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news from the corona office

When the authorities order automotive writers to "shelter in place" it's hardly a hardship. After all, hanging out in my home-office connected to the Internet is my routine. And when I sneak out for a test drive, the roads are blissfully free of motorists. Meantime, the new product pitches keep coming so I've picked a few to share.

it's 16-Cylinder Time

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Just when we thought the $100,000 Parmigiani Bugatti timepiece was all you should spend on a wristwatch, the ultra-lux brand has teamed with Jacob & Co to create a twin-turbo, 16-cylinder model. The watch's flying tourbillon movement, including a working 16-cylinder engine block with pistons and crankshaft, is the most complicated ever manufactured. MSRP $280,000

pool,rolls-royce style

Apparently, ultra-luxury car owners love to find ways to spend a quarter million on an exclusive accessory. Rolls-Royce owners are permitted membership in WHISPERS, a private social network where the shopping experience includes this very limited edition pool table. The backbone is premium aluminum (no recycled beer cans) covered with black lucite panels with the base finished in 14-carat gold. Five will be produced for $250,000  nearly the base price of a modest Rolls

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donate your phantom

Some ultra luxury car owners use their prized vehicles to support a worthy cause. Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill donated his 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom to All-In Challenge, an auction raising funds to feed needy people. So far over $19-million has been raised by various celebrities to benefit Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, America's Food Fund, World Central Kitchen and Feeding America. Meek's Phantom has bids soaring past $320,000. Nice job Mr. Mill! 

For some of us who’ve been around the automotive industry for more than a handful of decades, the term “muscle car” was popularized in the 1960s era of American automakers stuffing big V8 engines into coupes, sedans and a few convertibles. Fast forward to today’s market and, at least for the moment, the only former “Big Three” automaker stuffing snorting V8 engines into passenger cars is Ford. But this hardly means that petrol powered bragging rights are the sole province of the fellas in Dearborn, Michigan.

First a short history lesson. The Dodge brothers built their first car in 1914 and in 1928 their company was acquired by Chrysler. In 1998 the iconic American automaker joined Mercedes-Benz parent to create DaimlerChrysler Motors, an alleged “Merger of Equals”. In 2007 Cerberus Capital Management took control and along with a weak economy, steered the automaker into further distress. After a short restructuring, Fiat acquired a majority stake in Chrysler Corp and in 2014 renamed the automaker to FCA US LLC. Finally in 2021, Fiat and the French PSA Group joined to become Stellantis N.V. with headquarters in Hoofddorp, North Holland.

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I share this very condensed history to enable readers to grasp how challenging it has been for the Dodge product planners to get really competitive cars to market. Today’s Charger is a great example. After successfully positioning Dodge as a provider of rip-snorting, thunderous performance vehicles, the Netherlands-based Stellantis decided that electricity was the best propulsion system for the Dodge Charger. They might have asked Harley Davidson how sales of their battery-powered motorcycle were doing but wasn’t the car business pivoting to plugs? So 2025 was not a banner year for electric Chargers.

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This year Chargers are literally roaring back and while not “yet” with HEMI V8 power, the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, six-cylinder engine offerings are compelling. Charger’s standard offering produces 420 HP with a deep growl out the twin exhaust pipes. Not enough to make your right foot happy? Option the high-output version and 550 HP is on tap, plenty enough to take on most V8s. And early buyers could acquire a Super Bee Launch Edition with 600 HP and that high-octane bee on the fenders. Sadly, they didn’t send me that version.

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Today’s Dodge fellas position the Daytona as a muscle car rivaling Ford’s Mustang and when applied to the two-door coupe version, that’s fair. But I found this good-looking, well-equipped four-door sports sedan a reasonable rival to a few luxury brands. If you want a GM competitor, it’s Cadillac’s CT5 V, a quite nice sports sedan but you’ll give up 100 HP and some interior space. BMW’s 540i xDrive and the Mercedes-Benz E 450 4MATIC also offer smooth power and handling, but you’ll spend luxury money to sit in those heated seats.

 

Our Dodge didn’t really rival luxury brands in the elevated detail of materials and precision but our Charger continued to impress me with a long list of attributes that are not often found in high-volume models. And the handling characteristics are quite good for a full-size sedan that adds even more utility with a big rear hatch opening and folding rear seats. The new Charger is a welcome offering in today’s utilitarian marketplace.

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THE FINE PRINT

2026 Dodge Charger R/T Plus

TYPE:  Front Engine, all-wheel-drive

ENGINE:  3.0 -liter twin-turbo I-6

HORSEPOWER:  420 @ 5,200 RPM

TORQUE:  469 lb.ft. @ 3,500 RPM

BASE PRICE: $51,995

AS TESTED:  $65,365

FUEL CONSUMPTION:  

17-city, 26-highway, 20-combined

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