We’re Already Missing the Dodge Challenger for 1 Reason– And It’s Not Horsepower
It’s 2024. The Dodge Challenger isn’t rolling off the assembly line anymore. For critics, the big-bodied muscle car enjoyed too much of a tenure. However, fans mourn the retirement of the platform that hosted some of the wildest, most horsepower-hungry models in the so-called “Brotherhood of Muscle.” But even with the SRT Hellcat and Demon-shaped holes in the market, we miss the Dodge Challenger for another admittedly American reason: interior space.
The Dodge Challenger dwarfed its closest competitors, from exterior dimensions to interior space
The Dodge Challenger is no more in the modern car market. Now, before you go cursing Dodge for discontinuing the fan favorite, you can revel in the model’s lengthy post-millennium tenure.
The first LC-platform Dodge Challengers hit the road as 2008 models and were instantly successful. Specifically, the Challenger fit into the retro-styled muscle car aesthetic of the time, a natural rival for the S197 Ford Mustang and fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro.
However, even with the close competition, the Challenger provided something that its rivals didn’t: land yacht-like space. For instance, the 2023 Dodge Challenger, the model’s last production year barring a reimagining, packed 16.2 cubic feet of cargo volume. That’s nearly three feet on a comparably old Mustang and over seven feet on a Camaro.
| Make and model (2023) | Cargo volume | Length | Width (w/o mirrors) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge Challenger | 16.2 cubic feet | 197.9 in | 75.7 in |
| Ford Mustang | 13.5 cubic feet | 188.9 in | 75.4 in |
| Chevrolet Camaro | 9.1 cubic feet | 188.3 in | 74.7 in |
What’s more, the Dodge Challenger was nearly 10 inches longer than the late S550 Ford Mustang and fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. As you might imagine, then, the Dodge Challenger boasts a much more accommodating interior. You’d be right.
In an early review of the pre-production Challenger SRT Hellcat, television icon and incorrigible car collector Jay Leno likened the supercharged muscle car to the space and usability of the once-common “big American sedan.”
He’s not wrong, either. My road trip in the Challenger GT demonstrated its value as a spacious, accommodating coupe. Of the Challenger, Camaro, and Mustang, the Mopar model’s back seat was the only one generous enough for adult passengers who weren’t, uh, romantically comfortable with one another.
