Hennessey Unleashes 2,000-HP Dodge Challenger and Charger Mayhem at the Track

The last time we heard about GM's sixth-gen Chevrolet Camaro, its fate was sealed in doom – reports claimed that production for the Convertible would cease at the end of November and the beginning of December for the Coupe, earlier than January 2024. However, over at Team Mopar, the news is slightly better than before.

Allegedly, the next-gen Dodge Charger – which is going back to the classic two-door coupe lifestyle – will come with an internal combustion engine after all. However, there's a nuance to it all. While Dodge will offer the nine levels of Banshee EV prowess as promised, the ICE-powered versions won't have the mighty Hemi V8 under the hood anymore. Instead, the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six Hurricane engine will make its debut with 420 and 510 hp if the options mimic the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer mills.

As such, you'll have a gas-powered Dodge, but it won't feature the mighty roar of the supercharged V8 anymore. Thus, all we can do is look and weep at the sight of the soon-to-be-retired Dodge Challenger muscle coupe and Dodge Charger muscle sedan. To make matters even more tearful (both due to sadness and the amount of burnout smoke), Hennessey Performance just released a promo video with the pair rocking the company's Pennzoil Proving Grounds in H1000 guise.

At least that way, we can experience the thrill of the SRT Hellcats one more time. And Hennessey didn't modify any Dodges – they nailed the H1000 upgrades on top of a couple of 'Last Call' Widebody collectibles for the final validation testing stage. Frankly, if I reincarnate in my next life, I want to be one of the guys who do these procedures! And I want John Hennessey as my boss because he lets these guys 'eat' rubber like a pride of lions would devour their prey after a long fasting period – only it was rubber on the tarmac on this occasion.

Anyway, long story short, the Dodge Challenger and Charger usually come with almost 800 horsepower if they are Redeyes. Still, if that is not enough, then Hennessey Performance Engineering is much obliged to sell you the H1000 upgrade packages. The modifications include high-flow 'everything' (catalytic converters, mid-pipes, fuel injectors, air induction system), upgraded headers and pulleys, and so much more. The results speak for themselves: over 1,000 hp for the Challenger and exactly 1,000 hp and 948 lb-ft torque for the Charger.

As part of the pre-delivery procedures, there are also up to 500 miles of road testing – plus these crazy apparitions on the track. For sure, Hennessey knows how to sell their products, with beauty shots at sunset and bustling clouds of smoke during the day from tortured rear tires. There's almost everything in the video embedded below, including lots of donuts, screaming superchargers and roaring V8s, but also one notable absence – they didn't use the track for some traditional quarter-mile drag racing!