The Dodge Challenger Hellcat Jailbreak is 807bhp madness

Dodge was apparently under the illusion we needed any proof that muscle cars get the best names. Otherwise why else would we currently be looking at the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody Jailbreak?

Yep, that’s a whole lot of extra packages to all take in at once. So we’ll give you the headline: this is a Challenger (and Charger) with over 800bhp, freed with a mere $995 upgrade over the distinctly not-slow Hellcat Redeye.

Your thousand dollars gets you 10 whole extra horsepower, taking the cars’ 6.2-litre supercharged V8s from 797 to 807bhp. Both a small step and a giant leap all at once, given the threshold it allows these still relatively humble vehicles to cross.

Should we condone such silliness when other carmakers are eking out extra power with electrification? Well, calling the option 'Jailbreak' suggests Dodge already knows it’s being a bit naughty. And surely that’s the very appeal of what's going on here.

If just 10 extra horsepower seems negligible when you already have 797 of the stuff on tap, then know that customers buying a new Challenger or Charger also unlock a whole new options list by going for the Jailbreak. A world of seats, colours and trims with yet sillier names opens up to you; how do Demonic Red seatbelts, Brass Monkey badges and Hammerhead Grey floor mats grab you? They're for Jailbreak buyers only.

“Roughly half of all Dodge customers modify their vehicles,” says Dodge brand man Tim Kuniskis. “We are going to let customers run free through the styling archives. We're taking most of the parts and pieces we've used over the years, adding a few new ones and letting customers build their own ‘One of One.’”

The implication is there’ll be no hand-holding or taste-policing like when you spec your bespoke Bentley or SVO Range Rover. Perhaps it’s a good job there’s 807bhp on tap. It should save innocent folk behind  from seeing your car for too long once the lights change…