2020 Dodge Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition doubles down on its retro recipe
A total of 1,960 will be up for grabs across the various trims and wonderfully retro colors.
Dodge didn't invent the muscle car segment. Pontiac and its GTO are widely credited with that accolade, and in fact, the Dodge Challenger showed up sort of late to the party in 1970. Despite its fashionably late arrival, it arguably made one of the most impactful impressions. Fifty years later, it's hardly strayed from the formula.
To toast 50 years since the original Challenger debuted, Dodge has cooked up a limited-edition model for the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show appropriately titled the Dodge Challenger 50th Anniversary Edition. No points for creativity there, but bonus points due to fact it will come in one of seven delightfully retro exterior colors.
Dodge decided to make 70 of these limited-edition challengers available in one of four trims and each color for a total of 1,960 cars. Available on the GT, R/T Shaker, R/T Scat Pack Shaker and Scat Pack Shaker Wide Body, the seven hues are some new and some old. To mark the muscle car's golden anniversary, there's a new Gold Rush color. Also new are Frostbite, Hellraisin and Sinamon Stick. Excellent job on the paint color names, Dodge.
The final colors are currently part of the Challenger's palette and include TorRed, F8 Green and Go Mango. Even though the fun colors certainly help, the brand did more than just that, however. Every variant gets a Shaker hood scoop, including the wide body model for the first time. "Shaker" graphics are, obviously, present when one pops the hood, too, and the digits "50" read out in the "air catcher" headlights.
Working with any of the colors is a hand-painted satin black hood and black-wrapped hood and decklid. Even if you don't opt for the Gold Rush color, unique Challenger 50 badges don a "Gold School" hue on the grille, fender and spoiler as well. Each trim also gets a set of "Gold School" 20-inch wheels.
The gold touches continue inside.
The celebrations continue inside with standard heated and ventilated leather seats with suede inserts and "50" embroidery, accent stitching and real carbon fiber along the console bezels. Even the startup animations have been redone to commemorate the anniversary with a quick showing of a 1970 Challenger, and the gauges get a white backs with yellow accents. Finally, the passenger side marks the significance with a badge showing it's 1 of 70 made in the particular configuration.
Lucky for fans, none of this is too extravagant. The package starts at $4,995 for Challenger GT models. For the cheapest V8-powered model, the R/T Shaker, the anniversary package costs $5,495. Both the Challenger Scat Pack Shaker and Wide Body models will require $5,995 to add these goods. Order books open next month before cars ship out in early spring next year.
