After all these years with the modern Challenger (the design is some fifteen years old), there are still ways to improve the Mopar muscle car. And we’re not talking about the otherwise brilliant, if limited updates Dodge keeps delivering. We’re here to discuss a more radical styling transformation instead, one that happens in the digital realm, but takes the muscle car closer to the 1970 original.
The first-gen Challenger was late to the muscle car party—it only enjoyed a few short years before the Malaise era took the gas-guzzling joy away—but this meant its mature range of engines provided a trip to the candy store, while its design was born to become a legend.
And, given the brilliant proportions of the old Challenger, which set this apart from the meatier Charger, you can see why certain enthusiasts feel the modern incarnation of the muscle coupe pack a bit of extra room in the wrong places.
So, if you feel the current Challenger is a tad too large, especially as far as height is concerned, a 23-year old digital artist from Norway might have a solution. Andreas Wennevold (aka wnvld) has come up with a rendering portraying such a Dodge with a body chop.
The starting point was a modest… Demon, with its 840 horsepower, with the artist also raising the sweet factory widebody up to the point where the front flares meet the edge of the hood.
I love the retro [CHallenger] design but to me, it looks way too tall and big. I know that’s because of boring new regulations and stuff… Here I started with a stock Demon outline, then I chopped off the bottom half and put the flares higher up. The ground is now where the stock body would end,”
Having put the Mopar machine on a diet, the next step was to gift it with some pro-touring goodies of the modern days, such as side skirts, a rear diffuser, and a bit of a longtail approach.
That green roll cage was mandatory for such a project and you should zoom in on the images below to see some sweet Easter Eggs members of the Dodge brotherhood might appreciate.
Still, the Challenger easily overshadows the modern Mustang and Camaro as far as thoroughbred muscle design goes
While we’re here, we’ve added the work of a second digital artist below. Marouane Bembli, whom you might know as TheSketchMonkey, took the time to compare the Challenger and the Mustang’s styling in a quick YouTube clip you’ll find below.
The retro aroma of the Dodge is obvious, but when you also add the concept cars that previewed the two to the mix (Brembli does just that in the vid), it all becomes even clearer.
