How It's Made: Hurst Hemi Dodge Challenger
How It's Made: Hurst Hemi Dodge Challenger - Click above for a high resolution gallery
At SEMA last year, the legendary shifter company Hurst made huge waves with its Hemi Challenger. We've been following Hurst's progress of the cars ever since, and even got the chance to get behind the wheel of the prototype car for a brief stint. We recently made the trip down to Hurst Performance Vehicles' headquarters in Irvine, CA to see just how stock Challengers are transformed into one of their limited edition muscle cars.
You might think that Hurst would be hard pressed to find customers in today's economy, but we were surprised to see their building overflowing with Challengers. There were completely stock cars that had just been delivered, cars getting superchargers and suspension upgrades, and plenty of complete cars waiting to be delivered to their lucky new owners.
Hurst was kind enough to give us a full tour of the facility, and showed us exactly what goes into making one of their Challengers, whether it's a base Series 2 model or a full blown Series 5 with all the bells and whistles. Follow us on our tour in the gallery below, which includes high-res photographs and detailed descriptions that follow a Hurst Challenger from start to finish.
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DMAG 8:43PM (6/19/2009)
Saw one of these in person at Englishtown Raceway a few weeks back. BEE-YOO-TEE-FULL.
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mr.ed 10:25PM (6/19/2009)
It sorta looks like the rotors could be bigger, like the original tiny drums looked/were so small. Maybe it's because this body's so much bigger than the original that the brakes look so tiny.
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Jeff Johnson 12:25AM (6/20/2009)
those rims with the gold look like they belong on a fisher price plastic car for tots.
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Timothy Auhll 1:29AM (6/20/2009)
I saw the white one at SEMA and these cars look as good if not better in person than any picture that you'll see on the internet. SWEET
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lithiumbomb 2:43AM (6/20/2009)
You know, the shop doesn't look bad necessarily, but it seems like Hurst would have a nicer shop. This looks like some random body shop. And what's with the giant block of foam holding up the rear suspension of a car on the lift?
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doakdoakdoak 4:38AM (6/20/2009)
my guess is that they need to drop the rear subframe a few inches to do their suspension work, the block is under there to hold it up.
The shop is nice and clean, I'm impressed with the tape job and downdraft paint booth, the attention to detail is obvious everywhere.
tscurt 9:58AM (6/20/2009)
Anybody remember when Linda Vaughan was on your 'to do' list????
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Jsams4131 8:37AM (6/20/2009)
Now thats pretty cool. I've never really seen a company cover the customer car in plastic while it waits to become transformed.
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Jay Evans 10:20AM (6/20/2009)
2009 HURST/HEMI-CHALLENGER SERIES 2 R/T & SRT8
MSRP $18,495.00*
2009 HURST/HEMI-CHALLENGER SERIES 3 R/T
MSRP $29,150.00*
2009 HURST/HEMI-CHALLENGER SERIES 4 SRT8
MSRP $29,150.00*
2009 HURST/HEMI-CHALLENGER SERIES 5 SRT8
MSRP $36,450.00*
*Hurst MSRP does not include the cost of the base vehicle
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Joe 11:33AM (6/20/2009)
Man, that's a damn tall order, especially when the Roush Mustangs come in at less than $50K, and will very likely be better looking and better performing than these Hurst Challengers.
Still, they're good looking vehicles...I just can't get over the cost and size.
Farmboy 11:11AM (6/20/2009)
The black and gold looks stunning. Always a great combo. However, the white and gold...eh...it looks okay I guess. Not a really pleasing color combo for my tastes.
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996700 2:53PM (6/20/2009)
Im all set with with the gold, black\gold white and gold either way it needs to be removed, save the gold flakes for the tequila!!
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Weaksauce 3:47PM (6/20/2009)
But will it blend?
My problem with the Charger:
Too heavy.
Crappy suspension.
Slushbox.
It looks like they've fixed the suspension, brakes, and added power.
I hope the freaking thing was put on a diet, too.
Does Hurst do anything to reinforce the frame?
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