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The Hellcat is dead. Long-live the Dodge Durango Hellcat! Dodge has confirmed its supercharged V8 monster will be back for the 2026 model year. I’m not surprised.

By the end of its run, the 2024 Dodge Charger and Challenger were ridiculous. Objectively. The pair were a sedan in a world of crossovers and a coupe the size of a compact pickup truck. They shared a platform with suspension borrowed from engineering Mercedes did. In the 1990s. And they culminated in halo cars that made 1,000 horsepower, with a supercharged V8. Like some hot rod drag racer from the 1950s. “Hellcat” indeed.

But if you know me, you know I love ridiculous vehicles. When you engineer a vehicle that is “OK” in every category, the overall product inspires no passion. But a vehicle that is horrible at most things? That’s how devotion is born. Heavy-duty diesel pickups. Solid-front-axle Jeep Wranglers. And 1,000 horsepower coupes. They all have this in common.

This may be why Dodge kept cashing in on its new-retro Charger and Challenger for 20 years. The run of both cars will go down in history. And for an automaker built on quarterly profits, it’s pretty much impossible to ignore a tried-and-true vehicle with a fat margin. It’s especially hard when you’re leaking money like a bucket with a hole in it. But today, Dodge has one V8-friendly option left: the Durango.

Dodge needs a reliable moneymaker, enter Durango Hellcat

Governments are pushing automakers to build EVs. Marketing departments are asking them when self-driving cars will be ready. Engineering all-new vehicles, with all these new technologies is very, very expensive. And the free market is not keen on money-losers. The first quarter of losing money, and heads are rolling at Dodge. The new CEO is quick to tell investors that V8 is no longer a “dirty word.” So time to roll back out the old Charger and Challenger? Not if its impossible.

I often say you can safely ignore what automaker media departments are saying and check the press releases coming from their factories instead. During 2024, Dodge’s parent company (Stellantis) took the Charger and Challenger’s Canadian factory offline and retooled both to build the new, shared “STLA” vehicle platform. Those lines couldn’t produce an old Charger or Challenger if they wanted to. Bringing either model back would require another expensive retooling, or a Time Machine.

So what’s good old Dodge supposed to do? Its Mexico plant is still set up to make enough V8s to power a Mad Max movie. Even the supercharged Hellcat variety. What plants are still making chassis that can handle V8 chassis? The Jeep Wrangler’s Ohio plant and the Detroit Assembly Complex. That second factory makes the Dodge Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I’ve been saying for years that whenever Dodge needs a quick moneymaker we’ll see the Durango Hellcat come back again. And again. And again. The final, final, final Durango Hellcat? Please. Dodge will keep printing this money until regulators pry the V8 from its cold, forced-induction-powered hands.