Most of the stuff that shows up at SEMA is silly and kind of pointless, but this—this Dodge Shakedown Challenger—is something else. Something with a classic 1971 body and a modern Hemi V8 spitting out 485 horsepower. Something dreams are made of.
It has a Viper Tremec T6060 six-speed. Plus a Mopar concept cold-air intake. Plus a Mopar custom dual exhaust. They are black powder-coated. Hell yes.
The front and rear suspension have been lowered and stopping power comes from red Hellcat brakes at all four corners.
The outside is a hand-built, one-of-a-kind frame with a removable body. It is painted a color called “Bitchin’ Black.” No joke. Adorning the hood is a 1971-inspired Shaker hood scoop.
It’s black and red everywhere. There are no door handles. The Devil doesn’t need ‘em.
Dodge also stuck a custom roll bar inside and yanked out the rear seats just in case the Shakedown would ever be used as a track car. Sure?
The Shakedown Challenger probably won’t go anywhere else except to a museum after SEMA is over, but I appreciate its existence so much. Why do people buy Challengers these days? Their retro looks have something to do with it, I’m sure. And here you have an actual ‘71 Challenger with all of the modern underpinnings that are more powerful, efficient and better handling. This is a win-win in my book.