For the 2016 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show (SEMA) at the Las Vegas Convention Center this year, FCA showed up large with 6 new modified vehicles from Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler. With some love from Mopar, these everyday rides got a huge dose of personalization, as you’d expect from a SEMA show car.
All six concepts are noteworthy, no question, but the 485-hp Dodge Shakedown Challenger powered by a Viper Tremec T6060 six-speed transmission engine with its “Bitchin’ Black” exterior (yes, that’s the name), is what we feel like focusing on. And why not?
Paying homage to the classic 1971 Challenger
A take on the classic 1971 Challenger, the Shakedown flavour merges old-school muscle with 21st century technology and aesthetic. The Dodge Shakedown Challenger sees a unique hand-built, one-off frame with a removable body, rolling on concept SRT Hellcat Slingshot-designed 19-inch by 9 1/2-inch front and 20-inch by 9 1/2-inch rear wheels, providing a “coiled” stance. For more throwback flair, the 1971 Shaker hood scoop is added with help from select parts from the Mopar brand’s modern-day Shaker hood kit, feeding fresh air to the HEMI powerplant.
Add black re-trimmed Dodge Viper front seats and Viper steering wheel, a black leather shift boot capped by an SRT Hellcat gearshift knob, and a Mopar instrument panel with black gauges contrasted with the gloss carbon fiber instrument panel cluster trim, and we seriously wish SEMA was a quarterly thing every year so we get cars like the Dodge Shakedown Challenger more often. Until next year.
