I, like many muscle car nerds, am saving up my pennies to buy one of the new Dodge Challengers when it comes out. If I win the lottery I might even buy two. Anyway, one of the major regrets I have about the whole situation is that Plymouth is of course kaput, which means that there is very little liklihood of a new 'Cuda.
However…
In the old scheme of things, the Challenger and the 'Cuda shared a lot of components, kind of like the old Camaro and Firebird shared a platform. I was thinking that if someone was insane enough to want to mess with the already sexy design of the new Challenger, they could make some cosmetic changes and make a new “Cuda” of sorts.
So the question is, how hard is it likely to be to craft, say, a new nose and grill for a car like that?
How hard? Not very.
How expensive? That is a whole other story. There are plenty of places out there that will do whatever you want to the car, i.e. Orange County Chopper style. The thing is they will have to custom build your part from scratch and will charge you an arm and a leg for it. I have seen cars totally transformed from their original design. Keep in mind that while it may be worth the extra 5-10k to you, it is not worth anything for resale value, and it will probably bring the value down, unless you can find a like ‘car fanatic’ like you.
Yeah. The more I think about it, the only way I would actually do this to a new Challenger would be if somehow I was rich and had a spare one to “Frankenstein” into a 'Cuda. Thanks.
I’m a big Mopar guy and I agree 100% that the later (1970+) 'Cuda is way better looking and more desireable from a market pricing POV than the Challenger. Here’s some pics from 1970 examples. Note that some have option packages so not all items (chin spoilers, color coded bumpers, etc) are standard.
Now here’s the 2008 Challenger. They have the split grill that’s characteristic of the Cuda but the hopelessly dull tail lights from the Challenger. Personally, I’d leave the grill alone and work around back.
If the aftermarket options available to many cars that appeal to a younger audience today carry over through 2008, I’m thinking you might have some interesting choices. You may be able to get pretty close to the Cuda look.
