Dodge Teases a Budget Sports Car : tellantis has been going through a change. Big ones. With new opinions from top-down leadership changes actively re-navigating each brand’s path in life, we’ve heard from Dodge CEO Matt McAlear saying “V8 is no longer a bad word around the company.” Only after the electric Charger Daytona launch that has so far been criticized nonstop by people who want big-displacement gas engines did that change. All that tough love “stings,” admits McAlear, but it’s the right thing, he says, while dropping a hint of the V8’s return for the legend. But what’s the deal with things that are not the Charger?
Dodge used to make a fantastic—world-beating, even—sports car, but it does not anymore. Meanwhile, Chevy hand us one of the most ludicrous rear-drive cars ever made (especially at that price) while Ford tries to put a Mustang through a record that Dodge used to hold.
So it all came down to one thing: What about the Viper? McAlear’s answer was an interesting one. Included were several components that revealed a possibility no one was expecting, such as Dodge possibly repeating the original Viper moment with a car people might actually afford.
One of my favorite cars,” McAlear joked when we mentioned the long-hood legend.
Not an answer, but a statement of fact. So, we asked a different question: Is there room for a halo model beyond what Dodge can create on Charger platform? Is there a demand, in other words, for something akin to the iconic, V10-powered beast?
“Is there a need? I don’t know if there’s a need,” the chief executive said. “Is there a want and a desire and a market? I think yeah. I believe there’s a market for two things. There’s a market for an entry-level halo and a top-of-the-line halo.’”
With that, McAlear brought a totally different topic into the discussion: the future possibility of an “entry-level halo.” So of course, we pressed. What might that even look like coming from Dodge? I don’t know what to compare it to,” he said. “I get inspired by seeing some of the things some of the powersports companies did. Not just the crazy side-by-sides, but the three-wheelers, the Slingshots, I think there’s something there.”
“It can be pretty crowded, especially because everybody has so many hobbies now, everyone wants to spend their money on so many different things,” continued McAlear. “It’s hard to be like, ‘I’m all in on one thing, I’m gonna push my chips all into one basket and say, ‘I gotta have that car.’
“It’s really great for those who can afford it, but not everybody can or wants to do that.”
Right now, the cheapest “fun” car in a Dodge showroom is the Charger, and until the new models roll out, simply put, “cheapest” doesn’t mean “cheap.” One more affordable sticker you can buy for more than $60,000, destination notwithstanding. The bigger question is, then, how much can people pay?
“I think there’s some sort of entry-level back at that sub-$30,000 price point.” “I believe there’s a market for someone who just wants that weekend car back, who might want a Viper, but doesn’t need to spend that $100 or $120K. Something that doesn’t require all the safety features, doesn’t need the heated seats. Just a car.” Call me crazy, but isn’t McAlear describing a Miata? Or, delving deep into the company’s performance back catalog, the Dodge Demon. Long before Chrysler strapped the name on a line of drag strip–menacing Challengers, it ended up on a two-seat roadster that made some laps in and out of the public’s consciousness during Chrysler’s Cerberus era.
It’s by all means a courtesy en preview, but it’s been 18 years since we last laid eyes upon this baby sports car, and that’s a long time to keep our breath held. So what has to change for a project like this to come to fruition