Just earlier this week, we discussed a Dodge Charger pickup truck conversion. Employing a kit from Smyth Performance, this saw a former Charger Pursuit police car becoming a UTE, as the Rhode Island-based specialist likes to call it (the name is more common Down Under). And we’re now back on the topic to show you the company’s latest package, which targets the current Gen 7 Charger, built starting with the 2011 model year.
Sure, the Gen 7 car isn’t too different from the Gen 6 Charger that marked the start of the muscle car’s modern era back in 2005 (2006 model year). But the new package addresses the differences, while packing some improvements of its own.
For instance, you can now get the package in Widebody form, with the rear fenders being able to accommodate tires up to a width of 315mm. Thus, you can turn your factory Widebody Charger Hellcat or Scat Pack into a truck or start with a standard sedan and give it the extra-muscular look.
Nevertheless, multiple fans took to the comments section of the Smyth Performance Instagram post below to ask why the company didn’t change the taillights while updating the kit. The main proposal coming from the enthusiasts seems to involve axing the Dodge Caravan minivan-borrowed light clusters in favor of units shared with the latest iteration of the Dodge Ram trucks.
And while the specialist explained it had attempted such a change, the company says it wasn’t pleased with the result: “the forward angle to the tailgate is key and the [current] lights allow that. Straight vertical tailgate and Ram lights just looked horrid, but we tried it,“
For now, we can see the package in a set of renderings coming from digital artist Oscar Vargas (aka wb.artist20), who had already pixel-painted such a unibody truck back in April, albeit with small differences, such as the rear side windows.
The order book is already open
Smyth Performance is already taking orders for the first 25 units of the 2011+ Charger UTE conversion kit, even though the first deliveries won’t come until August. There’s no word on the pricing, but the Gen 6 kit mentioned above will set you back $3,590 plus installation.
In this time when muscle cars are waiting to be replaced by electric machines and performance pickup trucks no longer come with a road bias, standing as desert runners instead, turning a Dodge Charger into a truck seems more fitting than ever.
