When the 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody debuted, you, like most, were probably astounded—not at the car’s new fender flares or wider tires to go along with them, but at the gall of Dodge to give it only 707 horsepower. What’s that good for, getting to the end of the street slightly faster than you could walk the distance? What a shame.
But not to worry. The 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition—yes, that is the real name, and it takes up approximately a quarter of Twitter’s 280-character limit—is here, and it will rescue us all from such mediocrity with a full 717 HP and 650 lb-ft of torque.
Finally, a Charger Hellcat power figure worthy of our streets. You will feel that extra 10 HP in the soles of your feet and at the core of your soul.
Fiat Chrysler announced the anniversary edition on Wednesday, saying it’ll be limited to a production of 501 vehicles as an ode to the 1969 Charger Daytona. Its 717 HP makes the new car the most powerful Charger yet, FCA said, and also brings it up to the Challenger Hellcat’s new standard power numbers.
The Daytona will come in four paint colors, the announcement said: blue, black, silver and white. It’ll also get a giant exterior Daytona decal, and custom badges that say where in the production line the car fell. All-season tires are standard, three-season tires are optional, and all of the cars will get Brembo brakes.
On the inside, the cars will get black leather and Alcantara seats, blue accent stitching, and “Daytona” embroidered on the seat backs, in case the Daytona vibe is lost on your passenger before they get into the car. They’ll also have real carbon-fiber instrument panels—emphasis on real, from FCA—and anniversary steering wheels and floor mats.
The cars will be available for order later this year, and they’ll be at dealerships early in 2020. FCA didn’t say anything about pricing for the car, because money is no more than a material object and all that matters is what’s within your heart. (It will be expensive.)
But what’s important here isn’t any of that. It’s that FCA finally stepped at least one version of the Charger Hellcat up from that 707 power figure that we’ve all grown too accustomed to over the years, and maybe, just maybe, with an extra 10 horses, we’ll be able to get down the street and back in less than five hours.
That’s to be determined, though.