The fact that the original Dodge Demon of the early 1970s was an unholly proposition is right there in its name—by the way, Dodge eventually changed this into “Dart Sport” over fears of religious people not buying the car. So it shouldn’t surprise anybody that, for its most recent feat, Wiscounsin-based aftermarket specialist SpeedKore presents a 1972 Demon that sold its soul to the VTEC devil, borrowing quite a few pieces of hardware from the Honda S2000.
SpeedKore has reached a level where its real-world builds, such as the 1968 Dodge Charger Hellucination restomodded for Stellantis head designer Ralph Gilles (full carbon body and all), are mixed with virtual ones. For the latter task, the company works with digital artist Abimelec Arellano (aka abimelecdesign), and this is the latest rendering of the sort.
Some enthusiasts have always believed the Mopar two-doors built on Chrysler’s A-Body, the most compact platform used in the 1960s and 1970s, are cool. Others have only recently joined this club, perhaps brought here by the ever-booming prices of universally praised B-Bodies (e.g. Dodge Charger, Coronet) and E-Bodies (Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Cuda).
And while that has resulted in an increase of real-world A-Body Mopar projects, this digital one takes the sacriledge to a whole new level via the said pact.
A brief history of the Dodge Dart Demon
Back in 1971, Dodge introduced the Dart Demon as a fastback iteration of the Dart notchback, echoing the said body style of the Plymouth Duster. And the fastback form didn’t just help with the looks, it also improved interior space.
Nevertheless, with sales (130,000 Demons found homes in 1971 and 1972) falling below those of its Plymouth sibling, Dodge gave in to the pressure of various religious groups for the 1973 model year, hoping it would attract more customers from that camp. And this is why the coupe was rebranded as Dart Sport.
SpeedKore’s 1972 Dodge Demon got overnight parts from Japan, digitally speaking
Well, the example we have here is a cheeky devil—that dual snorkel carbon fiber hood, while reminding us of the modern Challenger Hellcat Redeye, hides the now-turbocharged four-cylinder heart of an S2000. The front fenders? These are an ode to the one Japanese tuner Spoon built for the roadster.
The treatment also made its way inside the muscle car, as the digital dashboard of the S2K brings quite the twist. In fact, the S2000 isn’t the only Honda referenced in this rendering, as those bucket seats were taken from the ex-generation Civic Type R (by the way, here’s how this FK8 model compares to the current FL5 hot hatch).
Nevertheless, if we move over to the rear fender flares, these remind us of the modern Dodge Demon, whose 840 hp and trans brake means this remains the most hardcore, drag strip-focused contemporary Challenger iteration to date. If you’re a purist and somehow made it this far in the story, you’d better not look below those flares, though. That’s because the custom Honda look also involves Volk TE37 wheels.
Based on how SpeedKore describes this 1972 Dodge Dart in the Instagram post below, both the idea and the execution come from the said artist. However, the excitment is all ours! If, however, you’re seeking an all-American digital SpeedKore build, this Hellcat-animated tube chassis Plymouth Cuda AAGT should be just the thing for you.
