Photo: Dodge
Following the Hellcat and Demon muscle cars, Dodge and SRT have leveled up to the super-SUV segment with the introduction of the 710-horsepower Durango. But rather curiously, the supercharged family hauler is a rare piece of Mopar metal.
Remember the strip-slaying Demon produced for the 2018 model year? Dodge made only 3,300 units, with 300 of those going to Canada. The Durango with the 6.2-liter Hellcat engine, on the other hand, will number “less than 2,000” examples.
Tim Kuniskis, global head of passenger cars at Fiat Chrysler, told Muscle Cars & Trucks that the exclusivity boils down to “six months” of production. That’s it! There are a couple of reasons the Durango SRT Hellcat is so rare, and these are emissions regulations for the 2022 model year and the next generation of the Grand Cherokee.
The WL – as you may know – is switching to a new platform for 2021. The Jeep and the Durango are built at the Jefferson Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, and FCA needs all the capacity available in order to manufacture as many GCs as possible.
Don’t, however, write off the Durango just like that. Production of lesser models will continue after 2021, and we know from the FCA-UAW contract from December 2019 that a mild-hybrid engine option is in the pipeline. The Jeep, on the other hand, will be treated to a mild-hybrid option. Following an investment that totals $3 billion or thereabouts, Jefferson Assembly will also hire 1,100 new workers.
Turning our attention back to the government-related hurdles of the Durango SRT Hellcat, it should be highlighted that the Hellcat V8 will survive in the Challenger and Charger going forward. Of course, the 6.2-liter supercharged engine will be slightly modified to comply with the 2022 evaporative emission test procedures.
At the time of writing, the Durango SRT is the most potent version of them all and the most expensive too at $62,995 excluding freight and options. The entry-level specification with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and rear-wheel drive costs $30,795.
Tim Kuniskis, global head of passenger cars at Fiat Chrysler, told Muscle Cars & Trucks that the exclusivity boils down to “six months” of production. That’s it! There are a couple of reasons the Durango SRT Hellcat is so rare, and these are emissions regulations for the 2022 model year and the next generation of the Grand Cherokee.
The WL – as you may know – is switching to a new platform for 2021. The Jeep and the Durango are built at the Jefferson Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, and FCA needs all the capacity available in order to manufacture as many GCs as possible.
Don’t, however, write off the Durango just like that. Production of lesser models will continue after 2021, and we know from the FCA-UAW contract from December 2019 that a mild-hybrid engine option is in the pipeline. The Jeep, on the other hand, will be treated to a mild-hybrid option. Following an investment that totals $3 billion or thereabouts, Jefferson Assembly will also hire 1,100 new workers.
Turning our attention back to the government-related hurdles of the Durango SRT Hellcat, it should be highlighted that the Hellcat V8 will survive in the Challenger and Charger going forward. Of course, the 6.2-liter supercharged engine will be slightly modified to comply with the 2022 evaporative emission test procedures.
At the time of writing, the Durango SRT is the most potent version of them all and the most expensive too at $62,995 excluding freight and options. The entry-level specification with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and rear-wheel drive costs $30,795.
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