Cleveland Power and Performance sacrificed a 2004 Viper to build the ultimate 1956 Dodge pickup.
Cleveland Power and Performance is a Ohio-based salvage yard that gained notoriety for selling “Hellcat palates,” which include everything needed to get the supercharged Hemi running in a project car. While the shop specializes in providing the drivetrains of crashed, high performance vehicles for unique swaps and projects, they have also performed some slick projects of their own like a 1969 Charger with a 2015 Hellcat drivetrain from a wrecked car.
The shop recently started a new project and it is even more unique than the Hellcat-powered 1969 Charger. This time, the team is building a Viper-powered 1956 Dodge pickup, but they aren’t just putting the V10 in a classic truck. They are putting the body of the antique truck on the chassis of the Viper with the intention of creating a pickup that performs like the Moparsupercar.
Project Aberration
The 1956 Dodge truck on the chassis of the 2004 Viper is called Project Aberration and in addition to the donor truck, the basis for this build is the supercar owned by Cleveland Power and Performance owner Rick Fragnoli. Fragnoli could surely find a wrecked Viper in bad shape, but instead, he is using his personal road car to bring this project to life.
It should be noted that this Mopar supercar came to Fragnoli as a salvage vehicle and the shop rebuilt it to better-than-original, adding an array of high performance upgrades. This includes a Paxton supercharger, custom coilover suspension and a stronger differential, all of which will continue on to pickup. You can listen to the Viper roar in the video below.
Lots of Work in Store
Of course, the project will require a bit of modification to the chassis in order to allow the underpinnings of the 2004 Viper to comfortably carry the body and bed of the truck, but when Project Aberration is complete, it should be a 1956 Dodge pickup that performs like a supercharged supercar with custom suspension.
Unfortunately, the project is still in the early stages. The body of the car has been removed from the chassis, the body of truck has removed from its frame and the shop has begun modifying the supercharger chassis to hold the truck body.
This will include a new center section that lengthens the wheelbase, so the proportions will be different from the roadster, but it should be one badass antique truck.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
