MoPar madness! Foose "Overhaulin'" Challenger to see production
The '71 Challenger that Chip Foose whipped into shape on TLC's "Overhaulin'" TV show back in 2004 must have been a big hit, because Foose is partnering with Texas-based Unique Performance to build a limited production run of Challengers based on the TV version.
The limited edition muscle cars will be quite a bit more capable than the TV car, featuring either 347 cid or 426 cid HEMI powerplants, married to a TKO 5-speed transmission driving through a Unique Performance Parts rear suspension. The updated '70 or '71 Challengers will roll on 18-inch versions of the TV car's 19- and 20-inch Foose wheels (a take-off on MoPar's classic "Rallye" rims), backed by Wilwood disk brakes front and rear.
Foose and Unique Performance have teamed up on a variety of limited production pony cars, including the Foose '69 Camaro and various Mustangs. The Challenger will be launch in July.
[via Autoweek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Woody 7:02PM (6/13/2006)
Estimated cost? I'm gonna guess 45K
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PJ 7:15PM (6/13/2006)
I'd say you're lowballing that one, Woody. Now, let's just make sure that DCX's *new* Challenger is available with a manual, too--and that afterwards, it makes its way into the Magnum!
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Dave in MI 7:46PM (6/13/2006)
Maybe put a 1 in front of your 45.
The 'base' Shelby GT500E is $119k. GT500 Super Snake is sold out at $214k.
Foose 69 starts at $124k.
http://www.uniqueperformance.com
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Jeff Banks 7:59PM (6/13/2006)
Who else finds that paint scheme, interior and stupid rims hideous?
Where have I seen this before? Stick an oversized, overpowered motor in and bolt on a bunch of crappy performance parts, put your name on it in big stupid chrome letters, and overprice it by an obscene amount... how creative.
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Chris 8:20PM (6/13/2006)
So that's what 'rice' is like in America. Horrible.
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dave 9:00PM (6/13/2006)
i have serious doubts that most of you can appreciate a REAL american muscle car. get out of your rice burner and go for a REAL ride. listen to the sound of a big block tuned exhaust and the burning of rubber on hot concrete and then you'll know what a REAL muscle car is all about. maybe you're too tuned into a tiny honda civic that's muffler is twice as big as the car and sounds like a missing briggs and straten lawn mower. american muscle is on a major come-back and will smoke any civic, and i for one, will not miss the boat this time.
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Tom Design 9:24PM (6/13/2006)
That's a great tribute to the ponycar it yells: "in-your-face Ferrari/Honda S2000's". The colors are as bold, chartruese and black wildness. It is what it is, and very good at being class-less unbridled power. Actually a very nice design before the customizing.
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apollo322 11:01PM (6/13/2006)
"4. Who else finds that paint scheme, interior and stupid rims hideous?
Where have I seen this before? Stick an oversized, overpowered motor in and bolt on a bunch of crappy performance parts, put your name on it in big stupid chrome letters, and overprice it by an obscene amount... how creative."
Finally, someone who sees this charlatan the same way I do! The only thing missing is the fish tank in the center console a' la west coast customs. This guy turns great cars into garbage IMO
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apollo322 11:02PM (6/13/2006)
"5. So that's what 'rice' is like in America. Horrible."
The only question is whether it's "Uncle Bens's" or the San Francisco treat. This guy sucks.
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Mike from Scarborough 11:33PM (6/13/2006)
Never was a fan of "Sublime",Hemi Orange Ok,Plum Crazy Had one,awesome car.That interior looks like puke.Too much Sublime....Nice car but not the best one either.
" It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar"
For the Jappanese car lovers.Mopar means :
Move-Over-Peole-Are-Racing
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Chris 11:52PM (6/13/2006)
So a REAL American muscle car has a very cheap looking paintjob, heavy, oversized chrome wheels that look bad and are not helping towards performance at all and what looks like a vomit-inspired inteior color scheme dave? I could perhaps appreciate a real American muscle car, like a Viper or something, but this is just an abortion.
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Scott Eaton 3:08AM (6/14/2006)
That type of wheel/tire combo is the "curb feeler" of modern times.
Yuck. Foose has some great talent, but this isn't it.
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MikeInNC 9:03AM (6/14/2006)
Most all of Foose's designs have polished aluminum wheels. It may have been that the owner had the dream of chrome wheels which were very common on muscle cars of that era. I think it's pretty cool looking and certainly not the bland supository look of most plasticized boy racer cars you see on the road with a coffee can exhaust on them (bolted to a pipe the size of a coffee stirrer). Wheter you like the paint scheme or not, this car makes a statement. And that statement is real muscle, not inflatable arms on a Civic or Celica.
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gbh 9:19AM (6/14/2006)
Chris, Though I do still have a soft spot for them, Vipers are basically a collection truck parts with a shrunken body. They can be pretty fast (not really for 8L, but that's another story), but the design/build quality is pretty sad - riveted crossmembers, u-joints not cv joints, axles that frag, zerk fittings, intake manifolds are a joke, exhaust manifolds are a joke...
I fail to see anything novel in this Challenger at all. Foose does some great drawings when he's not doing the same old hot rod crap that was boring 30 years ago. "Hey, how 'bout a 55 Chevy with a big block..." snoresville.
If you are into straight appearance and not much about performance, than Foose's show/product is for you. If you want your car to actually run right because it has fuel injection, or handle because somebody actually set the suspension up, avoid the showboats like Foose and Coddington.
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KT 1:22PM (6/14/2006)
All but the interior...I would much rather them keep an original style bucket seat instead of those cheezy tuner style seats.
As far as the wheels, I'm almost positive they are polished aluminum not chrome-plated steel or alloy. So, the weight of them isn't much more than a regular 18" alloy.
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Mike from Scarborough 7:21PM (6/14/2006)
GBH...The Viper has little to do with the ram trucks.The V10 is a 360 magnum pushrod engine with another bank of cylinders.Electronics,buttons,and some components are shared by all DCX cars.I have a Boxter S and there are VW,AUDI,DAIMLER PARTS,AND THE INTERIOR IS MADE BY BMW.I think that foosing 1/4 mile rods might be a fad,i always liked closer to stock.Do you think the Viper Gts will be a milestone car for dodge?
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b batts 11:30PM (6/16/2006)
Why even think about a car that sounds like a kazoo when you can have a real V8 ?
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