1979 Dodge Magnum Flexes Hellcat V8 in CGI Muscle Conversion

Frankly, I can’t wait for somebody to ask me about the “old” Dodge Chargerโ€”boy, I’d go on about the first three generations, with their massive HEMIs, for hours on end. But what about what happened in the final half of the 1970s, when the Malaise era, a mix of strict emission targets and antique legislation that stood in the way of true innovation, sent those big engines home? That’s when Dodge brought the Charger back to its luxury car origins, which brings us to the Magnum we have here, the last hurrah of the Charger’s B-body platform.

Dodge didn’t initially plan the Charger as a drag strip weapon, betting on the lavish card instead. However, when it became obvious that the market was more into dynamic offerings, the Mopar people restyled the muscle coupe for its second and its third iterations.

As mentioned above, the shift was reversed for 1975, with the nameplate finally being retired after 1978โ€”that year saw the Magnum taking on the role of a personal luxury car, albeit with this only being offered for two model yearsโ€”the horsepower situation was so bad that Dodge even ceased fitting production vehicle with big-blocks at the end of 1978, so the ’79 Magnum had to make do without its 400ci (6.6L) V8.

And, despite a NASCAR effort involving the more aerodynamic Magnum, this never rose to the status of its predecessors.

Well, the digital effort we have here comes to compensate for all that, taking a cue from the contemporary Charger in terms of performanceโ€”don’t you love it when things come full circle?

To be more precise, this rendering brings us a late 1970s Dodge Magnum (we assumed this is a ’69) that has been given a full Hellcat treatment.

Graphic designer Jim (aka jlord8) not only decided to light things up with the supercharged V8 motor, but also introduced a few visual clues towards the heart transplant.

As such, the retro coupe, with its side opera windows, rides on Hellcat wheelsโ€”the modern brakes were brought along for matching stopping powerโ€”while the front apron and the hood, as well as the boot lid spoiler, are also part of the job.

Now, since the modern Dodge Magnum (think: early 2000s) is basically a station wagon incarnation of the contemporary Chrysler LX platform, we’ve come across some of these machines sporting Hellcat firepower. However, meeting a 70s Magnum with this kind of attitude would be something else and the Challenger Hellcat Redeye “Kart” we recently discussed could easily serve as a donor car for such a project.

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