Filed under: Concept Cars, SEMA, Chrysler, LLC.
SEMA 2007 Preview: Chrysler SR 392 Roadster!
It looks the the Jeep Wrangler Ultimate won't be the only Pentastar vehicle powered by a Chrysler 392 HEMI crate engine at SEMA this year. Although Chrysler had a preview early last week of most of the vehicles they will be displaying at SEMA, they apparently decided to hold something in reserve. The SR 392 is a steel bodied reproduction of a 1927 street rod dreamed up by Chrylser designers Mark Allen and Ralph Gilles and fabricated by Michael Chetcuti of Quality Metalcraft. The SR 392 is inspired by the Shadowrods XL-27 that was originally built by Jon Hall. More details are after the jump.
[Source: Chrysler]
A Custom SR 392 Roadster Featuring a 392 HEMI® Crate Engine from Mopar® Will Debut at the 2007 SEMA Show
- The distinctively 'Detroit' roadster is a collaborative build project between Chrysler's Mopar Underground SEMA design team and Quality Metalcraft
- The SEMA Show, the annual showcase of technology, trends and products representing the $36.7 billion automotive parts and accessories industry, will be held Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 2007
- The Mopar booth (#42427) is located in the lower South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center
Auburn Hills, Mich. –
What do you get when you combine the new 392 HEMI® crate engine from Mopar® with the world's first-ever steel reproduction of a 1927 street rod body and three car-crazy designers? The result is a custom SR 392 Roadster that will debut in the Mopar booth (#42427) at the 2007 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. The SEMA Show is the annual showcase of technology, trends and products representing the $36.7 billion automotive parts and accessories industry that will be held Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
For nearly two years, Chrysler's Mark Allen and Ralph Gilles planned to build the SR 392 Roadster as a SEMA stunner with Michael Chetcuti of Livonia, Mich.-based auto supplier, Quality Metalcraft (QMC). Allen is chief designer, Jeep®/Dodge Truck Studios – Chrysler LLC and Gilles is Vice President of Jeep/Truck & CFM Design, Chrysler LLC. Gilles and Allen are members of Chrysler's Mopar Underground SEMA design team, a group of in-house automotive enthusiasts who donate their time to SEMA project vehicles.
Allen said, "It was important to convey the car's theme as an homage to Detroit – the cool Detroit with its unique artistic community, music and gritty vibe. We used durable materials and let the mechanicals show to reflect the industrial backbone of the city. We wrapped it all up in a high-gloss black-and-chrome wrapper to evoke Detroit's cool attitude."
Allen, Chetcuti and Gilles saw a challenge in proving that the 6.4-liter HEMI crate engine could apply to a vehicle other than traditional muscle cars or modified up fits. The team's idea was to redefine the classic hot rod with a more functional urban and industrial attitude to create a distinctly 'Detroit' roadster.
The project was assisted by Chetcuti's QMC since the company has tooled, designed and now stamps the first-ever steel reproduction of a '27 street rod body - the Shadowrods XL-27 Roadster and Lakes Modified bodies developed by hot rod legend, Jon Hall.
"The core design elements of this roadster speak to the grit and industrial edge of our city," said Chetcuti. "Things like the mezzanine flooring detail and Eames-inspired seating - these take an industrial cue but are by no means 'rat-rod.' It is a refined and organized design throughout."
After several design variations were discussed (California hot rod king Chip Foose even had a peek), Allen brought his full resources to the design's completion. QMC stamped and performed the initial assembly on the reworked Shadowrods body – and fabricated and fit the revised hood, hood side panels, lower rocker panels and doors to the body.
With the car's extremely low stance, Shadowrods was asked to build a custom frame using a unique staggered truss concept. For the final build of the SR 392 Roadster, QMC turned to longtime concept- and show-car builder Wheel to Wheel Powertrain of Madison Heights, Mich.
Overseen by Gilles, the Mopar Underground SEMA design team has been customizing Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge production vehicles for the SEMA show since its creation in 2002. The team creates tricked, tuned and customized vehicle concepts meant to develop performance parts, accessories and customization, vehicle concepts and keep the Mopar spirit and passion alive.
About Quality Metalcraft
For more than 40 years, Quality Metalcraft (QMC) has been one of the leading prototype and low-volume production automotive suppliers in the world. Operations at QMC's massive Livonia, Mich. campus cover all phases of design, engineering and manufacturing from tooling to advanced laser and stamping capabilities. Projects include everything from simple brackets to large advanced prototype full body assemblies. Visit www.qualitymetalcraft.com for more information.
About SEMA
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, the annual showcase of technology, trends and products for the $36.7 billion automotive parts and accessories industry, will be held Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 2007 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world, SEMA draws the industry's brightest minds and hottest products to the Las Vegas Convention Center and attracts more than 100,000 industry leaders from over 100 countries in the automotive, truck and SUV markets. Open to domestic and international industry professionals and media, the 2007 SEMA Show will feature more than 2,000 exhibitors. More than 100,000 are expected to attend this year. SEMA was founded in 1963. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger and recreational vehicles.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Will 10:05AM (10/28/2007)
And the point of this is... what? Kicking off a new production run of Prowlers?
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J.Crew 10:24AM (10/28/2007)
No kidding, the new Prowler... this time with a real V-8.
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zamafir 1:32PM (10/28/2007)
@j.crew ditto, just what the original needed, and why not with Chrysler producing so many V8s now for pretty much any model. Make it cheaper then a vette, it'll be great!
mr.ed 11:31AM (10/28/2007)
By the time it gets street legal lights and bumpers, it'll look entirely different. And the 392 is one heavy slug. It'll have to be modernized. Time marches on, folks.
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cowboy bob 11:52AM (10/28/2007)
How heavy is it? I was under the impression that with new block casting technology, aluminum heads, and plastic intake manifolds with fuel injection that this was a realitvly light engine on par with Ford or GM sourced powerplants. This isn't true?
mr.ed 12:04PM (10/28/2007)
If all that is true, I stand corrected. It was exceeded in its original form only by the Packard V-8.
cowboy bob 12:53PM (10/28/2007)
You may be right. I simply don't know. I was under the impression that it had a reasonable weight. I had a "392" Hemi back in the early sixties, with two four barrels, isky cam, and homemade headers. It was in a '30 Chevy five window coupe, with a three speed stick and an Olds rear. It flew,........ in a straight line. The front was a droped straight axle, drum brakes, and no power steering. You needed both hands, and one leg to steer it around a corner. But, it was a blast, and I would love to have it back after almost fifty years. It didn't hook up too well either, with a lot of tire spin, but ran 12.50"s in the quarter, which was really fast back then. My brand new, stone stock tri-power '66 GTO ran 14.50"s as a comparison. Today, it's almost funny, but some guys tow with stuff faster than that.
howard 6:45PM (10/29/2007)
Mr, ed: Have you never heard of the "DONOVAN" 392 all aluminum HEMI? It weighs in at less than half of the old cast iron 392. Of course it also had its water passages full of fiber glass resin because it was meant to run no longer than 15 seconds, that's 9 sec. for staging and 6 sec. to run the 1/4 mile, if I remember right. Any how, Chrysler wouldn't put that old heavy engine in a beautiful T-Bucket like this!
mr.ed 8:10PM (10/29/2007)
I kinda doubt Chrysler would put in a hand-made motor that sells for more than the rest of the vehicle. A hemi still has only two valves activated by pushrods. Not nearly as efficient as a modern design.
Words like "Hemi" appeal to oldsters like us who remember making sport in the back seat under the stars. It's a declining market. Ask the guys who used to collect Auburns and Packards. They're way past retirement and are on their way out. Result: beautiful old cars sell for less and less. Check a cable auction. Hot stuff? Try a 71 'Cuda.
cowboy bob 11:57AM (10/28/2007)
Quite correct. If they had put some balls into the Prowler instead of making it a joke it might have been much more sucessful. Who does the market reasearch for these people anyway? Their grandma? Get the people behind the new 'cuda on this bandwagon will you? "Muscle", remember? Duh?
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jon 12:14PM (10/28/2007)
new prowler? lets hope this time it doesnt suck
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Conor 12:59PM (10/28/2007)
It looks like it should be fine. The comparisons to the Prowler are easy to make, but it should be noted that Chrysler's recent Muscle Cars (Charger, Challenger, 300) have been great. And who knows, maybe this will get the 5.7 and 6.1 if it sees production. So, until we know more, don't doubt this car because the Prowler was a dissappointment.
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500 2:02PM (10/28/2007)
Sure, the omission of a V8 in the Prowler was a glaring error, and the sketch looks good, but I doubt it would do much better than the Prowler. Who would buy this? Aging hot-rodders, who would presumably be the target market, prefer to build their own cars.
Now take the biggest engine you have, and put it in a Challenger, or even better, a new large Chrysler luxury coupe (Imperial?), and now we're talking.
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cowboy bob 7:53PM (10/28/2007)
Hey, I am an aging hot-rodder. I agree however, that most of us would rather build our own. I do have a "project" in the garage, but many more people I know just might buy something if it was really cool. After all, even though the Prowler had a squirrel where the engine was supposed to be, they still sold quite a few. Imagine how they would have done with the Hemi? Now, as to the "biggest engine" you have in a small car like the Charger, or a luxury coupe....been there, done that. It was in 1964, and they called it the Pontiac GTO. Then, later, the 421SD Pontiac Grand Prix filled the luxury/go fast bracket. Actually, this was also not the first, as grandpa used to talk about "Duzies" that were the top of the heap.
LX builder 10:08PM (10/28/2007)
The "392" Hemi is a current Mopar crate engine. It is the same motor as the 5.7/6.1 and is rated at 525h.p. It is a sweet upgrade for any of the LX cars.
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cowboy bob 7:16AM (10/29/2007)
Yes, that's true. The question was whether it was "heavy". The displacement number happens to be the same as the Chrysler engines of the late fiftys, but has no other commonality, other than the hemi head design. There may be some confusion in some quarters due to the related size of the old vs. newer designs, but for the most part, the relationship of the old 392, as well as the 5.7 to the 6.1, is well known. If you were to actually see the old Hemi sitting next to the new one, the difference is obvious. However, since the production numbers of the original were not large, and the use of dragster hot-rodders of yesteryear resulting in scarcity, not many survive. Neither of these engines should be confused with the Hemi race engines used in dragsters today, as they are compleatly different animals. The basic design is similar, but as different as the old Chevy 265 is from the new LS7.
Shipey 9:23AM (10/29/2007)
Who said anything about this being a production car? It's pretty obviously just a one-off to showcase the 392 crate motor for street rodders.
Can we stop grafting Chrysler design elements onto early Ford bodies now? Nah, hit that dead horse one more time.
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Leif 1:39PM (10/29/2007)
http://jalopnik.com/cars/sema/swedes-at-sema-volvos-t6-roadster-concept-134473.php
It's already been done before.
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howard 6:59PM (10/29/2007)
Dear 500: 500 what? Anyhow I happen to be an "AGING HOTRODDER" who has lost the use of his hands as far as working with them but, I can still out shift my 4 boys with a four speed, I know, all you young pups have 6-7 or 8 speed trannies but none of us can out think or out shift an automatic that's set up properly! Please, don't throw dirt in our faces just because we're old! Remember, "OLD IS GOOD" or all the car collector would be putting "NEW" cars in their collections, Right?
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howard 7:35PM (10/29/2007)
Cowboy Bob: I had a 57 Chrysler 300C with the set up you mentioned but no ESKY. cam, I ran the factory cam that was suggested to go with the dual ignition and the
Carter 4 BBL Carbs. My car weighed in at 3700 lbs.. we had two Dodge Super Bees in town with the 426 HEMI one had a Torque Flite trannie and the other one had the Muncey 4 speed with a Hurst Shifter. When I got my 300C it had a bad trannie so we pulled it out and did the "BELLS AUTO PARTS" modification on it, bronze pumps and Velve Touch bands, when it shifted there was no b__S__t, you better be holding on and ready. It was a letter series trannie to begin with and if you know the letter series, it didn't shif till you punched another button but it had a limiter and wouldnt let you over rev the engine.
I had Doug Lovegrove (MR. HEMI) out in california give me the specs to set the engine up with. I think Doug still holds the World Land Speed Record for a full bodied car, a 1964 Plymouth Belvedere two dr h/t. I think it was in the neighborhood of 180 mph thru the flying mile! of course it was HEMI powered. To get back to my two buddies with the Super Bees/ 426s. We lined up on a taxi way at an abandoned air strip and, one on each side of the old bucket, at the 1/4 mile stripe we put on the strip (exactly 1320 feet) I had both of them by a fender length! They wanted a second chance which i gave them, this time it was a car length. They never challenged me after that! I sold the 300C to a man who belonged to a 300 club. He did and off chassis restoration to it and the last I saw it he said nobody in the club can figure out why he beats all of them at the private drags they hold. Of course I told him all I had done to the car when he laid down the cash!
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