This 1,000-HP Hennessey Charger Jailbreak Is Like a Daily-Driver Demon 170 With 4 Doors

When Stellantis ordained that Dodge needed to align with their sustainability policy and the Ice-powered Charger and Challenger severely infringed on that, at least the corner-office head honchos allowed the US automaker to retain some honor and properly pay its respects to the rich V8 heritage of these two iconic nameplates. So, before the Charger Daytona SRT embarks on the zero-emissions journey with the nine levels of Banshee EV prowess, there is still the matter of how special the 2023 Charger and Challenger models are.

Well, they are hitting collector status with little effort, especially with the company's approval of the seven 'Last Call' special editions that were announced over the course of several months. Naturally, a Challenger is getting top honors. That would be the all-new 2023 SRT Demon 170 – which packs up to 1,025 horsepower on E85 and thus makes it into sub-nine-second quarter-mile dragstrip territory to challenge EV heroes like Tesla's Model S Plaid or the Lucid Air Sapphire.

Anyway, the main drawback is that – even if money is not an issue and you don't mind the humongous dealer hikes – there are very few Demon 170s out there. More precisely, the company has decided that after production begins later this summer, there will be no more than 3k units for US customers and just 300 for Canadian fans. However, even if you have a regular Challenger or Charger, there is a solution for fixing your Demon 170 passion.

And it comes from Sealy, Texas, where Hennessey Performance is based. They recently showcased the first test drive of a 2023 Smoke Show Gray Widebody Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak. That is a mouthful, so we will call it 'that gray Charger Jailbreak' instead of spending half an hour directing everyone's attention to a performance sedan. Instead, the most important thing to remember is the roar of the exhaust system, the screech of the supercharger, and the deep voice of the Hemi V8 just before the rear tires break traction and erupt in a smoke show.

Now, just to be serious, let us remember that Hennessey offers for any Charger, Challenger, or even the Durango SRT Hellcat, the potential to lift the factory pony quotation from 707/717/797 to something that can easily rival the Demon 170. That would be the company's new H1000 performance package that brings total power to a hypercar-style 1,000 hp at 6,500 rpm and no less than 948 lb-ft (1,285 Nm) at just 4,200 rpm. And, as far as the Charger is concerned, this makes it the "ultimate weekend toy, family hauler, or daily driver with room for four passengers and enough power to embarrass any other car you encounter on the road."