The First Week of July is the Peak of Summer
First week of July is arguably the climax of summer vacation in this country. The weather is hot with traces of mesquite charcoal fumes in the air during visits to the lake with the promise of fireworks come nightfall. The month of June also saw several breaking news stories involving our favorite V8’s from Detroit’s Big Three that foreshadows what could be the peak for the modern muscle car era. To save you valuable scrolling time I’ve gathers the highlights of these stories in one article. Here we go!
2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Wide body Debuts!
The debut of the new 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Wide body has to be one of the most unsurprising automotive news of the decade. It is of the oldest platforms still in production that has been continuously tinkered with over the years to stay relevant like an aging hipster. Plus, the Dodge Charger and Challenger are siblings that share the same toy box. The wide body package will be standard on all 2020 Charger SRT Hellcats, and an option for 2020 Scat Pack Chargers.
The new wide body package adds 3.5 inches to the 2020 Dodge Charger’s width. In addition, wide body Chargers will be fitted with 11 inch wide tires on 20 inch wheels, and upgraded Brembo six-piston front brakes (four-piston in the rear). Dodge claims the 2020 Wide body Charger can stop from 60-0 in 107 feet! It’s not just an appearance package as the front end funnels air towards the radiator, and its rear wing actually improves aerodynamics.
The 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat Wide body will still carry the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 with its high caliber 707 horsepower rating. Bolted to the standard TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic transmission that will allow the 2020 Charger Hellcat to reach 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 196 mph! 2020 Scat Pack Chargers will be powered by the 392 Hemi V8 with 485 horsepower which offers a surplus of fun. Carbon and suede interior packages are new for 2020 Charger options as well.
2020 Shelby GT500 Performance and Pricing
Ford announced that the 2020 Shelby GT500 Mustang will be putting 760 horsepower, and 650lb-ft of torque, through its rear wheels. With a seven-speed duel-clutch automatic as its sole transmission and claimed top speed of over 200mph. Ford says the 2020 Shelby GT500 Mustang is the most powerful street-legal Ford ever—with the most power- and torque-dense supercharged production V-8 engine in the world! Now we know how much all this will cost you.
The 2020 Shelby GT500 Ford Mustang starts off at $73,995 and tops out at $95K for a fully loaded model. Top tier options include a Performance Enhancing Carbon Fiber Track package that costs $18,500! Making it the most expensive factory Ford Mustang ever offered. Imagine paying six figures for a brand new Shelby Mustang and it isn’t at Barrett Jackson. The 2020 GT500 is also nearly $13k more than the Shelby GT350.
GM Killing off the Camaro in 2023
The last time GM killed the Camaro it lasted from 2002 until 2009 when it debuted with retro styling, and a marketing strategy of becoming a children’s toy starring as Bumblebee in Michael Bay’s Transformers film franchise. Now, ten years later, GM is rumored to be saying that the current sixth gen Camaro will be the last one – again, for now… maybe.
Muscle Cars & Trucks broke the story with anonymous sources from GM saying that development for a seventh gen Camaro had been “suspended”. That the nameplate will be shelved once the model run ends in 2023 for the current sixth gen Camaro. In 2018, sales figures on the Camaro dropped 25% and GM was forced to give the 2019 Camaro a mid-year face lift after internet backlash over its front-end looks. Will it be sad to see the Camaro go? Absolutely! I hope they give the Camaro one final high-horsepower middle finger to the Mustang, and SRT Mopars, before fading into the mid 2020’s. Go out in a blaze of tire smoke!
Jesus Behind the Wheel 