Automotive history is awash with examples of manufacturers making wild claims about their latest model. Whether it is the most beautiful, the rarest, or the fastest, no aspect of styling or engineering has escaped their attention. However, the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 takes engineering to a new level. It marks the end of the line for the Challenger badge and goes out with a genuine bang. The car’s power and performance are unprecedented in an American production car, with its acceleration trumping the best available from European exotics. This Demon is an as-new survivor that has never been titled. The 300 miles on its odometer makes it as close to a new example as you will likely find in the current market. It needs a new home, with the seller listing the Dodge here on Facebook Marketplace in Wittmann, Arizona. It could be yours for $225,000, and I must say a big thank you to Barn Finder Tony P for spotting this amazing classic.
Dodge rode the retro wave when it released its Third Generation Challenger in 2008. Its influence was unmistakable, carrying the styling cues of the iconic First Generation that graced showroom floors from 1970 until 1974. It underwent minor styling changes throughout its production cycle, with the company announcing the last cars would roll off the line in 2023. The Challenger could easily have faded quietly, but that wasn’t the Dodge way. It released the SRT Demon 170 as the most potent vehicle to wear the Challenger badge. Its appearance was almost understated, especially if the buyer selected a shade like the Destroyer Gray gracing this car’s panels. Finding anything to fault about its presentation is impossible, mainly because it has a genuine 300 miles showing on its odometer. It hasn’t had an opportunity to accumulate chips and imperfections, and describing it as showroom fresh is a fair assessment. What this Challenger possesses is a genuine presence, with enough tweaks to proclaim that it means business. It rolls on 17 and 18-inch alloy wheels with enormous tires. Those on the front are 245/55R-18, while the rears are 315/50R-17. The massive rubber makes the rear fender flares mandatory, but the front and rear spoilers are surprisingly subtle. The hood scoop is less so, funneling air into a powerplant offering unrivaled performance.
The greatest disappointment with the seller’s listing is that they don’t supply engine shots. That defines the SRT Demon 170, but the interior images caused me to smile. The dash display reads “Press Brake and Push Button to Start” when the key is turned. It may as well say, “Light blue touchpaper and aim away from face!” Hiding under the hood is a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. It features so many internal improvements over the more humble “entry-level” version that they are almost impossible to list. However, the development costs were justified because the Hemi produces an eye-watering 1,025hp and 945 ft/lbs of torque. Combined with the massive rear tires, that is almost enough to rotate the planet on its axis. The power feeds to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Demon 170 delves into uncharted territory for a production road car, demolishing the ¼-mile in a verified 8.91 seconds at 151.2mph. The sprint from 0-60mph takes 1.66 seconds, with occupants subjected to an incredible 2.004 Gs. While European exotics can get close to those figures, they typically utilize sophisticated launch controls and all-wheel drive systems. The Challenger achieves the feat off the showroom floor via the rear wheels, making the achievement more noteworthy. The power and torque delivery of electric vehicles will undoubtedly see those figures eclipsed in the future, but no car will look or sound as brutal as the Demon 170 doing it. Many believe this will be the last of the genuine American muscle cars. Therefore, striking a balance between preservation and enjoying it as its creators intended will be a game for the new owner to play.
Buyers ordering a Challenger SRT Demon 170 received a driver’s seat trimmed in cloth, but the owner ordered this car with creature comforts to enhance the driving experience. They added the optional passenger seat, wrapping both in supple Red Nappa leather. The driver grips a thick wheel bound in Alcantara, and the stereo is a two-speaker unit. That isn’t luxurious by modern standards, but that isn’t the aim of the exercise with the Demon 170. This is an uncompromising muscle car where its creators strived to eliminate unnecessary weight. It is in as-new condition, with no evidence of wear or physical damage. Rolling this Challenger back onto a Dodge showroom floor would require little more than a wash and wipe-over.
Dodge produced approximately 3,300 examples of the SRT Demon 170, with 300 earmarked for Canadian showrooms. This one carries plaque # 1,585 and is a fitting way for the iconic badge to bow out. It is in as-new condition, and the price reflects that. It is higher than seen during recent successful sales but lower than some currently on the market. Determining whether values will climb in the future is never an exact science, but with many cars of this type doing so in the past, I see no reason why the Demon 170 shouldn’t. That could make it a solid long-term investment, although that won’t be the focus of many of our faithful readers. They will assess its performance potential and decide it is a winner on those grounds alone. I believe it could be a future legend; if that happens, prices will soar accordingly. Do you think that will happen?
“..prices will soar accordingly.”
Already starting! A recent news article wrote of a serviceman who went to a dealership in Mississippi (Mac Haik?) and put down the MSRP plus $50,000 with instructions his family would pick it up as he was being deployed.
When it came in it was sold to another customer; the serviceman read about it on a forum they both belonged to and realized what had happened. The GM denied the serviceman’s claim with accusations that the serviceman was lying.
The customer, realizing they’d both been duped, offered to sell it to the serviceman for the purchase price but as the hue and cry arose the Dodge CEO stepped in offering to have one set aside for a dealership repainted and specced to the serviceman’s original, which he accepted..
The GM, salesman and everyone who was involved with this deal has been fired! The dealers owner cleaned house!
The fact that this car exists bothers me in the same way a jacked up $80k Dodge Ram in my rear view mirror riding my bumper bothers me.
Maybe it’s me..
Even more so if that driver’s in a baseball cap, a mullet, and a fu manchu.
I’ve stopped looking at the driver, I’m completely prejudiced against certain vehicles regardless of who is actually behind the wheel.
I can barely afford to look at it.
You can’t go that fast at the track without training, a fire suit, helmet, roll cage, and special license. Yet anyone with enough money can take one on public streets. And everyone is hollering for gun control.
Freedom is a dangerous thing.
Anybody ever heard the phrase, “trying to cut a fat hog.”
I hope these cars get torn at the drag strip and not garage queens
I hate people who buy Absolute beasts of a car just to sit in a garage for 20+ years 🤷
That car is just wicked!
Jaden, you are correct, these cars are meant to be driven.
I have a 2012 R/T with 180,000 miles.
id rather have a wing car!!!
You’ll like this article then..
https://www.thedrive.com/news/plymouth-superbird-nascar-racing
Imagine if a wing car went like this does!
Cars are made to be driven and appreciated of what they are. Only, what we call, “fat heads” buy them are keep them in storage for years and try to make a profit on them. It’s all about the money to them. Nothing wrong with making money, but this keeps the enjoyment of the ones that can make the car show what it was meant for.
Most of these ridiculous unable to use on a public highway race cars will languish in garages in plastic bubbles until say about 2035 and then be lined up at Barrett Jackson. They are so fast you cannot possibly use them to their full potential on today’s clogged roads. Stellanris is going electric. Big mistake.
$225,000 that is completely INSANE…
Sometimes when I have been to a car show I just want to leave because it’s a waste of time looking through all the new Challenges and Mustangs. Anyone could have bought one and it’s not a classic car in any way. You can keep them.
Any classic in existence started as a new car…or truck.
Timothy, I should have made my comment more clear. I did not mean “car show” as in a parking lot showing, I meant, show the car as it was meant to be.
This car should not be listed here. It is not a barn find, and it is not old enough!
It’s a future find!
You guys must have finally run out of Corvettes and Mustangs if you have to show a Challenger that isn’t a year old. Pathetic.
Settle down now.
I’m sure those who left intelligent comments on this one get the picture. These cars are certainly not for everyone, and that alone makes it astounding that they even exist. Like it or not this is the dying gasp of the automakers giving a stunning send-off to the piston engine muscle car in a form that is the idea taken to its technological and performance ultimate, which hey, us muscle car enthusiasts have pursued since the ’60s. With there only being 3,000 produced the odds of one being on your rear bumper is unlikely.
I think all of these type cars, the final Camaro, Challenger, Charger and certainly eventually Mustang in piston engine form should be respected for what they represent, not ridiculed for ignoramus reasons. This is it guys, the death of what we know and love.
And if you don’t, well then charge up that electric crap and drive it till the battery dies.