When I was a kid, I'd sometimes fill my soda cup with a little splash of everything. I called it a Suicide, though I know it has different names in other parts of the country. It didn't taste very good, but that never stopped me, because seven-year-old me loved sugar and had no sense of taste. If I hadn't outgrown that phase, I'd have been delighted to hear that Stellantis is doing something similar by offering a limited-time vinyl wrap for the Dodge Challenger featuring every single color from its 2023 palette. Every. Single. One.
Announced through Dodge Garage [basically an official Dodge blog and merchandise outlet], the Hi-Impact Colors wrap for the Challenger encompasses the full spectrum of colors that'll be available on the 2023 Dodge Challenger—the last year for the venerable muscle car. They number 14 in total and include everything from White Knuckle to Pitch Black, from F8 Green to Plum Crazy. The price, as you'd imagine, isn't cheap: $3,700 plus installation, which Dodge Garage says can be arranged at certified 3M installers.
Dodge Challenger "Hi-Impact Color" wrap. Dodge GarageVisually, the wrap calls to mind VW's Harlequin Golf and Polo, which used mixed body panel colors, and are remembered today as cult classics. For a multitude of reasons, though, it's hard to see these Challengers going down the same way. For one, this is a wrap: In no world will it last as long as a real paint job, no matter how well cared-for, so it's never going to become a collectors' item. It's also just not good-looking, being a lazy sequence of stripes with no attention paid to complementary colors. I guarantee you any given street artist could've come up with a more exciting design.
Last but not least, I'm not sure how Challenger buyers and fans—also known as the "Brotherhood of Muscle"—would take to a rainbow-wrapped car. The only thing more out-of-touch with its customer base that Dodge could have offered is a four-cylinder Challenger—though, with the Charger Daytona EV on the way, there's no chance of that happening. But the biggest question is if buyers will keep those yellow splitter guards on their rainbow cars. I think it'd be a good look, personally.
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The Dodge Charger and Challenger have withstood the test of time, and helped to usher in the “second golden age of the muscle car.”
However, time is running out on the current models as an electric successor will be previewed later this week. We’ll have more on that later, but Dodge is planning to send the 2023 models off with a handful of special touches.
Most notably, the company is bringing back three heritage colors including B5 Blue, Plum Crazy purple, and Sublime green. Destroyer Grey is also making a return and this means the 2023 Charger and Challenger will each offer a total of 14 paint jobs.
Also Read: Dodge Has A Literal Truckload Of Special Edition Challengers And Chargers For 2023
Additional exterior changes are limited, but R/T models will come equipped with new “345” badging. That’s a reference to their 5.7-liter V8 engine, which displaces 345 cubic inches, and presumably develops up to 375 hp [280 kW / 380 PS] and 410 lb-ft [555 Nm] of torque.
Elsewhere, the 2023 Charger and Challenger will be equipped with a commemorative “Last Call” plaque that signifies their final year of production. It’s made of brushed aluminum and features the vehicle name and silhouette as well as messages saying “Designed in Auburn Hills” and “Assembled in Brampton.”
Last but not least, Dodge is expanding Jailbreak availability to the Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat. This promises to unlock “ordering restrictions and exclusive content” to provide “even more owners the option of building their own one-of-a-kind muscle car.”
To ensure customers can get one of the final ICE-powered Chargers and Challengers, Dodge will increase transparency by allocating the entire 2023 model-year run at once and listing availability at DodgeGarage.com. That way, customers looking for a specific model will know exactly where to get one.
PHOTO GALLERY
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Live picture credits: Michael Gauthier for CarScoops
When Plymouth wanted to show off the 25 paint colors available for the 1970 Barracuda, someone at the bygone brand got the idea to place an ad with the car striped in all of the available colors. That 'Cuda — and its zoomie headers and wheelie bar — became known as the Paint Chip Car, and Dodge is bringing it back. During Dodge's Speed Week events in August, the company showed a Challenger painted like that 1970 'Cuda but in the 14 special colors available to the 2023 Challenger as part of the coupe's retirement tour. Looks like Dodge was prepared for the hopped-up reaction the car got. The automaker has announced that for a limited time it will offer a wrap featuring all 14 colors, the wrap available for every Challenger made since the third generation debuted in 2008, including the widebodies.
The 14 colors in order from front to back, are Plum Crazy, Frostbite, B5 Blue, Sublime, F8 Green, Go Mango, Sinamon Stick, Octane Red, TorRed, Triple Nickel, Destroyer Grey, Granite, Pitch Black, and White Knuckle.
For comparison, this was the inspiration:
Buyers anxious to get in on two slices of history need to head to the Dodge Garage site to sign up for the wrap, produced by CG Detroit. The vinyl itself costs $3,700 before installation, Dodge advising the wrap "requires professional installation" by a 3M-certified installer.
Beyond the color choices, there is a major difference between the original and the new Paint Chip Cars. See, knowing the ad would only show one side, the marketers only painted the passenger's side of the Plymouth, only installed the side pipes on that side, and only put one wheelie bar on it. The driver's side of the car was a plain, solid green. Dodge's wrap covers the entire Challenger, until someone decides to take historical accuracy into their own hands.
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