“Moderation” and “balance” are not terms normally applied to Detroit muscle cars, but—after a mere 50 years or so—Dodge has achieved a form of motoring Zen here. Not a moment too soon, either, as these things are going the way of the sabertooth tiger. In fact, they are part of what Dodge has dubbed its Last Call sendoff series.

This is standard procedure for carmakers. Who would buy a soon-to-be-obsolete model? Buyers who hope it will become a collector’s item, that’s who. And for them Dodge has applied “retro flair” from the muscle-car era of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s to limited editions of no fewer than seven of its outgoing cars.

This is one of them. The original Swinger was a member of Dodge’s so-called Scat Pack, cars that (in Dodge’s words) put “formidable horsepower into a compact package, and included ‘groovy’ options, such as green-on-green interior/exterior color combinations, gold color accents and wood panel interior touches.”

Same goes for today’s car, but underneath the cutesy bits, the 2023 Swinger has real muscle: A 6.4-litre (392 cubic-inch) V-8 engine sending 485 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque to high-performance tires through a seamless, quick-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. The V-8, itself a dying breed, is naturally aspirated, too—no turbocharger, no supercharger—which also appeals to old-school motorheads.

Naturally, it’s a Hemi engine: Its intake and exhaust valves are set into the top of the combustion chambers, which are dome-shaped—hemispheric—and have matching domed pistons, for higher compression and power. Today this is hardly leading-edge, but in the late 1950s, it was heady stuff. Chrysler and stablemate Dodge have been getting good marketing mileage from the term “Hemi” ever since, and even copyrighted it.

The original Swinger was a 1971 Dodge Dart two-door, not a Charger, and powered by a 340-cubic-inch (5.6-litre) V-8 said to be good for 275 horsepower and 340 torques. The Dart was a compact car and at least 1,000 pounds lighter than today’s four-door Swinger, but the new car’s extra power, modern transmission and computerized systems make it much hotter than its ancestor.

Detroit’s original muscle cars were, in a word, dreadful; sometimes even scary, as in too much go and not enough stop, or the ability to go through corners or deal with anything but smooth pavement. (Believe me; I was there.)  With independent and adaptive suspension, disc brakes, modern wheels and tires, crumple zones, airbags, ABS, traction control, LED lights, different drive modes, lane-keeping and so on and so forth, the new Swinger is a hell of a lot more responsive and better-handling than the old one, and light-years safer, too. It is digital where that pays off—in power, safety, reliability and infotainment—and analog where we like it, in tactility, feedback and even sound. The V-8 rumbles and burbles like an old powerboat.

This is where the moderation and balance come in. Compared to the 800 or so horses available from the various Dodge Hellcats, a mere 485 seems like it might be yawn-inducing. In the real world, though, with rain and snow, potholes, traffic, speed laws, insurance companies and other headaches, 485 horsepower gets the job done in spectacular fashion. The Swinger accelerates with considerable, although controllable, violence while the Hellcat simply loses its head and wants to throw itself into the weeds. Moderation! The Swinger also inhales corners and bad pavement and stops, like, right now. Balance!

At least one of the seven limited-edition 2023 Last Call cars, the 1,025-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon 170, touted as “the quickest, fastest and most powerful muscle car in the world,” is already sold out. To check the availability of other models, the Dodge Garage offers this Horsepower Locator and urges visitors to “get yours before they’re gone.”

According to Google, in 1971, the original V-8 Dodge Dart Swinger cost $2,610. After 52 years of inflation, this equates to about $20,000 in today’s money. However, with options plus destination fees, our new version stickers for $64,855. But of course it’s that much more car than the Swinger was, half a century ago.

Next week: Subaru Impreza RS