Ever since the dawning of the “muscle car” era more than 50 years ago, drivers have been lured to enjoy and appreciate the thrill of high-speed, hot-accelerating vehicles. The whole genre matured into becoming expensive toys as time passed, and the rmonset of demands for improved gas mileage and reduced emissions have been accompanied by the fear that those muscle cars are headed for the same fate as dinosaurs.

However, leave it to Stellantis, the new name for the company that includes Dodge, there are still unbelievable high-powered vehicles out there with neck-snapping acceleration. The top of the list includes those vehicles under the “SRT” banner, topped by the “Hellcat” monicker. And while the Challenger pony car and Charger sedan may top the recognizable list of Hellcats, don’t forget the SUV category, where the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat resides.

I got the chance to spend a week with a Durango Hellcat recently, and it was the “Black” edition, which constitutes a specialty model on top of a pyramid of other specialty models. Its came with its flashy design concealed as much as possible by what is called “Destroyer Gray” exterior paint — that now-popular flat-gray color that nearly every company is turning out on certain models.

But we can make no mistake of the Durango Hellcat’s intentions, although it is a fabulous example of how high-tech engineering in all phases, from engine to transmission to suspension and to the overall coordination of all such technical extremes can come together and create a large, 5,700-pound monster of an SUV into the category of agility and handling that used to be the private domain of the best sports cars on the planet.

The test vehicle housed a large hood scoop and a menacing black grille that announces its arrival, and under that hood is a 6.2-liter Hemi V8 that is supercharged and directed to power all four wheels through a specially-built 8-speed automatic transmission. to assure you the chance to operate all that power manually, large paddles extend above the horizontal line of the steering wheel for upshifting on the right and downshifting on the left.

The melodious sound of that big Hemi harmonizes with the soprano tones of the supercharger, which winds to a whine as the RPMs increase toward red line. If you leave the paddles alone, the Durango Hellcat shifts automatically and smoothly to get you to your appointed velocity with stark promptness.

There is some real-world benefit of having an engine that produces 710 horsepower and 645 foot-pounds of torque, besides just having the ability to burn off those huge low-profile tires on all four 20-inch wheels. That benefit includes a towing weight capacity of 8,700 pounds. Think about the ability to tow a good-sized trailer at record speeds when you are in a hurry to get to your favorite campsite.

Of course, shifting manually with the paddles increases the fun-quotient considerably when you’re accelerating, and the downshift side is a fantastic device to help you control the descent of steep hills — which we have in abundance in Duluth, Minnesota. In all sorts of weather, it is more than just a convenience to downshift to, say, third gear and let the engine contain the mighty powerpoint so you don’t need to use constant braking.

The interior features very firm and supportive bucket seats, which happen to be in bright red leather, complementing the dash and door trim. The steering wheel feels good and natural in your grip as you take off.

And if you enjoy capitalizing on the true fun quotient offered by those drag-racing zealots in SRT engineering, you can rack over the bright orange instruments on the gauge panel and click until you locate the performance aids. If you wonder how swiftly you can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour, or from a standing start through a quarter-mile, you can dial it up. You also can click over to other panels, which show your specific reaction time, measuring from the time your timer says “go” until you reach that 0-60 or quarter-mile destination.

So all that engineering that goes into assuring the old-rime muscle-car thrills with high-tech handling and instrumentation seemingly should cost a hefty price for gas mileage, but we averaged 18.5 miles per gallon no matter how much fun I kept extracting, trip after trip. Keeping it under the speed limit was a true challenge, and I disciplined myself to restrict my bursts of acceleration within the speed limits. It would, however, be fun to take that beast out on a drag strip and let it run to its maximum.

To get the luxury and all that fun does cost plenty at purchase time. You can get a Durango with all of its space and versatility for down around $50,000, but it climbs to $91,185 for the “base” price of an SRT Hellcat. And to add on the other option packages that went into the test Durango SRT Hellcat Black, the total tab came to $106,665.

There is a lot of talk that Stellantis admires the performance offered by Dodge and its SRT division that it will continue to allow the creation of such fun vehicles as the Challenger, Charger and Durango hot-rods, although they may become electric-motor experiments in the future.

A lot of muscle-car fanatics may wince at such news. And those who fall into that category may be well-advised to head for their nearest Dodge dealership, and bring your checkbook. And do it soon.