Would You Convert Your Dodge Charger to a Pickup for Under $4,000?
Smyth conversion package for the early Charger transforms the sedan into a two-seat truck with a six-foot bed.
If you are active on social media, the odds are good that you have seen pictures of an early Dodge Charger sedan that had been converted into a two-door pickup truck. Many people believe that these unusual vehicles have been cobbled together by an owner with some auto body skills and the bed of a truck, and in some cases, that is the case. However, Smyth Kit Cars of Wareham, Massachusetts offers a package that comes with all of the components needed to transform your Hemi-powered sedan into a sporty little pickup and if you are doing the work yourself, you can build one of these unique Chargers for less than $4,000.
Smyth Utes
While the pickup conversion package for the Dodge Charger is relatively new, Smyth Kit Cars has been offering similar packages for other vehicles for some time now. The company is run by Mark Smith, who also founded Factory Five Racing, so he knows a thing or two about body fabrication. Smith is joined in running the company by Michael Gallant and together, the two launched their pickup conversion packages with the Volkswagen Jetta.
Over time, their products expanded to included Audi models on the same chassis as the VWs, the Subaru WRX, the Volkswagen Beetle and, of course, the Dodge Charger.
The company website explains that after years of converting smaller vehicles, they decided to tackle a bigger project, building a modern day El Camino. To do so, they needed an American model and the rear-drive, full size Dodge Charger fit the bill perfectly, allowing Smyth to launch their first conversion package for something other than a foreign compact car.
The Charger Ute
As you might imagine, all of the Smyth conversions begin with cutting the rear section of the car away from the chassis, making room for the truck bed. Needless to say, if you aren’t fairly comfortable with auto body work, you might want to pay someone to cut your Charger apart, but this does seem to be a package that an owner with the right tools could assemble in their garage.
The Dodge Charger ute package includes the inner and outer aluminum components of the bed, the “cap” for the rear of the cabin, the tailgate, the roll pan and a set of Grand Caravan taillights that perfectly fit the new body lines. The bedsides, bed inners and roll pan are custom-crafted items, while the tailgate is a stock Ford piece and the rear sliding glass assembly is from a Chevy Colorado, making both of those items easy to replace if need be.
Once installed the bed of the Dodge Charger ute measures six feet along the floor, so it is just as long on the inside as most half-ton truck beds. The areas in front of and behind the wheel humps are 60-inches wide and the area between the humps is 48.5-inches wide, allowing this pickup car to haul a standard sheet of plywood with the tailgate down. In fact, you could haul a bunch of plywood, as the Smyth Charger conversion has a payload capacity of 900 pounds.
The Price
Smyth sells their Dodge Charger pickup conversion package for $3,590, with shipping prices for the United States ranging from $275 to $390. In other words, buying this package and getting it to your door will cost you less than $4,000. If you have the ability to cut your car apart and install everything yourself, you could be hauling lumber with your Charger pickup for less than $4,000, but even with the help of a body shop, this isn’t a terribly expensive conversion.
Of course, this is not for everyone and lots of people hate the look of the Charger cut into a two-door pickup, but if you want to have a truly unique Hemi car, Smyth has the answer.
Photos: Smyth Kit Cars
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