Every year at the annual SEMA Show held in Las Vegas for the automotive and aftermarket performance world, we’re privy to some of the manufacturers’ shop toys. Sometimes those vehicles are just an exercise in freedom without a snowball’s chance in Hell of becoming reality, and other times they’re a glimpse of what’s to come.
If you recall from the 2015 SEMA Show, Mopar brought out some cool rides, including a pretty cool Hemi-powered 300 SuperS that we had an opportunity to see up close and test drive at this year’s LX Festival. Earlier last year, one of our readers had spotted an unusual Chrysler 300 on the freeway and sent us a video, with the same rear bumper treatment that made it to the 300 SuperS.
And parked next to the Chrysler at SEMA was a grey Challenger GT with all-wheel drive, dubbed the GT AWD. The public approved and begged the question: when are you going to bless us with this anomaly, Chrysler? Well, it seems that according to Automotive News, Chrysler has given an answer.
For a company that seems to be filled with reasons to slay the Pentastar, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sure keeps us on the edge of our seats. Automotive News suggests that not only is the GT AWD Challenger going to hit showroom floors this fall, but for 2017 we should be seeing a widebody version with the Hellcat powerplant.
Is this true? Could it be that Fiat, who’s leader once said that the Hemi was on its way out, is going to attempt to best the rest of the world at its own game with supercharged Hemi AWD power? The best we can get is “no comment” from someone we asked these questions to. For most of us in the world of journalism that usually has a different meaning, right?
With the party who is now responsible for all these cool modern musclecars – Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis – and his love for the Hellcat, it seems almost anything is possible, perhaps even a Chrysler 300 Hellcat? A little bird told us “no comment” on that one, too, but also suggested that it shouldn’t be ruled out. After all, with the lack of SRT in the Chrysler brand, someone needs to spice things up a bit, and who among us wouldn’t want to see a Chrysler 300 SRT Hellcat in addition to the upcoming Trackhawk?