Yahoo Autos 2023 Dodge Charger Jailbreak Final Thoughts: We knew ye almost too well
V8 sedans hold a certain power over us. In fact, I distinctly remember the moment it captured my father — a man borderline allergic to using the throttle. We were on a road trip through the New Mexico desert in a rented Ford Crown Victoria. Dad made a comment about the power under the hood, and my brother, being my brother, immediately asked what any child approaching the ripe old age of 10 might ask under the circumstances:
“Can it do 100?”
It took only a brief experiment to establish that it could.
I know; you came here expecting “****-you”-fast Dodge Chargers and you’re getting quaint anecdotes about gussied-up taxi cabs. Don’t worry. You’re in the right place. And in my defense, a Dodge Charger and a Crown Victoria have quite a bit in common — medallioned service not the least among them. Both also stuck around for quite a while by industry standards, but that’s a contest the Panther platform wins by a (smooth, pleasant) country mile.
But if Ford wins on longevity, certainly Stellantis (or FCA, Chrysler or Daimler-Chrysler; pick your iteration) takes the cake for sheer diversity of offerings. This is so core to Mopar’s brand identity in fact that the Charger and Challenger got not merely one send-off model, but an entire portfolio of them. But as verbose as some of these are, none will ever top my favorite. Say it out loud with me just one more time: “Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition.” That’s it. Follow the bouncing ball if you must; it’s a mouthful.
In this case, however, Dodge has sent us a “mere” Charger Jailbreak — a mercifully concise designation in traditionally verbose company. Counterintuitively, though, it denotes the model with perhaps the most extensive option list. The name “Jailbreak” itself comes from the notion of unlocking an iPhone and bypassing its factory limitations … and not busting people out of Folsom.
That’s a decidedly contemporary namesake for such a terminally anachronistic machine, but the reality is less smartphone than smart money. In this case, you’re effectively unlocking the Charger’s cosmetic option sheet. The Jailbreak can be had in virtually any paint code and interior color available in the 2023 Charger catalog, along with any set of wheels that will clear the Widebody’s chunky, two-piece brake rotors.
For all of the images that conjures of a bespoke Charger, the result here is fairly mundane. Sure, it’s a Redeye-spec Hellcat Widebody in one of my favorite finishes ever, Plum Crazy, but its black and grey interior isn’t exactly setting the world aflame, even if the whole thing isgarnished with some Brass Monkey “Devil’s Rim” wheels. It’s just not an outlandish combination by Mopar standards. If anything, it’s a bit tame, but it’s not ugly.
One thing the Charger has done consistently (and well) for the better part of the past two decades is look cool. Even the base models had road presence back in the mid-aughts and the V8-powered R/T was downright sinister. Perhaps the only thing cooler on the road in 2005 was the Chrysler 300C. What a time for Chrysler design.
Charisma is powerful. Even 18 years later, the Charger still has it — and I mean that in every sense of “it.” This car makes more of a scene sitting in a driveway than some enthusiast staples would at full lock on the Tail of the Dragon.
When I moved to Detroit to start this job, I had a six-speed 2013 Challenger SRT8 finished in Plum Crazy with black stripes. It was big and loud and like any extroverted Mopar, it made friends everywhere it went. It was an amazing machine from which to sightsee in the American Midwest. The Auto mode of its rudimentary three-mode adaptive suspension was a lifesaver, and in Sport it was competent enough to carve up the occasional wide meanders that middle America calls corners. But as a so-called driver’s car, it left quite a bit to be desired.
