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Muscle cars: Dodge Charger, Cadillac, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Trackhawk

Cars While there is already a huge range of makes and models available in Australia, it’s not all over. Among the missing pieces of the puzzle are some of the most daring muscle cars, which certainly deserve a place on the drag strips and desert highways of Australia.

Don’t ask me why, but in the dystopian future of Mad Max , where resources are scarce and fuel is worth burning for, everything is powered by a massive V8.

This seems like counter-intuitive thinking, but I’m not here to argue the point. If the future really swings,

Australia will need some quick metal and a thirst for it to eventually get over it all (or chase it).

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We haven’t done too badly for ourselves in the past. Factory efforts from Ford and Holden, or HSV and FPV hot stores, have long served the needs of those craving power.

There are still strange rays of hope with cars like the 522 kW Mustang R-Spec and 477 kW Camaro ZL1 given the occasional limited production. This is just the tip of the iceberg though,

With some of the biggest and worst of the horsepower heroes being denied free entry to Australia.

Few come worse than the intimidating Fiat-Chrysler Hellcat-powered stabler.

Australia, of course, is not without the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk that delivers 522 kW and 868 Nm from its 6.2L supercharged V8 engine. That makes it more powerful than the Lamborghini Urus by about a third of the price.

So, using the Herculean Hemi as a starting point, Fiat Chrysler has given a handful of vehicles with some pretty crazy specs. Essentially, if Dodge puts a badge on it, they’ll also slap a Hellcat into it.

I’m sure super-horsepower Australian fans will welcome the Charger SRT Hellcat open arms.

The poor old name Charger suffered from an identity crisis or two. The Aussies would be associated with the 1970s Valiant Charger coupes that gave touring car racing a decent shake,

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Americans trace the Dodge Charger’s lineage back to the 1960s,

With a full V8 kit initially, before somehow switching over to an economical four-wheel drive SUV in the ’80s.

Now the Charger is a respectable family sedan with a performance twist. The current generation is not particularly modern, having debuted in 2011,

The base models aren’t very exciting with a lighter V6 engine under the hood.

All this is fixed by the Hellcat version,

Which Dodge claims holds the double honor of being the world’s fastest and most powerful sedan produced.

With the same engine and output pulsing under the hood as the Jeep Trackhawk (up to 527 kW in the MY21), the supercharger works without the all-wheel-drive safety grille and funnels that massive torque to the rear wheels.

Since then, Dodge has introduced the Charger Redeye. Because too much will not be enough.

The output is 797 hp or 586 kW.

As for claims to be the fastest , top speed is officially rated at 203 mph, which is just over 326 km/h – or nearly enough to wow kids in horrifying silence the next time they ask “Are we there yet?” On a long-haul road trip.