Dodge recently announced that the beloved Durango SUV will stop production completely after the 2024 model year. The Durango has been in production for over 10 years with very few design changes. Instead of receiving massive upgrades, it’ll soon cease to exist. The most interesting thing about the discontinuation is that it could be replaced by a Hellcat minivan. If you think that doesn’t make any sense, you’re absolutely right. Though the idea of a Hellcat minivan is too much fun not to speculate about.

Could the Dodge Durango be replaced by a Hellcat minivan?

With the Dodge Durango leaving production soon, the rumored Chrysler Pacifica SRT Hellcat could take over. Dodge no longer has minivans in its lineup, but its parent company Stellantis has the Pacifica with Chrysler. Just about everything from Ram trucks to the Jeep Grand Cherokee is getting a Hellcat trim. The company knows what its customers want: power, and performance from all vehicles. The main thing they’re looking for, whether in a Challenger or a pickup truck, is the Hellcat engine. So why not put one in a minivan?

For a few years, there’s been a (fictional) rumor that a Chrysler Pacifica Hellcat minivan was in the works. An artist even made a rendering of what it might look like back in 2020. The unlikely combination of a minivan and a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 would undoubtedly get people talking. Though the idea is very unlikely to ever happen, it is one of the more fun rumors to think about.

When considering the absence of a large and powerful SUV, what can really replace it? It is far more likely Dodge will get another, fully redesigned SUV. That is nowhere near as much fun as a Hellcat minivan. As imagined in the 2020 Abimelec Design rendering, the Pacifica would get a widebody kit, Hellcat wheels, badging, and a power hood scoop. A 707 horsepower minivan would be the highlight of any road on which it drives.

DIY Hellcat Pacifica

For the Dodge Durango to be replaced by a Hellcat minivan, the engine would need to fit. Though the engine bay makes it basically impossible to fit into a standard Chrysler Pacifica, it would technically be possible for a savvy Pacifica owner to make happen. FCA sells a crate version of the Hellcat’s 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine with 707 horsepower. It’ll cost around $20,000, which is roughly half the price of most Chrysler Pacifica models. If someone were able to mod the Pacifica into using this engine, it would be the coolest minivan on the road.

Go straight from soccer practice to your next drag race in the Chrysler Pacifica Hellcat. Something has to take over for the Durango, which has had a Hellcat trim since 2015. The Durango itself has sold over 60,000 units every year since 2013, according to GoodCarBadCar. 2020 saw a roughly 10,000 unit drop off in sales, which is normal for the year with a global pandemic.

Still, the 2020 sales were 57,828 in the US. That seems really respectable for an SUV to be discontinued. The future of Dodge is up in the air since as of 2021 there are only three different new models for sale. It is very likely this means that over the next few years brand new models will be introduced as well as electric versions of everything.

Is Dodge going electric?

Sticking with the theme of powerful vehicles, Dodge is releasing an all-electric muscle car in 2024. Not much information has been revealed about it, though we assume more EVs will enter the Dodge lineup around the same time. The growing trend in the industry is to release an entire lineup of EVs around the 2024-2025 model years. It is safe to assume Dodge will do something similar.

So the answer to could the Dodge Durango be replaced by a Hellcat minivan is, probably not. Though it is definitely one of the more fun ideas to think about. The Durango is a large SUV known for its power and performance, so turning to the Chrysler minivan to achieve the same thing would be really interesting. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is now using the same platform as the Durango and taking the engine, so it’s not likely to come back on the same platform. There are plenty of other options for where the Hellcat engine can go next, but we hope the Pacifica, or maybe a new Dodge minivan model somehow comes away with it soon.