What Does The Bee Badge Imply On Dodge Chargers And Challengers?

For automotive fanatics, the late ’60s have been among the many greatest instances to be alive, with so many iconic muscle vehicles competing for horsepower dominance, together with a quantity from Dodge that had the “Bee Badge.” This designation was current on the Dodge Tremendous Bee, which solely lasted from 1968 to 1971, starting its run as a standalone muscle automobile primarily based on the Coronet. In its final iteration of the early ’70s, the Tremendous Bee was decreased to an possibility on choose Dodge Chargers and included a hood decal bee brand.

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A resurgence in 2007, introduced the Tremendous Bee again to life as a trim on sure Dodge Charger fashions for just a few years. The bee badge would return on Chargers once more in 2012 by means of 2014, after which lastly as a final hurrah in 2023 as a part of the corporate’s “Final Name” sequence. The automaker additionally constructed a Challenger Scat Pack 1320 mannequin offered from 2019 by means of 2023 that featured a bee badge.

What ignited the unique Tremendous Bee mannequin (which is one in all the rarest Hemi-powered muscle vehicles ever constructed) was an try and seize an untapped section of the market in the course of the late ’60s. The massive trade gamers of the time like Plymouth, Pontiac, Ford, and Dodge have been all attempting to seize the eye of youthful generations excited by better energy output at extra reasonably priced costs.

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The primary Dodge Tremendous Bee (a 1968 mannequin primarily based on the Coronet) featured an elective 426-cubic inch Hemi V8 with 425 horsepower and 490-pound ft of torque below the hood. In 1971, the period of the mighty muscle automobile was waning and the Tremendous Bee made the final look it might for a while, and it was supplied in a 340 cubic-inch small-block Dodge Charger variant. Whereas the automotive neighborhood is opinionated in the case of big-block vs. small-block V8 engines, each fashions packed lots of energy per cubic inch for the period.

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Luckily, the Tremendous Bee returned in 2007 and was as soon as once more an possibility for the Dodge Charger. The Charger SRT8 Tremendous Bee provides a  6.1-liter Hemi that outputs 425 horsepower with 420-pound ft of torque. A fortunate few have been in a position to snag the restricted 1,000 fashions launched with “Detonator Yellow” and black paint.

Jaws collectively dropped when Dodge discontinued the Charger and Challenger, making 2023 their remaining yr. Nonetheless, there are a number of particular version fashions that pay homage to the historical past of each Dodge fashions, one in all them being the 2023 Dodge Charger Tremendous Bee. For this remaining iteration of the bee badge, this Charger contains the “Plum Loopy” paint coloration, high-performance drag racing tires that measure practically 11 inches huge, and a drag racing mode. The ultimate Tremendous Bee provides drivers 485 horsepower and 475-pound ft of torque from its huge 6.4-liter Hemi V8 that takes benefit of a working hood scoop.

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