Iconic muscle car to make V8 return

If you think an electric muscle car sounds like a bad idea, apparently you’re not alone.

Dodge is reportedly working on plans to revive the Hemi V8 engine for its latest Charger muscle car, albeit as an option alongside its all-electric and turbocharged six-cylinder versions. According to a report from Mopar Insiders, Dodge is considering bringing the Hemi V8 back to the line-up as part of a broader strategy. The current Charger is available with a twin-turbo 3.0-litre ‘Hurricane’ straight-six producing up to 410kW, but V8 remains the muscle car favourite in most markets.

As we wrote recently, Ram wants the Hemi V8 back into the 1500 range as quickly as possible, now that former Stellantis (parent company to Dodge and Ram, among many others) CEO Carlos Tavares is gone. Tavares was famously anti-V8 and pro-EV, which is a strategy that was clearly not popular with the management of his brands nor customers.

Dodge CEO Matt McAlear told The Drive back in February that there were no confirmed plans to bring the V8 engine back, but there had been a clear attitude change about such a scenario in the post-Tavares era at Dodge.

“We haven’t disclosed that,” McAlear was quoted as saying, “but one of the things that’s encouraging is that with the change in leadership, you know, V8s are no longer a bad word around the company. But with anything, we still have to be compliant.”

His reference to compliance regards emissions regulations in the USA, which is a subject that has changed considerably under the current US President, who has shown a clear dislike of both electric vehicles (except Teslas) and a clear preference for American-made cars. Dodge is planning on reviving its Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan, which would help avoid the planned 25 per cent tariffs on imported vehicles or parts.