BANGIN’ GEARS
I
won’t recount Mopar’s long, hard
crawl back to the top of the pile,
other than to note the milestones,
like the Viper, the first Hemi-powered
Ram truck, the 1999 Charger concept
car, and Dodge’s return to NASCAR. By
the time Dodge pulled the satin sheet
off the new Hemi-powered, rear-drive
LX platform passenger car for the
2005 model year, Ford and GM knew
it was time to get back to work. The
Hemi Charger, Magnum, and 300c
were only just the beginning.
By 2008, Dodge had unleashed the
425hp SRT8 Challenger. I’ll never forget
the response I got from a GM spokes-
person at that time when I asked how
they felt about the upcoming muscle-
car battle: “Dodge is going to regret
being the first to market.” That was
during the 2010 Camaro long-lead
media program. Those are just the
kind of fighting words that guys like us
live to hear, and they soon backed it
up with real firepower for Camaro and
Corvette.
Ford slathered on the war paint, too,
with a delicious spin on the Mod motor
in the form of the Mustang’s Coyote
reactor core in 2011. Ever since, Detroit
has been duking it out bare-fisted on
the streets and at the track. Factorystockers launch on the bumper in the
hotly contested NHRA Factory Stock
class, where 7.70s at more than 170
mph are the norm (at 3,450 pounds!).
Of course, the NHRA has to keep the
cars on a level playing field, but what
happens on the street when mama
isn’t around to play referee?
If you’ve been behind the
wheel of SRT’s newest Fran-
ken-blower, the Redeye, you
already know the answer to
that. With huge 305mm-wide
tires, aggressive fender flares,
good looks for days (thanks,
Mark Trostle!), brakes that
can induce a nose bleed, and
a 797hp dynamo you’d sell
your mother for, it’s a car that
has a lot of guys rethinking
the actual importance of own-
ing a house. As a Car Craft
reader, you also know that
FCA’s aftermarket arm, Mopar,
hasn’t lifted off the gas either,
offering the 345ci Hemi, 392ci
Hemi, Hellcat, and now the 1,000hp
Hellephant Hemi in a crate. While far
less ubiquitous than Chevy’s LS series,
the Hemi still sets the highest bar.
Surely, they’ll let off the gas at any
moment, right? We have evidence thatDodge and SRT will do no such thing.
This past March 23, we attended the
Spring Festival of LXs (the biggest
gathering of late-model Hemi power
anywhere) in Pomona. In plain sight,
SRT displayed a Hellcat-powered
Dodge Charger. No biggie, except the
car also came along with heavyweight
management from SRT and FCA. What
also made it special was its camo’d-
out vinyl wrap, Demon-inspired fender
flares, and Redeye-spec 305mm tires
and wheels. Most telling? Despite
1,500-plus rabid Mopar fans in atten-
dance, nobody at Dodge would agree
to pop the hood.
Dodge and SRT really like to involve
their customers in product direction,
often using the Spring Festival each
year to test customer reaction to
imminent product releases. The
cordoned-off Widebody Charger was
under a tent with none other than
FCA’s head of design, Ralph Gilles,
signing autographs. Is the Widebody
Charger Hellcat just months away from
hitting the street? We won’t jinx it by
saying “yes,” but if things go the way
we think, then you already know how
this plays out.
If you think Ford and GM are going
to take this lying down, hah! We’ve
got some swamp land in Florida to sell
you... —Johnny HunkinsHELLCAR REVOLUTION
Lurking amongst the hundreds of Scat Packs, Demons, and Hellcats at the annual Spring
Festival of LXs at Pomona was this eyebrow-raising Widebody SRT Charger Hellcat concept
car. At this point, do you even have to ask if SRT is going to make it? What you should be
doing is checking the balance of your 401k.4 CAR CRAFT AUGUST 2019
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