Photo: abimelecdesign / Instagram
These are recurring dreams, but they seem to be corroborated by a recent report from Automotive News that a new meeting with Ford’s nationwide dealer network included a surprise from executives: renderings and even full-size sketches of both a four-door Mustang sedan and an all-wheel-drive off-road version. No one knows when these two will appear or whether they’ll actually go into production, but the Las Vegas conference had strong support, with both CEO Jim Farley and executive chairman Bill Ford in attendance.
In any case, it’s clear that Ford wants to capitalize on being left alone in the pony car business: the sixth-generation Chevy Camaro went out of production late last year with no successor in sight, and the eighth-generation Dodge Charger is a full-size model that only features an all-electric motor (Daytona) and a twin-turbo inline-six (Sixpack) under the hood. Clearly, this is a great opportunity for the Mustang to shine with its affordable 5.0-liter Coyote V8, right?
Many people still believe that Stellantis should not treat Dodge this way, and they are making their voices heard through the parallel universes of vehicular CGI. More specifically, the fictional realm of digital content creators for cars has as its representative Abimelec Arellano, a virtual artist better known as abimelec design on social media, who has cooked up the next unrealizable project: a fantastic Mopar station wagon.
Trying to answer the eternal question, “Wouldn’t it be nice if Chrysler was run by people who cared?” the pixel maestro has created a design concept for an unofficial, hypothetical Dodge station wagon that could serve as a spiritual successor to the 2005-2008 Dodge Magnum. It’s still part of the eighth-generation Dodge Charger, hence the direct styling references, because the CGI expert “loves the new car, but the drivetrain options are definitely not what we’d expect from Dodge.”
As such, it’s going back in time to when Dodge was ready to “Hellcat the world,” and so its crimson eighth-generation Dodge Charger wagon gets a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood instead of electric motors or the Hurricane inline-six. Let’s hope it’s at least the Redeye version with 797 horsepower, as this Dodge Charger wagon has obvious sporting credentials, including large chrome Y-spoke alloy wheels and a subtle but contrasting exposed carbon fiber aero kit.
So, what do you think of the new Dodge Charger's practicality, its quad exhaust pipes and, in particular, the prominent “Unleadd” reference on the license plate?