Dodge’s next sports coupe is called Copperhead, a long, low two-door that was shown at Stellantis’s 2026 Investor Day as the brand’s new range-topper for Dodge and the revived SRT performance subbrand. The reveal does not show a Viper revival in the old sense. It shows a new flagship with the old Copperhead name and a shape that points somewhere else.
Car and Driver was shown every new model coming from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram at the event, and the Copperhead was the most attention-grabbing of the lot. Its front end is packed with vents and grilles and slim LED headlights, and the hood carries a massive S-duct and a large bulge. The body is lower and longer than most current Dodge products, but the hood is not as long as the Viper’s was. The hard points suggest the car is based on the Charger, not a clean-sheet replacement for Dodge’s old halo car.
The clues continue at the edges. Just behind the front wheels, Dodge built in a huge brake-cooling vent. At the back, the car wears a massive wing that looks like a shrunken version of the Viper ACR’s spoiler, and exhaust tips were visible too. Dodge would not discuss the powertrains, which leaves the Copperhead’s performance story open for now even as its body language makes clear where the brand wants to take it.
That name also comes with history. Dodge first used Copperhead on a 1997 concept car, and the revival is clearly meant to stir memories of the company’s old performance image. But the vehicle shown in 2026 is not being framed as a direct Viper successor. It looks like a Charger-based coupe built to sit at the top of the lineup, not a standalone supercar wearing a familiar badge. Dodge has also not published images of it yet.
The company gave one more performance tease alongside the Copperhead: a Charger SRT refresh with a revised front end and a tall rear wing that recalls the 1969 Charger Daytona. Dodge did not say outright what powers that car, but it hinted at a Hemi V-8 by saying, “you saw what we did with Ram,” a reference to the return of the Hemi V-8 in the Ram 1500 pickup. That leaves the Charger SRT as the more explicit part of Dodge’s next move, while the Copperhead remains the more dramatic one.
For now, the answer to the question raised by the name is simpler than the name itself. The Copperhead is not a Viper replacement in the old mold. It is Dodge’s new top-end sports coupe, probably based on the Charger, and the writer’s best guess is that it will not reach the market before the 2029 model year at the earliest.
