 425-hp 426 Hemi. It wasn’t so much the cost of the engine but the cost to insure a Challenger with it that resulted in only 356 out of 77,000 Challengers sold being equipped with the legendary engine in its initial year. The rarest? Hemi convertibles, only 9 of which were made. The fun lasted through 1971, after which the high-performance V-8s were discontinued. The Challenger itself was discontinued after 1974.
9. 1966 Charger Hemi
Let’s start by saying that no matter how it was powered, the 1966 Charger may well be the most attractive design to wear a Dodge badge. Preceded by the 1965 Charger II show car, the production model actually looked better with the extraordinarily clean front styling due to retractable headlights that created a full-width grille echoed by full-width tail lights in the rear. The show car’s dramatic fastback roofline resulted in an absurdly long rear overhang, which was sensibly curtailed in the production car. The dash featured four prominent gauge pods, and the center console extended through the back to create 2nd-row bucket seats. Those seats also folded down to extend the cargo space, an uncommon feature at the time for a non-station wagon. The car was really more of a luxury fastback than a full-on muscle car, except that five V8 engines were on offer, including the mighty 440 Magnum and the legendary 425-hp 426 Hemi, of which just 468 units were sold in the first year.
8. 2021 Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye
The Challenger and Charger of this generation share a platform, so when Dodge made news by putting the 707-hp Hellcat engine in the Challenger, dropping it in the Charger also probably wasn’t all that…well…Challenging. However, creating a 707-hp 4-door sedan was completely audacious, which is familiar ground for Dodge. In 2021 they stoked the fires, further taking the Challenger’s Redeye engine and creating the 797-hp Charger Redeye, which has easily become the most powerful Charger in history. 0 to 60 is reached in just 3.5 seconds, the quarter mile takes just 10.6, and it has a top speed of 203 mph. If a faster Charger is ever made from the factory, it won’t be gasoline powered.
7. 2019 Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye
Whatever the point was, Dodge had already proved it with the 2015 Challenger Hellcat, astounding the industry with its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 producing 707 hp. The previous most powerful Challenger was quite competitive, producing 470 horsepower, so the Hellcat was a bit of a bump. And it instantly became the most powerful muscle car of all time. Neither Ford nor GM countered, so Dodge could have stopped there. But a supercharger could get another 90 horses out of the 6.2 V-8 and a total of 707 lb-ft of torque, so they put it into production just to beat their own record. Its performance figures are very similar to the similarly-powered Charger with a 10.8-second quarter mile and 203 mph top speed.
6. 2004 Ram SRT-10
We used the term “audacious” previously, but maybe we should have saved the term for this model. Because while this series has mentioned other Dodge sport trucks like the Lil’ Red Express, the Rumble Bee, the Daytona, and the Power Wagon, none of them match the Ram SRT-10, which had the Viper V-10 under its tall scooped hood. Unlike the supercharged Challenger and Charger engine just discussed, the 8.3-liter Viper V-10 was normally aspirated, so its 500 horsepower and 525 lb-ft of torque don’t quite have the same eye-raising ability as they did back in 2004, where there simply was nothing like the Ram SRT-10. Chevy never put a Corvette ZR-1 engine in a Silverado. The short-cab, short-bed truck hauled up to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and had a top speed of 154 mph. The truck was given a sport suspension, rear wing, and heavily bolstered front seats. Together with a quad-cab version that was also provided, the audacity lasted for three years, with 10,143 units sold.
5. 2020 Challenger SRT Super Stock
By 2020, Dodge had managed to squeeze another 10 horsepower out of its 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat Redeye V8 for a total of 807. Returning to its Super Stock efforts in the 60s, Dodge outfitted this as a drag-race special with lightweight wheels, drag radial tires, a shorter final-drive ratio, and a drag-spec suspension with adaptive dampers. This brought the performance numbers down to 3.25 seconds for 0 to 60 and a standing quarter mile of 10.5 seconds.
4. 1969 Charger Daytona
Most Dodges have made these lists because of what’s under their hood and their focus on drag racing. This car is clearly best known for how it looks, and its purpose was purely aimed at NASCAR. In 1968, Dodge tried to rule NASCAR with the homologation Charger 500, which featured subtle aerodynamic changes. Appearance-wise, the 500 actually appeared tamer than the production car, and it still didn’t knock the slippery Ford Torino off the NASCAR pedestal. Getting serious, Dodge added the sloping nose and sky-high wing to the 1969 Charger and made 500 of them for the street to get it on the track. Most production models were powered by the 440 cubic inch magnum while just 70 had the 426 Hemi. It and the similar Plymouth Superbird were the first overtly aero-focused models in the series. Oddly, the height of the wing was not dictated by aerodynamics but rather so the trunk lid could be raised on the production model. Bobby Issac drove his Daytona to a season record that stands to this day with 19 pole positions and 17 wins.
3. 2018 Challenger SRT Demon
One could argue that the Hellcat and all hyper Challengers that followed were drag-race specials, but the SRT Demon was even more so. Prior to the Supers Stock, the SRT Demon’s 6.2-liter V8 was topped with a 2.7-liter supercharger which produced 808 horsepower, or 840, with 100+ octane fuel. Drag-race-focused features included a trans brake, a Drag Mode suspension setup, and a liquid-to-air intercooler. It hit 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and went on to the quarter mile in 9.68 seconds. It was the fastest accelerating vehicle ever produced, and it only lasted one year, of which 3,300 units were produced.
2. 2010 Viper ACR-X
A decade and a half prior to the Supercharged Hellcat, Redeye, and Demon Challengers, Dodge’s performance centered on the big displacement, normally aspirated Viper. The racing focus was not on the dragstrip but on sportscar and endurance racing, where you saw the Viper on the podiums of LeMans, Daytona, Spa, and others with over 100 major wins. By 2010, the Viper had been on the market for 20 years, was in its fourth generation, and looked to be ending its production. Which it did for three years before having another go for four years after 2013,
The ACR-X was a production vehicle but for the track only. Free of street-legal restrictions, the 8.4-liter V10 produced an additional 40 horses for a total of 640 with torque up 45 foot-pounds to 605. It was fitted with a roll cage, fuel cell, a single racing seat with harness, and 18-inch front / 19-inch rear Michelin slicks. It weighed 160 pounds less than the street-legal ACR, while the rear wing, front dive planes, and other aerodynamic enhancements created 1100 pounds of downforce at 150 mph. It set no fewer than 13 lap records around the world and lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:03 minutes.
1. 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170
Isn’t it nice that the number one greatest Dodge is one that is for sale right now? It’s Dodge’s final send-off to the nameplate that had four years in its original form and came back 34 years later for another 15. It is also the send-off for gas-powered muscle cars in general, with both the Challenger and Charger leaving after 2023 with to be replaced by various electric and electrified vehicles in the years to come. This last in a series of “Last Call” Challenger and Chargers has a feeling of inevitability as its horsepower finally breaks four figures. At least with E85 ethanol, where its supercharged V8 is rated at 1025 horsepower and 945 lb-ft of torque. Fuel it with premium from your corner station, it will produce 900 hp. That gets you to 60 in a 2G body-pressing 1.66 seconds and will trip the quarter mile in an NHRA-certified 8.91 seconds. And yet it’s street legal. Perhaps, EV technology will open a whole new world of Dodge outrageousness, but for a company that has spent much of its R&D building absurdly overpowered vehicles and selling them to people, the 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170 is the greatest Dodge ever sold.
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