The details on the New Dodge Copperhead SRT are practically non-existent right now, but we know that it will have a big rear spoiler, gobs of horsepower and the performance metrics to be called a hyper-muscle car. What is a hyper-muscle car? Well, it isn’t really a thing yet, but we know that the hypercar name was introduced to describe the world’s highest performance vehicles – cars that were simply too powerful and too fast to only be supercars. The super-muscle car designation really hasn’t been used, but it can certainly be argued that the likes of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon or the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 would qualify as super-muscle cars.
At the same time, the Dodge Viper is arguably one of the greatest American supercars, but the Copperhead is not a new Viper. Instead, it seems as though the new Copperhead will showcase some of the styling of the new Dodge Charger, but with far more aggressive aerodynamic properties. Also, we like to think that it would have a massive, supercharged Hemi, but all Tim Kuniskis has confirmed is that his hyper-muscle car will have exhaust tips and a combustion engine.
Here is a look at what we know about the Dodge Copperhead SRT, or the SRT Copperhead as some are calling it, and what we might see when it breaks cover.
First Meeting of the Dodge Copperhead
During the Stellantis Investor Day 2026 back in May, the company presented the FaSTLAne 2030 program, which outlined the plans for the vehicle lineup between 2026 and 2030. Included in this presentation was an infographic that showed the expected lineup for Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Chrysler. Manyof the vehicles in that graphic are already on sale today in some form, but there were a handful of vehicles under covers. There was even one future vehicle that was covered and had no name, but there was an indication that this mystery car would have an SRT variant. At first, many people thought that this mystery vehicle was the new Dodge Viper, but we have since learned that it is called the Dodge Copperhead.
The Original 1997 Dodge Copperhead Concept
Back in 1997, the Dodge Copperhead Concept was introduced as a smaller, more budget-friendly answer to the mighty Viper in an era where the company didn’t offer any other rear-drive cars. That concept car, shown here in “Copper Fire Orange” exterior paint, was curvy like the Viper, but it was a bit smaller and rather than the V10, it was powered by a 2.7-liter V6 from the Dodge Intrepid. With just 220 horsepower and 188lb-ft of torque, it also didn’t pack the brute strength of the Viper, but with a 5-speed manual transmission and rear-wheel-drive, the Copperhead Concept was a unique idea – especially when you factor in the planned price tag of just $30,000.
The 1997 Dodge Copperhead Concept debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and made its rounds through the auto show scene that year. It was a badass concept car, but it never made it past the concept stage. While $30,000 sounds cheap today for a car like this, back in 1997, a new Ford Mustang Cobra was only around $25,000, so the 220-horsepower Copperhead may have been a hard sell at that price point and performance level.
A Handful of People Have Seen a Design Concept
In addition to the picture of the covered car in the infographic, the company has also shown a 3D-printed design buck to showcase what the Dodge Copperhead SRT will look like when it arrives. Those who have seen it said that the front end has clear design cues of the new Charger, but overall, the car is shaped more like the Viper or the 1997 Copperhead through the side and back end. It seems that the design model is far curvier than the current Charger, but more importantly, it sits lower to the ground and has very different proportions than any of the current Charger models. Of course, it has a huge rear wing, similar to that of the Gen V Viper ACR. I was told a few months back that Dodge was testing a new performance car with a huge rear wing, but I figured that it would be some new use of the Charger Daytona name. Instead, that big-winged car is the new Copperhead.
Not surprisingly, while the initial reports suggested that the Dodge Copperhead would be based on the Charger, Tim Kuniskis has set the record straight on that.
Copperhead is Not a Modified Dodge Charger
Tim Kuniskis spoke with the team from The Drive, and explained that this car is not a Dodge Viper, it is not a variation of the new Dodge Charger and it is not a competitor for the mid-engined C8 Chevrolet Corvette. He pointed out that it is is based on a current STLA chassis platform and that it would not be based on a bespoke, one-off chassis design due to the cost of such an approach – but it isn’t another new Charger.
“I will tell you that it is not the hard points of a Charger,” Kuniskis told The Drive. “You couldn’t get a Charger with those proportions and that stance because of the multi-energy design of where the battery is encapsulated in the bottom of the car—without cheating.”
Based on what we have heard, the Dodge Copperhead will be similar to the Viper in the fact that it has a long front end ahead of the A-pillar and it will sit very low to the ground. The current Charger has a relatively short area ahead of the A-pillar and due to the space built into the chassis for the EV battery, it sits pretty high. We would also expect that the Copperhead would be a bit smaller than the new Charger, as it is kind of huge.
It Has Exhaust Pipes, But We Don’t Know How Many Spark Plugs
Tim Kuniskis has also stated that the Dodge Copperhead will have exhaust pipes and a combustion engine, but he hasn’t offered any hints as to exactly what will be tucked under that long hood. We expect that it will not be a naturally aspirated V10, seeing as how the previous Viper V10 was designed by Lamborghini more than 30 years ago. An engine based on the Hellcat platform makes the most sense, as Dodge has already shown that they can make over a thousand horsepower with a street-friendly, supercharged Hemi V8. We also know that the Dodge community and the muscle car market as a whole are most interested in V8 power.
The Drive suggested that it could be a hybrid V8, but Kuniskis was quick to dismiss that layout, saying that it would be obsolete in 30 years. He went on to say that his “goal is to have something that would be timeless and somewhat future-proofed,” but we can only guess what that means. The naturally aspirated 426 Hemi from the 1960s and 1970s is still dominating at the drag strip today, so it has withstood the test of time, but we all know that forced induction is more or less required to provide the production-friendly power of a car with “hyper” in its description. A 426-cubic inch Hemi with a big supercharger or a couple turbochargers would certainly provide big power, but would that be future-proof? That is hard to say, but at least we know that this hyper-muscle car isn’t an EV.
Imagining the Perfect Dodge Copperhead SRT
So what do we all really want the Dodge Copperhead SRT to be? Well, many fans of the brand would like to see a car that has the basic design cues of the new Charger, including the grille design and the taillights, but on a car that is smaller and shaped more like the Viper along the sides and rear. The ideal drivetrain would be a big displacement, supercharged Hemi that delivers upwards of a thousand horsepower – with the power to be sent to all four wheels by means of an automatic transmission.
Imagine if the Dodge Copperhead SRT was about the size of the last Dodge Viper, but with a thousand-horsepower Hemi and all-wheel-drive. The last Dodge Viper weighed around 3,500 pounds and while we don’t expect the Copperhead to be that light, anything around 4,000lbs with all-wheel-drive and a thousand-ish horsepower would most certainly be worthy of the designation of the first hyper-muscle car – with a quarter-mile time that would best the SRT Demon 170.
