All-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger muscle car created for SEMA

An all-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger muscle car heads an extensive line-up of customised vehicles from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ tuning arm Mopar at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.

The Mopar team set out to create a muscle car that could be used all year around, according to Mopar design boss Joe Dehner, and the Dodge Challenger GT AWD Concept is the result.

“No-one is doing this right now,” said Dehner in reference to an all-wheel-drive muscle car. “So we went out and created something unique and special.”

Read Autocar's review of the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

The SEMA concept is based on the GT version of the Challenger rather than one of the more potent SRT models.

The Mopar styling team raided the existing parts bin for the Challenger to create the car's look. It gets a wide body kit, front splitter, rear spoiler, 20in alloys, quad exhaust tips and a special paint colour, calledDestroyer Grey, with contrasting decals. The colour scheme is repeated for the interior. 

But the real story for the concept is under the skin. All-wheel drive is available on the longer wheelbase version of the platform the Challenger uses (on the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger) but not on the shorter version that underpins the muscle car.

Consequently, the Mopar team adapted a beefed-up all-wheel drive system used on police car versions of the Charger to work with the Challenger. Those models have a five-speed transmission only, so Mopar performance portfolio chief Todd Beddick said they took the eight-speed transmission from the Chrysler 300 and fitted it to the model.

The result, said Beddick, is a car “that is three vehicles in one: a Challenger with a police car and Chrysler 300 underneath”.

Other chassis modifications include the lowering of the springs and an increase of the spring rate in the suspension, the fitting of strut braces front and rear and the use of the upgraded brakes fitted to police cars.

Edward Hessell, performance parts manager at Mopar, said the chassis modifications and all-wheel drive system allow for improved steering and a sharper turn-in for the concept over the standard Challenger GT.

Under the bonnet is a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 with around 440bhp and 450lb ft (exact outputs have yet to be confirmed), boosts of around 75bhp and 44lb ft over the engine’s standard outputs in the Challenger GT.

That extra power and torque for the Challenger GT AWD Concept come from the fitting of a ‘Scat Pack 3’ performance kit. The Scat Pack is available in three stages. The first includes improved cooling and a larger air intake, the second adds a new camshaft and the third includes a new high-flow exhaust system and cylinder heads.