Jan 14, 2023  •  For Sale  •  49 Comments

Hellcat-Powered 2016 Dodge Charger Daytona

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Craving a reliable modern muscle car with styling inspired by the 1969 Dodge Daytona? This red hot ride features custom Daytona-ish bodywork front and rear, all grafted to a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. The result can be driven coast-to-coast in comfort while drawing a crowd anywhere you park. Custom-built for NFL Offensive Tackle D.J. Fluker, the supercharged V8 monster should tackle your checklist for brutal performance and look-at-me styling. Check out more details and pictures or make it yours for $96,000 and one click on Buy It Now here on eBay. At least four bidders have nibbled the bait, bumping the market value above $35,000.

Shattering the logic that 400 HP was the practical limit for street cars under $100,000, Dodge shook up the world with its 707 HP Hellcat. Countless Internet videos document poseurs with no business owning a car this powerful making all manner of bad decisions. That said, with skill, common sense, and traction control enabled, the supercharged V8 will fire synapses in your brain that early 2000s muscle cars never reached.

Check out YouTube to see the evolution of this build by Ellis Customs in Maine. The rush you feel from mashing the gas pedal may be matched only by the excitement of a sketchy border crossing when you visit the DMV. Any auto-savvy bureaucrat taking a walk to the parking lot will realize there’s no earthly reason this car should have been titled as a 1968 Dodge, yet it is. This overt lie ranks low in the big scheme of illegal tricks done to muscle cars, though, as no buyer would mistake this Dodge as a product of the ’60s.

The interior looks all stock, and only drivers over 40 with two legs will grouse about the PRND gearbox (blah). Here’s where you realize the difference between this build and a 200+k SEMA award-winner. However, all-stock beats a failed attempt to glue on some ’60s bangles for a half-baked retro vibe.

What looks like fine craftsmanship and styling blends old and new. Modern tools give builders the benefit of crafting a car in three dimensions in the virtual space of a computer before rendering one for real. What do you think of this retro-modern muscle car?

Comments

  1. leiniedude leiniedudeMember
    Jan 14, 2023 at 9:38am

    Well Todd, judging by what the wing cars sold for yesterday at Mecum the builder might be on to something.

    Like 10
    • Todd FitchAuthor
      Jan 14, 2023 at 10:43am

      Indeed, leiniedude. This might be the perfect thing for a Superbird or Daytona owner who wants to take a wing car to the Galleria, or someone shopping for a unique, albeit depreciating, performance car. It would only take two high-rolling bidders to hit the Buy It Now price, but somewhere between the active bids and that number seems about right. It’s not uncommon for a custom build like this to bring half what the original owner paid.

      Like 11
      • Dwight Puls
        Jan 18, 2023 at 8:33pm

        I own the serial # 1 Daytona produced by HPP for the company owner. It’s a silver 2010 SRT 8 with the 6.1 and a super charger. It has all options that HPP offered.

        Like 0
  2. David
    Jan 14, 2023 at 1:35pm

    Really spot on blend of old and new. The super bird, add-ons would make a nice aftermarket kit for any lesser challenger.

    Like 4
    • Rick Rothermel
      Jan 15, 2023 at 3:12pm

      There was a well-rendered wing-car kit for latter-day Challengers first offered at SEMA well over a decade ago. That one may be the base here, but it always seemed to me that the front treatment would be really lift-happy at highway speeds.

      Like 2
  3. Angel G.
    Jan 14, 2023 at 2:23pm

    Not to criticize this build..It does look spot on for a resto mod….The DMV thing is going to leave some buyers walking away… Everyone knows it’s not a ’68…. Pettys Garage built a few of these a few years back…For some reason, Petty’s looked better.JMO.

    Like 7
    • douglas hunt
      Jan 16, 2023 at 11:19am

      I thought I had seen something like this previously…..I wondered who had been building them.

      Like 0
  4. wuzjeepnowsaab
    Jan 14, 2023 at 3:54pm

    I want to hate it but I can’t because I freaking love how it turned out!

    Like 13
  5. Eric
    Jan 14, 2023 at 6:14pm

    I usually hate custom bodywork but this thing looks so great! The Hellcat and Demon are so ridiculous to start with, why not go all the way with it? Also may be tempting for them to turn one of these into a modern-day General Lee with some orange paint, graphics, a different front end, and no wing?

    Like 8
  6. jrhmobile
    Jan 14, 2023 at 6:17pm

    I must be the only guy around here who thinks this thing is as fugly as sin, but nonetheless I’m willing to stand by that assessment.

    Like 47
    • Elwin Ostrander
      Jan 15, 2023 at 9:19am

      you are not alone~~

      Like 15
    • Doc .
      Jan 15, 2023 at 10:23am

      You are not the only one who thinks so, I was in my late teens when the Superbirds rolled out, different animal lines wore those racing adornments. The street versions sucked on any roads other than straight line highways, my 1967 Mustang notchback 390 4 speed TL would run circles around them on any curvy New England back road . Running through the comments I thought that I would be alone to pan it until I found your comment .Not only it is Fugly , but it is also completely disproportionate from any angle at all that one cares to looks at it. That said , the craftsmen who knocked it together are indeed talented and deserve praise for their abilities … kudos to them , unfortunately in this case, they wasted them on this build .

      Like 13
    • PRA4SNW
      Jan 15, 2023 at 12:04pm

      I think that it is a good concept, but the end result could have been so much better looking.

      Like 4
      • leiniedude leiniedudeMember
        Jan 15, 2023 at 4:32pm

        I like your new profile pic Dennis!

        Like 1
      • PRA4SNW
        Jan 16, 2023 at 8:48am

        Thanks Mike!

        Today might be the first day I actually get to put it in snow mode. Very dry season here in NH, not that I’m complaining, but that’s the way it goes when you trade in a RWD Charger for a 4WD Bronco!

        Like 1
    • CadmanlsMember
      Jan 15, 2023 at 5:17pm

      No you are not alone.

      Like 2
    • Chris
      Jan 16, 2023 at 11:44am

      I agree with you WHY ruin a reputation of what was a classic car .Build something new & don’t mess with the past . :)

      Like 2
    • JC
      Jan 16, 2023 at 1:23pm

      Nope, registered as fugly as soon as I saw it… some things just aren’t meant to be replicated.

      Like 1
  7. 2015 2SS
    Jan 14, 2023 at 6:35pm

    Couple with a Challenger at the car club has a graphics and rear body treatment into a ‘cuda. Year is approximately 2012. Fat graphic over rear wheels, new rear fascia.
    Personally think it’s a nice addition at cruise night, car not overdone, tasteful.

    Like 5
  8. Fred Garvin
    Jan 14, 2023 at 6:56pm

    Not a fan of the front view…hood scoops gotta go.

    Like 9
  9. Big Bear 🇺🇸
    Jan 14, 2023 at 6:59pm

    I love the back and the sides. The front so so. The nose to me is sticking up to high. And I would put the Daytona decal on the back to break up all that red paint. Otherwise it would be fun to drive. Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸

    Like 5
  10. angliagt angliagtMember
    Jan 14, 2023 at 9:25pm

    I went to a cruise in at Gatlinburg,Tenn.,in 2015.
    There was a newer Challanger with a homemade wing
    & front end on it.Not sure if it was done in fun,or if the
    owner was serious.I just figured it was a “Southern Thing”.

    Like 6
  11. Terry
    Jan 15, 2023 at 12:58am

    At Mecum today there was a new challenger with a carbon fiber 68 charger body grafted on. Car was absolutely amazing. No-sale at $310k. (seller was looking for 350). Had my mega millions ticket hit, that car would be on its way to my house as we speak…….

    Like 5
    • Al
      Jan 16, 2023 at 9:53am

      Ditto, that & at least 10 more pics! Only way I’ll ever see ONE again of anything.

      Like 0
  12. Jay E.Member
    Jan 15, 2023 at 4:00am

    Ugly from every angle. At least it is consistent. If I have such a strong reaction against, I’m sure others will love it.

    Like 17
    • Elwin Ostrander
      Jan 15, 2023 at 9:20am

      agree !!!

      Like 5
  13. J Rightmer
    Jan 15, 2023 at 9:23am

    Nope, it is ugly. The original was great looking and would not have had problems going over speed bumps in a parking lot. If I had the money I would look for Ford/Shelby GT500KR.

    Like 6
  14. Peter K
    Jan 15, 2023 at 9:24am

    The original Superbird was built for the high speed NASCAR tracks. This gem will never see those speeds unless its taken to Nevada to run it the illegal race out there. The oversized wing makes it look goofy and only serves as a look at me now…. spotter.

    Like 3
  15. Moit
    Jan 15, 2023 at 9:34am

    Nope

    Like 0
  16. Mark
    Jan 15, 2023 at 9:54am

    I like it with the exception of the Challenger tail lights and dash, Charger components would have a better choice.

    Like 1
  17. steve
    Jan 15, 2023 at 9:56am

    I’m agreeing with the ugly side. When I first saw the side view, I thought it wasn’t too bad. But the front and rear are just plain ugly. And it’s a long way from 35K to 96K. Good luck seller.

    Like 6
  18. Mark
    Jan 15, 2023 at 10:48am

    My friends dad has a 70 Superbird. His dad let him drive it to school a few times a year. Everytime he drove it, he gave 3 of our friends a ride home, speedo buried at 150 mph easily. 440 4 speed car it didn’t even got hot with the speedo pegged.

    Like 5
  19. mark
    Jan 15, 2023 at 11:17am

    1968? If modeled off the Dodge Charger Daytona wing car then 1969. 1970 was the other mopar wing car. Maybe that would of made a little more sense as his jersey number was 70.

    Like 0
  20. Vincent
    Jan 15, 2023 at 11:43am

    I think it’s pretty awesome & I’m not even high! At least its not seen on every street or at every traffic light. Balls under the hood justifies that look.

    Like 2
  21. Howie
    Jan 15, 2023 at 12:04pm

    The only thing that is nice is the interior and engine.

    Like 4
  22. John L.
    Jan 15, 2023 at 12:32pm

    This thing is an insult to a real Daytona. The front end is horrible. I would be afraid to drive it any faster than 70 MPH. I would be afraid the front wheels would leave the ground. But, to each his own, I guess.

    Like 5
  23. jim
    Jan 15, 2023 at 12:55pm

    A Challenger Bird concept

    Like 0
  24. THOMAS
    Jan 15, 2023 at 1:11pm

    Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

    Like 3
  25. JBD
    Jan 15, 2023 at 2:19pm

    Given the high resale price on Hellcats, I’m sure there is room to go up on price!

    Like 0
  26. Pugsy
    Jan 15, 2023 at 4:16pm

    Where’s the barf emoji?

    Like 5
  27. Fish56
    Jan 15, 2023 at 4:54pm

    Titled as a 1968 Charger.
    Yeah, that’s not going to cause a problem.

    Like 3
  28. angliagt angliagtMember
    Jan 15, 2023 at 8:51pm

    I’ve always wondered just how anyone could
    get a car registered that way.I don’t see how these
    guys register their newer Cobra replicas as 1965’s.

    Like 0
    • pugsy
      Jan 16, 2023 at 4:03am

      Strange question, sorry.

      It’s already registered before making changes and it still looks like a Charger.

      Like 0
    • Todd FitchAuthor
      Jan 16, 2023 at 6:04am

      Hello angliagt! One scenario would be starting out with a rusted out hulk of a classic car, then welding on as much metal as you need to make a car, then even though 90% is new, it still has a cowl and VIN tag, etc. That is rather dubious but generally speaking, legal. Anything that involves transferring a VIN tag from one car to another would be patently illegal, though that still happens. When you go to the DMV, the staff will rarely ask to look at the car, though they can. That’s what I meant by the “walk to the parking lot” above. Even if that person DOES walk to the parking lot, they might just see an oldy-looking car that’s not obviously a danger to society and put it in the system. With a Cobra replica, the fib is in convincing the DMV that you’ve restored an older car where you’ve really built one from scratch. Not sure what they do with the VIN in that case, maybe find one that conforms to the original pattern but has a number out beyond what was ever produced. It’s a lie that travels with the car forever, and one that I would not do just for the novelty of having an older date on the registration. With this car, no buyer will be duped, but with a Cobra there’s a chance someone could fool a buyer who just sees someone else’s Cobra and wants one without doing much research. Or people take the VIN from a wrecked Hemi car, attach it to a less rare car, etc. You can imagine the possibilities and why expert validation is so important. Sometimes cars change hands several times before they’re proven fakes. https://www.iamagazine.com/markets/attack-of-the-clones-is-your-client-s-classic-car-a-fake

      Like 3
      • angliagt angliagtMember
        Jan 16, 2023 at 10:03am

        Thanks Todd,I just get so mad about all the dishonesty
        out there on things like that.It’s the same when flippers don’t
        transfer cars into their own name,or register them out-of-state-
        (Montana) to avoid paying taxes.
        I feel like if they’d do things like that,what else would
        they be hiding/lieing about?

        Like 0
    • pugsy
      Jan 16, 2023 at 8:17am

      Apologies.

      Titled as 68?? WT?
      There is no legal way for this to be done.

      Like 4
  29. Steve
    Jan 16, 2023 at 11:16am

    Hahaha! This thing is a joke, right?

    It looks like a ten year old drew up how he thought a modern challenger would look if it was a Daytona and they built it, staying incredibly true to the ten year old’s lack of knowledge of aerodynamics or the original design.

    What is with that front end looking like the bow of a boat?! Anti-downforce? And the back of it… and the side…whew. None of it works.

    Like 1
  30. leiniedude leiniedudeMember
    Jan 17, 2023 at 8:57am

    Ended:
    Jan 16, 2023 17:12:10 PST
    Current bid:
    US $50,125.00
    Reserve not met
    [ 27 bids ]
    Price:
    US $96,000.00

    Like 0
    • Pugsy
      Jan 17, 2023 at 10:11am

      Damn, he shoulda took the 50 large while he could. The car is totally ruined as is.

      Like 2

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