Dodge marks Mopar parts brand’s 80th year with special-edition Challenger

By Stephen Edelstein February 9, 2017

One of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ (FCA) most iconic brands doesn’t even make cars at all.

That brand is Mopar, the accessories division whose name is a portmanteau of “motor” and “parts,” which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. In honor of the milestone, FCA unveiled a special-edition Mopar ’17 Dodge Challenger at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show. It’s actually the eighth in a series of Mopar-edition models, stretching back to 2010.

The Mopar treatment starts with the exterior. The special edition gets a two-tone paint job, with a Pitch Black roof and Contusion Blue or Billet Silver lower body. Dodge will only build 80 copies in each color scheme, in reference tp Mopar’s 80th anniversary. The Pitch Black color and a “Mopar 392” logo are hand applied to the body. The car also features 20-inch wheels, black exhaust tips from the Challenger SRT Hellcat, and a “Shaker” hood straight out of the 1970s.

The Mopar ’17 Challenger isn’t all show. It comes equipped with a six-speed manual transmission and the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 used in “SRT 392” versions of the Challenger. The Hemi cranks out 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. The Mopar ’17 edition also gets a cold air intake, strut tower brace, and Brembo brakes.

The interior features sport seats with Mopar logos and contrast stitching, the latter of which adorns the door panels and other parts of the interior. A serialized badge is also mounted under the hood to confirm that the car is something special. Buyers also get an “Owner’s Kit” that includes, among other things, a signed rendering from the FCA U.S. Product Design Office, and a “birth certificate” showing the car’s specifications and date of manufacture.

The Mopar ’17 Dodge Challenger arrives in dealerships later this year. The price for this rolling piece of Mopar memorabilia is $55,790. That’s about $10,000 more than a 2017 Challenger 392 Scat Pack shaker, which has the same engine and the Shaker hood scoop. Apparently, that’s the price of exclusivity.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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