il3ana: Dodge Challenger

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Kowalski Approved: Dodge Dealer Creates Nouveau Vanishing Point Challenger Based On 392 Inaugural Editions

The 1970s spawned some pretty cool car movies. Gone in 60 Seconds, Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point were all born in the decade of big collars, flared trousers and microwave dinners. The last of these three movies is considered to be somewhat of a classic. In it, a man named Kowalski (Barry Newman) makes a bet that he can drive a white 1970 Dodge Challenger from the dealership in Colorado to a customer in San Francisco in just 15 hours. The inevitable series of street races and confrontations with The Man ensue.

Now, forty years after the film premiered, New Wilmington Dodge dealer and long-time fan Bob Frederick has unveiled a special edition model to celebrate this genre classic. All of the “Kowalski Edition” cars are based on the 2011 392 Inaugural Edition Challenger SRT8, as white was not available for standard SRT8s.

If we didn’t know better, we’d say that Ford is trying to wipe out the competition with its F-150 pickup truck, or as some may know it, the Ferd F-Teehthousand. The latest victim of the F-150 after the memorable stomping of a Ferrari F-150 is a brand new 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8, which judging by the bodykit, stripes, alloy wheels and badges, is the 392 limited edition with the 470-horsepower V8 Hemi.

The driver of the Dodge’s muscle car was waiting for the light when a Ford F-150 decided to give the Challenger an unnecessary -and quite painful- rear-end makeover. Follow the break to watch the clip.

Now here's something any Dodge fan would be happy to have in their garage. This heavily customized 1970 Challenger is up for sale, and boy is she a beaut'. Designed and built by Dave Salvaggio in 2007, the "Insidious" Challenger is one very special piece of metal. What started life as an otherwise unremarkable slant six has had a full reworking inside, out and under the hood, transforming it into a real show stopper.

In terms of the exterior, the door handles, roof rail moldings and other trim pieces have been shaved off. The wheel arches have been re-contoured and new, flush fitting glass has been fitted. The grille and taillights are scratch builds and the hood, bumpers and front fenders have all been reshaped or replaced. The fuel filler cap was also relocate and the whole car finished in black pearl overlaid with olive and sandstone pearl.

Underneath the hood is a 426 Hemi crate engine from Mopar Performance with custom headers, custom exhaust and a Hillborn EFI unit. This is mated to a Tremec TKO 600 transmission and is said to be good for over 575 hp (429 kW).

To reign in all that power the chassis has been reworked and now incorporates four-wheel independent suspension and coilover springs. The whole thing sits on Symbolic TS15 20-inch wheels clad in Pirelli P-Zero tires, 245/35/20 at the front and 275/35/20 at the back.

Inside, the vinyl and polyester carpeting of the original have been replaced with leather and Wilton Wool. An Alcantara headliner has been fitted and the seats covered in Spinneybeck leather with suede inserts. The piston grip shifter, Tuff steering wheel and dashboard are also covered in leather.

The interior is rounded off with green-gold inserts on the doors and steering wheel, aircraft-style gauges by Classic Instrumentation and a Pioneer DVD sound system. All in all a very smart and well maintained machine that is on sale at R & H Collectibles of Ohio for US$159,000.

By Tristan Hankins

Link: RH Collectibles

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