The videographer behind the Wheels channel on YouTube is a big fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he witnessed something Ford vs Mopar going on during the heat of the day.
Unfortunately, when you say pony cars, you can't say Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger in the present tense anymore. This is because General Motors decided to retire the sixth-generation Chevy Camaro from production in December 2023 and sent it on indefinite leave of absence until they decide what to do with the iconic nameplate.
The last time we heard anything from the rumor mill, it seems Mark Reuss decided alongside the other corner office head honchos that Chevrolet might one day bring it back as an affordable back-to-basics all-electric sports car. Well, it remains to be seen if that's the case, as the fan reaction to this perspective hasn't been too welcoming.
As for the Dodge Challenger, its fate is sealed, too. It also bowed out of production last year after the carmaker gave it a proper seven-special 'Last Call' series sendoff that culminated with the 1,025-horsepower 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. In its place comes the eighth generation 2024 Dodge Charger, complete with both a two-door fastback coupe and four-door sedan body style plus new powertrains – Daytona is all-electric, and the new Sixpack brings to the table the 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo inline six mill.
Alone, the 2024 Ford Mustang soldiers on unabated with the EcoBoost turbo inline-four (315 hp) and the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 powering the Mustang GT and new Dark Horse branding with up to 500 hp. There's also an upcoming $325k Mustang GTD with more than 800 horsepower and a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood, by the way. And that's the current standing.
Luckily, the local quarter-mile dragstrip doesn't need to worry about these models too much – owners will come to race them as long as there are spare parts for everyone. As such, here are a couple of skirmishes of the Mopar versus Ford variety involving some rare occurrences. First, a black Ford Mustang GT got into a skirmish with the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack rocking the Shaker package.
Roaring down the track, they seemed pretty much on par, and we had to wait for the electronic scoreboards to reveal the actual results: 12.56s at 108 mph for the Mopar representative and 12.63s at almost 112 mph for the Blue Oval. However, Dodge fans might want to refrain from celebrating early because it seems the track's lights indicated the menacing Ford as the real winner of the skirmish.
Secondly, a regular Dodge Challenger Scat Pack faced off with a blue Ford Mustang, a modern fifth-generation incarnation of the Boss 302 nameplate. Again, they happily roared down the track, and it seemed the 13.39s pass was enough for the Ford Mustang to remain the Boss (302), but the 13.57s Dodge Challenger was ultimately declared winner by the track's lights. What do you think of that? Does it make sense or not?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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