unveiled at the 2019 Sydney Hot Rod & Custom
Auto Expo, catching everyone by surprise and
winning Top Coupe and the Austin Arrowsmith
Elegance award.
With a build like this, you can run the risk of the
car looking dated before it even gets finished, but
that’s not the case with this Charger. The modern
elements have been seamlessly intertwined while
keeping enough of the car’s original design to create
a timeless look. Let’s face it, Ferrari Red paint and
a fawn interior isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff,
but it will never go out of fashion either – and more
importantly, it ties in perfectly with the overall build
theme of Euro style meeting Aussie muscle.
Mario’s Italian heritage was a big factor in the
numerous Ferrari influences in his Charger, but there
was already a strong connection between Italy and
Chargers from back in the 70s, when Chrysler sent
a car back to the Weber factory to fine-tune the
Six-Pack carby set-up. With Chrysler and Weber
both now owned by Fiat, I guess you could say that
connection is even stronger.
The modern style with a Euro twist was also carried
through to the Charger’s interior. “What I wanted
to do with the interior was give it a Ferrari/Dodge
Viper feel in there,” Mario says. “I said to Ben when
he drew it up: ‘It has to have a dash like the R/Ts
with the six gauges in line, and the other thing I really
want is the Daytona stitching like you find in the
early-70s Ferraris.’”
Once Mario was happy with the design, the trimjob was handed over to Scott Briggs from Trik Trim
to work his magic. It was a pretty major undertaking,
with handcrafted door trims, one-piece moulded
headliner and a full-length console being fashioned.
The front seats are out of a Hyundai Tiburon, and two
bucket seats were fabricated for the rear. Blending
a modern interior with a classic Aussie muscle car
is one of the toughest jobs to get right, but they
absolutely nailed it with this one.
It’s the same with the exterior; thanks to a well-
thought-out and thorough design process, all of the
exterior changes complement the original styling.
While the amount of work done to the car is pretty
radical, the end result is far from it, with the original
VH Charger styling shining through. Some of the
changes are pretty obvious; the front spoiler and
rear diffuser are probably the most easily picked,
as is the removal of the door handles. But how
about the drip rails? A lot of people would have
simply shaved them off, but Hills & Co masterfully
reworked them so that they sit a lot tighter to the
body, and the parting line between the rocker panel
and front guard now extends through to the wheel
opening. The sill panels have also been extended
and lowered. As Justin Hills puts it: “With the body,
although it looks simple and uncluttered, every panel
has been worked and modified.”
One of my favourite parts of the car is the bonnet.
Reshaped in steel with custom-made scoops, it was
then used as a mould and recreated in carbonfibre
for rigidity and weight saving – another area thatTHE MODERN ELEMENTS HAVE BEEN SEAMLESSLY
INTERTWINED WHILE KEEPING ENOUGH OF THE
ORIGINAL DESIGN TO CREATE A TIMELESS LOOK
DASH
The R/T-inspired dash
features custom-made
gauges from Classic
Instruments housed
in bezels machined by
Greening Auto Company.
Warning lights are from New
Vintage USAWHEELS
When Mario was unable
to find a wheel design he
liked, Ben Hermance offered
to create a new one for his
Grip Equipped line. The
design is a modern version
of the Magnum 500 wheels
found in the early-70s
Chargers. Manufactured by
EVOD Industries, the rims
measure up at 18x7 and
19x11 and wear 205/45 and
305/30 Pirelli P Zero rubber
respectivelyINTERIOR
If you didn’t know you were
looking at photos of a ’72
Charger, you could quite
easily think this was a mod-
ern sports car interior. More
Ferrari inspiration comes
from the Daytona stitching
design in the seats<
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