The AWD HEMI Dodge Challenger That Never Happened

  • The 2015 Challenger GT AWD concept would’ve been the first two-door all-wheel drive V-8 muscle car.
  • AWD in muscle cars improves launching and handling, but the AWD Challenger never made it to production due to economic concerns.
  • Market research showed lack of demand and cost issues contributed to the cancellation of this unique AWD muscle car concept.

The basic definition of a muscle car is an American-made two-door, with a powerful V-8 engine and rear-wheel drive, but many of those rules have been broken. The ultra-rare 1966 Dodge Coronet Hemi four-door showed that a couple of extra doors are cool if there’s a 426 under the hood. Similarly, the rebooted four-door Charger with some insane Hemi V-8 options was every bit the muscle car like its classic second and third-gen ancestors. In 2015, Dodge almost obliterated another rule with the Challenger GT AWD concept vehicle.

Had this amazing ride gone into production, it would have been the only two-door all-wheel drive V-8 muscle car in existence. The obvious advantage of an AWD in a Hemi-powered Challenger is launching off the line with much less wheel slip. When cars start getting into the 400 horsepower range, like most Hemis, all those ponies and pound-feet tend to light up the tires when the hammer drops on a RWD. Distributing that immense power to four wheels keeps the tires glued to the road and increases performance by a few tenths of a second.

Another big plus for an AWD Challenger would be superior handling in inclement weather. Driving on snow, ice, or even rain is a whole lot safer with four wheels cranking. With all of these up-sides to an AWD Challenger, it seemed like a no-brainer for Dodge to put this concept into production, but it never happened. Certain market forces and economic considerations prevented this car from becoming a reality, but it’s still fun to think about what could have been and appreciate this killer prototype.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites from Dodge and Stellantis North America.

the awd hemi dodge challenger that never happened

Dodge-Shakedown-Last-Call-Challengers

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2015 Challenger GT AWD Concept

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Dodge has created some pretty wild concept vehicles over the years, and some of those crazy ideas made it into production, but the one they unveiled at the 2015 SEMA show was neither kooky nor impractical. It was a third-generation Challenger GT AWD Concept, that, as the name suggests, had all-wheel drive.

That wasn’t the only thing, however, that made this car different from a regular production 2015 Challenger R/T, as there were upgrades from bumper to bumper. First, the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine had the Scat Pack 3 Performance Kit, which gave it 75 more horsepower and 44 additional pounds of torque.

Power and Performance Comparison

2015 Challenger R/T

2015 Challenger GT AWD

Engine

5.7-liter Hemi V-8

5.7-liter Hemi V-8 (Scat Pack 3)

Horsepower

372HP

447HP

Torque

400 pound-feet

444 pound-feet

Transmission

Eight-speed automatic

Eight-speed automatic

0-60 Time

5.1 seconds

4.6 seconds

(Performance stats sourced from Car and Driver)

The Mopar Performance CNC-ported cylinder heads, hi-flow manifolds and catalysts got that Hemi engine pumping and there were more goodies to improve the performance. With a concept suspension kit and production front and rear strut tower braces that lowered the car’s center of gravity, this concept ride was built like a race car, designed to hug the road. Of course, the all-wheel drive aspect was the most important thing, delivering that extra Hemi juice to all four corners, so it could bust off the line quick and clean.

External Glory

The Challenger GT AWD had a few exterior accents as well that set it apart from a stock R/T. The tri-color paint scheme was anchored by Destroyer Grey, a color that was so stunning it became a regular Mopar paint code.

Along with the matte black hood and roof, the car was accented with Header Orange, and featured an off-set racing stripe from the hood to the trunk. As the first example of the Widebody kit, the fender flares housed 20-inch five-spoke Mopar wheels, giving it a seriously aggressive stance. Additionally, it had a GT AWD badge on the front grill and two Scat Pack 3 emblems.

Inner Beauty

The inside was nearly as impressive with upgraded luxury. The buckets seats were covered in Katzkin leather with Header Orange stitching and taupe suede inserts. The Header Orange accents continued throughout, in the center console, shifter, side panels, and flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel.

There were also Challenger badged doorsills and a special trunk mat. The Uconnect infotainment, which was radical for the time, included the Performance Pages app, which recorded performance and handling stats that could be uploaded to the Web.

the awd hemi dodge challenger that never happened

Silver 2023 Dodge Demon SRT 170

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Mopar All-Wheel Drive

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All-wheel drive on a modern Mopar was not actually a new concept in 2015, just for the Challenger. AWD was available on the Dodge Magnum, Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300. All those vehicles had V-8 options, but also four or more doors. AWD even eventually made it to the Challenger in 2017, but only with a V-6 engine. The 2015 Challenger GT AWD would have been the only two-door, Hemi V-8 equipped muscle car for Dodge or anyone else.

Chrysler 300 AWD

The Chrysler 300 is a full-size luxury sedan, introduced in 2005 as a tribute to the classic Letter Series cars of the 1950s and ’60s. Those old Letter Series cars were famous for both luxury and performance, so from the beginning, the 300 came with 5.7-liter and 6.1-liter Hemi V-8 options. They were also made available in all-wheel drive configurations, inline with European and Japanese luxury sedans. Like the Charger and the Challenger, the 300 was discontinued after the 2023 model year to clear the way for Mopar’s EV future.

AWD 300s

  • 2005 Touring
  • 2006-2010 Touring, Limited
  • 2008-2010 Executive Series
  • 2011 C
  • 2012 Limited, S, C
  • 2013-2014 Base, S, C
  • 2014 John Varatos
  • 2015-2017 Limited, S
  • 2018-2020 Touring, Limited, S
  • 2021-2023 Touring, Touring L

Dodge Charger AWD

When Dodge resurrected the Charger nameplate in 2006 many long-time fans of the classic performance ride were shocked to see it was a four-door, since that’s two too many doors for a muscle car. Another startling aspect of the reboot was that they were available with all-wheel drive. Despite being the world’s biggest secret, AWD Chargers apparently sold well enough that they were available from 2007 until its discontinuation in 2023. The sixth and seventh-generation Chargers not only made four doors cool, but they also chilled the profile for all-wheel drive.

AWD Chargers

  • 2007-2010 STX, R/T
  • 2011-2014 R/T
  • 2012-2017 STX
  • 2015-2017 SE
  • 2018 GT
  • 2019 STX
  • 2020-2023 SX, GT

the awd hemi dodge challenger that never happened

Green and grey Dodge Challengers parked across from yellow and orange Dodge Chargers.

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Why The Challenger GT AWD Never Was

The Challenger was a hot seller in 2015 and Mopar had established all-wheel drive vehicles in the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger, so it seems kind of weird that the Challenger GT AWD never made it to production. Like all things in life, it comes down to money. Not only were these all-wheel drives more expensive to produce, there was a serious question as to how much demand actually existed. The video above shows the Dodge lineup at the 2015 SEMA show, including the Challenger GT AWD concept.

No Love For a Challenger Snowplow

Dodge did some market research and learned that people who live in places where it snows already had four-wheel drive vehicles and were unlikely to choose an AWD Challenger as their winter ride of choice. It certainly isn’t something anyone would take off road and makes for a lousy snowplow. They also discovered that most folks like their muscle cars as traditional rear-wheel drive, tire-smoking monsters. Even with the added launch grip of an AWD, most people want a muscle car in the classic configuration.

Mopar 4×4 Hemis

  • Ram trucks
  • Dodge Durango
  • Chrysler Aspen
  • Jeep Grand Cherokee
  • Jeep Commander
  • Jeep Wagoneer
  • Jeep Wrangler

No Money in an AWD Challenger

The lack of demand for an AWD Challenger was compounded by the economic reality that they would be serious money losers. It would have cost, at the time, about $4,000 to get a Challenger with all-wheel drive. The expense of developing an AWD system specifically for the Challenger would never be off-set by sales and that’s the major reason why Dodge never went ahead with this otherwise cool concept. Even if there was somewhat of a demand for these cars, they would still lose money on them, so there was never a real chance they were headed for production.

the awd hemi dodge challenger that never happened

Hellcat 4X4 on hydraulic lifts

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Remembering The Car That Could Have Been

the awd hemi dodge challenger that never happened

2015 Dodge Challenger GT AWD Concept

Most of the time, automakers come up with concept vehicles as an exercise in design or to showcase their capabilities, with no plans to ever put them into production. Sometimes aspects of a concept vehicle will be adopted by a production model, but mostly they are for generating buzz and excitement for the brand.

That being said, there is something awfully appealing about an AWD Challenger, and it has nothing to do with driving in the snow. It could have been a sleeper Challenger, which doesn’t seem possible, but lining up next to someone in an R/T and then smoking them off the line with four wheels sticking would have been supremely satisfying.

Dodge never made an AWD Challenger, but they did make muscle cars out of trucks, which makes a lot more sense. The Ram 1500 TRX, with the 702 horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 can go 0-60 in 4.0 seconds. If the Challenger GT AWD had been produced, and eventually got equipped with a Hellcat, it would beat those numbers, but could never go rock climbing or mud bogging. It might not have even been a good rally car, and the truth of the matter is that Hemi Challengers belong on the street.

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