If it was Friday night in the early 1980s, I was sitting in front of the television watching my favorite show: The Dukes of Hazard. And we car peeps know the star of the show was neither Bo nor Luke, and not even Daisy’s shorts in her white Jeep, it was the orange 1969 Dodge Charger with Confederate Flag on the roof: The General Lee. Translate that attitude for our time to experience the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack.
You can see the family resemblance in the wide grille, long roofline and square rear fenders. Of course, there’s more sophisticated body sculpting, 20-inch wheels, dark trim and a black lip spoiler. Finessed aerodynamics cradling LED headlamps and dual exhausts add dashes of today.
It’s not easy to reimagine a muscle car icon for an era saturated with glass cockpits, but designers met the charge. Flatscreen gauges and a head-up display accompany a super intuitive – and artful – 12.3-inch touchscreen. Actual knobs tune volume and radio. Hearts! Caress redundant physical controls for climate below. Devices connect through wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and console charging pad.
Gone is the smell of gasoline and black vinyl the Dukes endured. This rendition enjoys heated and ventilated leather performance seats that look birthed by a Viper. Rear seats and the squircle steering wheel are heated too. Alpine audio saturates the cabin with sound while plastic textured panels in the doors and dash are lit in an array of custom colors. When ready, adjust drive modes, pull the pistol-grip shifter and mash the big aluminum pedal. All of the latest safety tech stands by just in case.
I remember old Uncle Jessee sliding through the General Lee’s window and somehow squeezing into the backseat. While today’s Charger is available as a two-door, this one has four doors and a very roomy rear compartment. Split-fold rear seats under a power hatch easily swallow bicycles, strollers, surfboards, or if you remember the show well, a couple of bow-and-arrows.
What’s under the hood bears no relation to classic Chargers and I can hear the whining already. There’s no HEMI – or even a V8. Try a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission and torque vectoring all-wheel-drive. It delivers a potent 550 horsepower and 531 lb.-ft. of torque. Rip 0-60 mph in just 3.9 seconds for a fast get-away. Fuel economy is rated a relatively frugal 16/23-MPG city/highway.
Compare that to the 6.4-liter V8’s 485 horsepower from the previous generation. You don’t need a HEMI. Of course, you can also get the Charger as an EV dosing 670 horsepower and 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds. With up to 308 miles range, The ‘Boys could stalk silently at night and go far and fast to evade the law.
The General Lee rode atop a solid rear axle that was barely good in a straight, which probably explains all of the power sliding, but today’s employs Alfa Romeo Giulia architecture. It rides comfortably enough, but becomes thunky over rough pavement. Bo and Luke would dust Roscoe P. Coltrane, but wouldn’t be sliding through air.
Even a couple of rebel hell-raisers could afford the Charger four-door’s $51,995 base price, but our peaked Scat Pack came to a richer $68,320. It competes against the Mustang in spirit, but look abroad at the Audi A6, BMW 540i XDrive, Mercedes-Benz E450, and sibling Alfa Romeo Giulia.
2026 Dodge Durango R/T 392 Blacktop Launch Edition Hauls…Boats
Imagine Bo and Luke grew up, had families and needed to get their little Dukes to piano lessons. What would they drive? The 2026 Dodge Durango R/T 392 Launch Edition! Think of it as a Charger with three rows of seats, HEMI and ability to tow 8,700 lbs. of boats, RVs or classic muscle cars.
It’s the last of Chrysler Group models co-developed with Mercedes-Benz, which means the Durango is essentially a previous generation GLE with HEMI power – a delightful combination for an American muscle wagon. It feels like a Mercedes-AMG with its stiff adaptive four-wheel independent suspension connecting 20-inch black alloy wheels. Add Brembo brakes, electronic limited slip rear axle and high-performance exhaust to enhance performance.
“R/T 392” means it harbors a 392-cubic-inch (6.4-liters) HEMI V8 whomping 475 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque for 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and the quarter-mile in 12.9s. The paddle-shifted 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive put it to pavement. That should wake up the kiddos in the morning, but 13/19-MPG city/highway will wake your bank.
The sleek design has aged gracefully, but is starting to look last-decade. I still love its snarling hood extractors and menacing gloss black badging. I’d definitely choose the bright B5 Blue paint with silver racing stripes. It’s a bit showy, wholly appropriate. Out back, an integrated hitch and connections are ready for towing.
I’d like to see the dash upgraded ala the new Charger, but the large analog 180-MPH speedometer and intuitive touchscreen over redundant controls for climate/audio are near perfect in function. Connect phones wirelessly via Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and console charging. There’s even a trailer brake controller in the lower dash.
Luxury is amped by Sueded Nappa leather seats with deep SRT bolsters and heated/ventilated cushions. Rear captain’s chairs are also heated. The sueded headliner, 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio, sunroof, heated flat-bottom steering wheel and carbon-fiber accents feel very German. Third row seats are a mite tight, but flip them down and open the power hatch to haul your kid’s cello, camping gear, bicycles or classic car parts.
It feels like this generation of Durango’s time is limited, especially as the similar Jeep Grand Cherokee already moved to Alfa Stelvio-based architecture, but Dodge announced new trims for 2027. Buy one while you can. The R/T 392 with a HEMI starts at very fair $49,995, coming to $66,020 all-in. You’d pay twice that for a Euro competitor.
Storm Forward!
Send comments to Casey at AutoCasey@aol.com; follow him on YouTube @AutoCasey.