Tag Archives: Dodge

Automotive Lifestyle, Opinions

What American Muscle Car would I buy on a $15k budget?

3 Comments

$15,000 is an interesting price point if you’re looking for a solid muscle car. You can have most of the early-mid 2000’s contenders with reasonable miles on them, or you can have one of the newer 400+hp options with higher miles.

I’m more on the high performance side of things, rather than wanting a muscle car for the style just to cruise in. I do intend to do burnouts, I do intend to explore the car’s high speed capabilities, and I do expect it to handle corners competently. Also, there is no such thing as a muscle car with 4 or 6 cylinders, so 8 cylinders is a given here. Lastly, a manual transmission is a must for me. This is a car to be driven, not an outfit to wear.

I should also state up front that I am pretty much non-partisan when it comes to American Muscle cars or American car brands. I know there are those who live and die by Ford, GM, or Mopar, and for them the $15k choice is a lot simpler.

My top 3 options for a $15,000 muscle car are as follows…

Continue reading What American Muscle Car would I buy on a $15k budget? →

Opinions

The Dodge Demon Heralds a New Era of Hyper Muscle Cars, and I’m Pumped!

1 Comment

 

2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has now officially dropped. I must say it’s mighty impressive, and I feel similar to how I felt about the Bugatti Veyron when it came out. The Bugatti marked the real jump from supercar to hypercar in our modern era, and I think the Demon could do the same relative thing in the muscle car sector.

Yes, Chevy made the COPO Camaro a few years ago, but you can’t put a license plate on that one so it doesn’t count. The Dodge Demon is set to be the new King of the Streets, in the most-classic muscle car sense.

The Challenger SRT Demon is a street legal drag-prepped hyper muscle car, and it runs an NHRA-verified 9.65 sec 1/4 Mile @ 140 mph, bone freaking stock. That’s at least 2/10ths of a second faster than any of the hypercar hybrids from Porsche, Ferrari, or McLaren. Sure, the Demon isn’t made to conquer such cars on a road course, or even top end, but at the drag strip, it will rule.

Having said all that, the NHRA has also banned the SRT Demon from any official street car competition. Dodge says “because it’s too fast,” but that can be fixed with the proper license and some extra safety bits.

Also, the Demon will only come with a drag-optimized automatic, but I’m okay with that so long as we can still have a Hellcat with three pedals.

Other impressive features for the Demon include a max output of 840hp and 770ft/lbs, 0-60 in 2.3 sec (or 2.1sec on prepped tarmac), 0-100 in 5.1 sec, a charge cooler that runs off the air conditioning, and a supercharger with more displacement than the engines in all three of my own cars, and a factory switchable tune for race gas. The price will also, supposedly, be reasonable, like south of six-figures (until you actually go to buy one at a dealer). That said, with only 3,300 being built values may go up long term, or at least not fall too much.

Lastly, can we just take a sec to appreciate how badass those wide fenders look?

So with the Demon dropped on the world, we can now anxiously await the response from Ford and GM. This should be a horsepower war that is too good to pass up.

-Nick Walker

Car Shows

Highlights from the Scarsdale Concours d’Elegance

Leave a comment

Porsche 918 Scarsdale Concours 5

We attended the Scarsdale Concours d’Elegance yesterday, and the turnout was great considering the iffy weather. This is a highlight reel, focusing on the details of the whole show. Look for individual galleries of many of these cars in the future. As you might imagine, the orange Porsche 918 Spyder above was the center of attention. Also, that American Flag Stingray is the car from the movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Turnout to the show was a little light this year, but the cars present were all of staggering quality. It figures that the people who really want to be at the show would also have the best stuff.

Enjoy the gallery!

Continue reading Highlights from the Scarsdale Concours d’Elegance →

Cars We've Seen

Modified 1971 Dodge Challenger spotted on 287 South in North Jersey

Leave a comment

1971 Dodge Challenger Rear

On our way home from Lime Rock (where Nick saw yesterday’s featured Purple People Eater Hellcat), Shane and I were right behind him and saw this mean triple-black 1971 model, featuring massive tires and an exhaust note that could drown out a jungle cat. I may like the Hellcat, but I prefer the classic E-body to the newer designs.

Spotted by: Shane and Al

Car Shows

This Purple Challenger Hellcat is a Rolling Middle Finger Aimed at Everything Society Holds Dear

Leave a comment

Purple Dodge Challenger Hellcat 2

There’s a reason Toyota doesn’t offer the Camry in “Bright F*cking Purple.” That’s because it takes a certain kind of person to pull it off, and most of them aren’t interested in a forgettable family sedan. They are, however, interested speed, style, and badassary in general.

As it turns out, the 707hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat is quite appealing to purple-car-driving people. The audacity of the color suits the personality of this apex muscle car so well. I’d even say it’s my favorite color on the Hellcat, bar none.

Red cars are for people who think their hot-shit. Black cars are for people who think their a badass. Purple cars are for people who just want to start shit with the world. I mean, it’s a “girly color,” right? Go ahead and tell the guy driving this that, and you’ll probably be staring at a set of taillights before you even know what happened.

This purple Hellcat reminds me of Johnny Cash’s song, “A Boy Named Sue,” because it seems to inherently provoke the world. Its a 200mph muscle car in a world where the highest posted speed limit is 85. It’s entirely unacceptable, if you go by the rules of society. Luckily, we still live in a world with a decent bit of social wiggle room. Cars like the Hellcat can still be driven on public roads, you can exploit its massive performance freely in between speed traps.

Oh, and on top of its insane color, this Hellcat also had a manual gearbox. No excuses needed. It always breaks my heart when I see one of these beasts with only two pedals.

This is pretty much how I’d spec-out my own Hellcat. It’s always awesome to see one of my exact dream cars in person, in the parking lot at the Lime Rock Historics. I hope you enjoy seeing this car as much as I did.

Continue reading This Purple Challenger Hellcat is a Rolling Middle Finger Aimed at Everything Society Holds Dear →

Car Shows, Obscure Autos

1991 Dodge Spirit R/T at the Radnor Hunt Car Corral

3 Comments

1991 Dodge Spirit R:T Front

A Dodge Spirit does not belong in a Concours. It belongs in a Cars and Coffee if and only if Grandma Mildred or Grandpa Irving need to make a morning run to the local Pathmark to get fresh bread before the grandchildren show up. However, what you’re staring at today is not a normal Dodge Spirit. Carroll Shelby (may he rest in peace) got ahold of this one, and managed to turn a pereniall snore-mobile into one of Chrysler’s more eclectic fast sedans. Continue reading 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T at the Radnor Hunt Car Corral →

Car Shows

Bobby Isaac’s #71 Dodge Charger Daytona at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours

2 Comments

1969 Charger Daytona Front

Much has been made of the fact that the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was the first ever NASCAR racer to break the 200MPH top speed barrier. While it was the #88 Buddy Baker car that managed this feat, this red #71 was of other fame. Bobby Isaac, one of the finest drivers of his era, drove this very car to the Grand National championship trophy in 1970, the last year of the aero car’s dominance before NASCAR shut the party down. Continue reading Bobby Isaac’s #71 Dodge Charger Daytona at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours →

Car Shows

Highlights from the 2016 Greenwich Concours Day 1

2 Comments

Greenwich Concours 16 Pink Ford T-Bird

We had a fun, but rainy, weekend at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, especially on Sunday. Saturday was quite nice, though, and there was a spectacular array of cars on the field. This is our highlight gallery from Day 1.

Enjoy!

Continue reading Highlights from the 2016 Greenwich Concours Day 1 →

Car Shows

2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Gallery 1

Leave a comment

Amelia Island Concours Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 962

Here is our first round of highlights from the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. There were so many incredible cars, of various eras, present that it’ll take a few of these galleries and numerous individual features to cover them all.

Racing legend, Hans-Joachim Stuck (pictured above), was the guest of honor. He rolled up during the award ceremony at the wheel of the Porsche 962 in which he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was epic!

Best in show awards went to a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Town Car with some fancy coachwork (see below), and also to a 1952 Pegaso Z-102 Cupula Coupe, which was my personal favorite car at the show, as well. The Pegaso had a unique color scheme of bright yellow with red-wall tires and a pea green interior, and it’s striking curves and crafted details definitely made it the sight to be seen.

Enjoy this first highlight reel, and stay tuned for much more to come!

Continue reading 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Gallery 1 →

Auto Idolatry, SHOWCASE

Petrolicious Shows us a very special Dodge Challenger R/T

Leave a comment

Gotta love those old Mopars!

-Nick

Car Shows

Highlights from the 2016 Philadelphia Auto Show

1 Comment

Philly Auto Show 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

The Philadelphia Auto Show was lively this year, with many of the newest releases on display.

I must admit that I am completely in love with the blue Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio you see above (it’s stick too). I also got my first look at the new Fiata (124 Spider), Cadillac XT5, Honda Ridgeline, and the oh-so-sleek Volvo S90. I also got a good look at the new Toyota Prius, which was regrettable on the eyes.

There are a lot of great new cars to be excited about!

Enjoy the gallery.

-Nick

Continue reading Highlights from the 2016 Philadelphia Auto Show →

Car Shows, SHOWCASE

1968 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi at the 2015 Radnor Hunt Concours

1 Comment

1968 Dodge Charger R:T Front

I’ve featured quite a few Chargers here at Mind Over Motor over the years, but I think this one might be the best one I’ve seen over my life. In 1968, Dodge took their Charger fastback coupe and gave it exclusive Coke-bottle styling, a tunneled rear window and grille, hidden headlights, a flip-top gas cap (taken right from the racing circuit), and a mean bumblebee stripe down the back. This one’s packing the baddest engine on the block–the 426 Hemi. Continue reading 1968 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi at the 2015 Radnor Hunt Concours →