HILLS’ HOIST
BUILDER Justin Hills has plenty to say about
the extent of the work he and his team performed on
Mario’s Charger.
“Under the car is a work of art, with a custom gearbox tunnel
and full fabricated crossmember that bolts in and has cut-outs to
accommodate the 3in exhaust,” Justin says. “Chassis plates were fabricated
to connect the front and rear subframes together. This was quite a task, as the
Charger has a very undulating undercarriage.
“The rear end was also quite a bit more work than the manufacturer would have us
believe,” he continues. “We fabricated huge wheel tubs to house the 305/30/19 rear
tyres. We also made extra bracing in the rear chassis inside the car for extra strength
around the rear-end mount points.
“The underside of the car is painted in the same satin grey finish as the engine bay,
with gloss black components and polished Jet-Hot exhaust coating. It continues
the same smooth, simple style from the engine bay throughout the whole
undercarriage. To finish off underneath, the custom-made fuel tank blends
from the rear suspension right back to melt into the rear diffuser.
“The reaction we got at the Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo was that
every time you look at it you notice something else that had been
done. I feel the best custom cars are the ones that people
can’t see what has been done, but they know it is
different and can’t work out why.”Mario had three design objectives:
Stay true to the original design,
modernise the car throughout,
and use European design cues,
specifically from Ferrari. As
you can see, all three of those
objectives were well and truly met<