2018 Widebody Hellcat Challenger

It’s obvious that I’m a huge fan of Challengers.  When they came out with the new Hellcat in 2015, I was really excited.  Then I saw the car and lost my excitement.  I drove one and it was all I hoped it would be, but I was very disappointed in the looks.  The only real way to tell that the car was a Hellcat was to look for the little badge on the side of the car.  Other than that, I thought it looked like a 6-cylinder car.  A car as bad as this should look the part, and it just didn’t.

I was at the 2017 U.S. National drag races in Indiana when I first saw the Dodge Demon.  Now this was a car that looked mean!  I had a chance to buy one from a dealer I knew, but I was a little leary about how streetable the car would be.  I passed on the car.

When Dodge announced that they were going to make a wide-body Hellcat, I knew that I was on the right track.  It had the same mean look as the Demon, but was a very streetable car.  I quickly put one on order in October, 2017.

After that, I waited, and waited, and waited.  There was a huge problem with Dodge delivering the wide-body cars, and after a lot of frustration, I cancelled my order in June of 2018.  I figured I wouldn’t be getting the car.  After that, I ordered a new 2019 Z06 Corvette, which I was to take delivery of in August.

I was on the road heading to the Chryslers at Carlisle car show about a week before I was supposed to pick up my Corvette when I got a call from the Dodge dealer.  He told me that my car had finally arrived, and that if I was still interested in it, I could have it.  I told him to give me 24 hours, and I’d let him know.

Not that I really needed the car since I had the Corvette coming, but I told him I’d take it.  I had the car sent to my builder in Florida and had him re-do the paint and put on a Demon style hood.  I’ve never regretted the decision.  I love the looks of this car and I keep it in Michigan for my summers when I’m there.