These days, you would think it's all about the S650 Ford Mustang across the American muscle car arena. But you would be wrong, as there are more things to say and know about the departing Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro, too.
Starting early next year, the seventh generation Ford Mustang is poised to remain the only ICE-powered option across the US niche of pony and muscle cars – the Chevy Camaro is bowing out in disgrace because of its lackluster sales performance. At the same time, the Dodge Challenger may not have reason to live for as the next-gen Charger is returning to its two-door roots and embracing the EV lifestyle.
However, that doesn't mean you won't be seeing the Camaro and Challenger anymore. Plenty of examples are out there, and some are ready to clash with anyone at a moment's notice. But there is no need to take our word for granted – you can just tune in with the good folks over at the racing-focused 'ImportRace' channel on YouTube, who have a nice set of brawls featuring a Plum Crazy Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody Redeye.
The name is almost as long as its performance credentials – the Redeye model brings to the table a high-output version of the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 rocking no less than 7979 horsepower and 707 pound-feet of torque. Even better, the owner is hitting all the classic vibes thanks to the Plum Crazy paintjob. Driving skills, however, are something else entirely – and not in a good way. That is quite unfortunate, indeed, as the Hellcats are notoriously hard to tame and launch well.
If you have the patience to watch the first cringe-worthy two minutes (out of a total of 2:20!), you will see that disaster was brewing for the amateurish racer who wanted to make Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey, his or her new home turf. The first race of the day was against an old-school JDM-style coupe, and the Plum Crazy Mopar got lucky that the rival wasn't capable of its high trap speeds, hence the 12.24s versus 14.89s victory.
Secondly, the Dodge looked like it was out for a walk in the park during the race against an orange Civic judging by the 10-second+ reaction time, but again caught a lucky break due to its tremendous power and ultimately compounded a 12.5s win. The third time was the charm, and after some wheel-slip, it managed to outperform a Lexus IS in all departments thoroughly. However, you can't get lucky forever and only take on mild racers like the Fox Body Ford Mustang from the 1:30 mark, as the final race was against a subtle and unassuming gray Chevy Camaro.
That one might not be as big and bad as the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, but at least the Chevy Camaro driver knew better than to try to launch the car in reverse. So, by the time the Redeye driver reversed (pun intended) the misfortune, it was already too late – the Mopar carried home the same of getting beaten by what looked like a 14.24-second Camaro SS after posting a 15.69s elapsed time.
Well, that was mildly entertaining – although if you're a Mopar fan, I suspect that you've lost a few thousand neurons trying to answer all the "why on Earth" questions about the horrible reaction times, the dreadful launches, and how come you're mistaking drive with reverse in the heat of the quarter-mile dragstrip action!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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