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Next Dodge Charger Rendered, FCA Head Designer Ralph Gilles Shares "Experiment"

The current Dodge Charger and Challenger seem to only get better with time. And since the muscle brothers aren't expected to be replaced until 2023, we're all eager to see the next updates they receive, such as the recently-spied 2021 Charger Hellcat Redeye. Meanwhile, Dodge is hard at work developing the next-gen models and we are now here to talk about a rendering shared by Fiat Chrysler head designer Ralph Gilles.
Next-Generation Dodge Charger Rendered 4 photos
Photo: ralphgilles/instagram
Next-Gen Dodge Charger/Challenger RenderingNext-Gen Dodge Charger/Challenger Rendering2019 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
The penning master, who often engages in social media adventures, has brought along a pixel work portraying a big coupe that mixes traditional Mopar styling cues with a futuristic design.

However, before we zoom in on the details of this proposal, you should know that Gilles, who used to helm the SRT sub-brand, also delivered the context of sharing the rendering.

Like many of you, the company's design team is working from home and, at least at this point, we're looking at one of the proposals showcasing an experimental design.

"While we are never to show future product on social media. I have made an exception this time as this experimental design of a Dodge of the future fell on the cutting room floor because the designer decided to make the yellow spoiler guards a permanent part of the theme. We had a really good laugh about it though!" the head designer explained.

Now, those yellow lip protectors see the designer behind this work harnessing this opinion-splitting habit that involves certain owners refusing to remove the said plastic bits. And while we're talking about the author of the rendering, it looks like this comes from a designer named Jack Liu. For instance, the gearhead is part of the team that penned the the Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition.

From the retro-themed fender design to the bubble dome-like greenhouse, there are multiple elements that link this image to the said penning specialist's work I published in November last year (you'll find this in the gallery above).

The 2019 rendering brought along the side view of the next-gen muscle car proposal. Back then, I saw the classic Challenger in the upper half of the visual creation, but I also mentioned the rendering could always pay homage to the lines of the old-school Charger.

This time around, though, the generous air intake occupying the lower front fascia, which appears to borrow its styling cues from the current Charger rather than the Challenger, probably means we're talking about the next generation of the former.

Even if this rendering never makes it past the proposal stage, it serves as a hint towards the fact that the future of Dodge muscle cars literally looks promising and that's a major understatement.

Of course, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

For starters, if this is indeed a Charger, what will happen to the Challenger? One possibility would involve returning to the original scheme from the 1960s, which would see the Challenger being offered as a generously-sized coupe and the Charger accompanying it as an even larger two-door.

A second one involves the continuation of the current scheme, which means the Charger remains a sedan, leaving the Challenger to cover the coup duties.

And while another scenario would see the financial discipline introduced by the ongoing merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen determining the demise of the Challenger, this doesn't seem likely, at least not when considering the solid, age-defying sales of the current model.

As for the tech side, earlier reports talked about the future model(s) relying on the modular Giorgio platform that currently underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. Nevertheless, the carmaker could also further develop the present LA (Charger) and LD (Challenger) architectures, which trace their roots to the Daimler Chrysler era, incorporating Mercedes-Benz hardware.

Of course, there's a similar choice regarding engines. So while the said Italian tech infusion could always involve twin-turbo V6 motors delivered with or without Ferrari assistance, depriving these American badges of their traditional V8 power sounds like a risky path.

PS: While the Instagram post above comes from Ralph Gilles, the one below is delivered by Jack Liu - this is basically a screenshot of the first, but comes with a clear description: "Next time I’ll make the splitter guards pink,"

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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