Zac Quinn 
The 2023 model year has come to a close. With it, the Chevrolet Camaro, LX Dodge Charger, and LX Dodge Challenger have all driven off the stage, leaving the Mustang as the last V8-muscle car standing. The rivalry started in the 1960s and revived in the late 2000s when Chevrolet and Dodge brought back the classic muscle cars with new styling and unprecedented power. Unfortunately, the industry is changing for politically charged reasons, and with it, 2023’s sales show precisely why we had to bid the V8-powered pony cars farewell.
In Focus: 2023 Muscle Car Sales For The USA
| USA Muscle Car Sales + Corvette | |||||
| 2023 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Chevrolet Camaro | 7,780 | 9,557 | 7,351 | 6,340 | 31,028 |
| Chevrolet Corvette | 7,904 | 9,125 | 8,409 | 8,915 | 34,353 |
| Dodge Challenger | 11,371 | 12,904 | 11,075 | 9,610 | 44,960 |
| Dodge Charger | 22,138 | 24,604 | 16,915 | 12,273 | 75,920 |
| Ford Mustang | 14,711 | 10,760 | 9,844 | 13,290 | 48,605 |
| Grand Totals | 63,904 | 66,950 | 53,594 | 50,428 | 234,866 |
The four-door Dodge Charger once again outsold its two-door brethren for the calendar year, but was unable to close on a high note. According to the official sales records, Dodge Charger sales were down 30 percent year over year for Q3 2023, moving 12,273 units.
Though Dodge was leading the charge for muscle car sales for the better part of 2023, that 1-2 finish was disrupted as Ford launched the next-generation Mustang. Sales were up 21.2 percent in the last quarter compared to 2022 for the Original Pony Car, rising from 10,968 units to 13,290 in Q4 2023. That puts the Dodge Challenger in third place. Throughout October, November, and December, the figures dropped a 26 percent year over year, moving just 9,610 units.
As for Chevrolet, the Camaro saw a surge over the last three months of the year for the very short production of the 2024 model year, which ended in December. With knowledge of the end times for the beloved muscle car, sales went up 15.8 percent compared to 2022, with a total of 6,340 units sold during those three months. By comparison, 2022 saw only 5,475 units sold. Finally, we have the C8 Corvette, which may not be a muscle car, but it is certainly cross-shopped with them, suggesting strong demographic overlap. Chevrolet sold 8,915 Corvettes during Q4 of 2023, down 2.35 percent over 2022, once again outselling the Camaro. Perhaps for the last time.
Unfortunately, this decrease meant 1979 still owns the Corvette production record, while the 2023 model year is now second all-time with 53,785 cars produced over the entire year. That’s just 22 cars less than the all-time record. Perhaps next year.
As for the other vehicles, the Ford Mustang had a total of 48,605 units sold, 2.2% more than in 2022, when the company only sold 47,566 units. The Dodge Challenger sold 44,960 units over the year, a drop of 18% compared to 2022. The Dodge Charger also dropped, though not as drastically. 75,920 units were sold for 2023, down 5% over 2022. It’s likely that the LX Dodge muscle cars faced a litany of supply chain issues, and thus could not finish their final model year on a high note. Just as vexing, it’s not known just how many examples of the Dodge Demon 170 were built.
Finally, the Chevrolet Camaro capped off its production run with 31,028 units sold in total, ending on a relatively high note. By comparison, 2022 saw just 24,652 vehicles sold, an increase of 25.9%.
The last Dodge Challenger rolled off the assembly line on Friday, December 22. It was a Pitch Black SRT Demon 170. That same day, the last V8-powered Charger also ended production; it was a Scat Pack Widebody finished in Destroyer Gray. Finally, the last sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro rolled off the assembly line, completed in Summit White ZL1 1LE with a manual transmission; rumor is it will be donated to the GM Heritage Center.
For now, all that remains now is the Ford Mustang. But not for long, as Dodge is reading its next-generation muscle cars. It’s expected that they will be powered by Hurricane inline-six turbo engines. But there’s a juicy rumor that a next-gen Hemi V8 is in the works, too. And we really, really want that to be true.
