STOLEN: Pre-Production 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat:

The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat might be the most powerful SUV on the planet, which makes it a highly popular vehicle at the moment. With its supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI HELLCAT V8 delivering 710 horsepower and 645 lb.-ft. of torque, the capability of running a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, an NHRA certified quarter-mile elapsed time of 11.5 seconds, and a top speed of 180 mph, the three-row performance is bound to attract a lot of attention no matter where it goes. Throw in the fact that it will only be offered for one model year and production hasn’t started yet, gives the Durango SRT Hellcat even more hype factor.

With the Metro Detroit area being plagued with auto thefts, especially for vehicles like Dodge Chargers, Dodge Challengers, Jeep® Grand Cherokees, and Ram pickups, we were surprised to see that one of the pre-production fast feedback vehicles that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) lends out to staff for final validation would end up on Facebook on a Metro Detroit stolen car page. 

We are familiar with FCA vehicles being stolen right off of assembly plant lots, as it has become a common thing. However, this pre-production 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat was stolen right from the driveway on Sunday morning, from an FCA employee. 

The trend continues to grow rapidly around the Metro Detroit area and its suburbs. Detroit area Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram dealers have been hit with things such as Uconnect infotainment system, wheels, and even entire vehicles being stolen right off of dealer lots. The thefts of personal vehicles and dealer thefts have caught Michigan to have some of the highest insurance rates in the country.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the Durango will be recovered intact. Many of the vehicles are usually sent to underground chop shops, some of which are in the backyards of abandoned houses, and the parts that aren’t taken are usually left abandoned on city side streets or at the abandoned houses themselves. Sadly, it only took the thieves three minutes to break in, start, and take off with the high-performance SUV. According to the post, Uconnect had the vehicle pinged inside the Detroit city limits, around 10 miles away from where the vehicle was stolen. The information was relayed to the Detroit Police.

A Facebook group by the name of “Stolen Cars DETROIT, MI” where the initial post was posted, is a community effort with people from several counties around the Metro Detroit area looking out for each other. The group currently has over 34,000 members and was created by Michelle Anderson in 2015.

*Updated 11/20/2020