Record-setting 8-second Dodge Challenger Hellcat Available for Purchase

Challenger Hellcat is properly built to deliver and use 1,300 horsepower and the price is insanely low.

A few years back, we had a few articles here on DodgeForum which talked about the record-setting Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat of Bill Gamble. Gamble was one of the first manual transmission Hellcat owners to run in the low 10s and to break into the 9s, eventually getting down into the mid-8-second range. Gamble’s best quarter mile time was an 8.66 at more than 160 miles per hour back in 2018.

Gamble sold the car to a gentleman named Chris Hagan who still owns the car today, but Hagan is looking to sell this monstrous Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. As a result, one of the quickest, most powerful and best-built factory Hellcat cars in the world is available for sale. Most significantly, this 1,300-horsepower Challenger is listed for just $70,000, so for less than the price of a new, loaded Hellcat Challenger, you could buy this turnkey, 1,300-horsepower beast and go racing in the 8-second range.

Hellcat Challenger Build

This 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat set many records with the factory engine and transmission, but today, it is powered by a fully built Hellcat-based engine and a race-ready automatic transmission.

Under the hood is a 405-cubic inch aluminum BES race block, up from the 378 cubic inch measurement of a stock Hellcat Hemi. This larger race engine features 10.5-to-1 compression with Mahle pistons, Carillo billet connecting rods and a Bryant billet crankshaft. That block is topped with HHP/BES CNC-ported professional grade cylinder heads and fitted with a custom HHP/BES camshaft.

Rather than the 2.4-liter IHI supercharger, Hagan’s Hellcat Challenger is equipped with a 4.5-liter Whipple supercharger and with the purchase, the buyer will get several different sized blower pulleys. The stock crank pulley has been replaced with an ATI 10 percent pulley. Helping to feed that big supercharger is a twin Walbro fuel pump setup and ID 1700 fuel injectors, but for even more power, there is a Nitrous Outlet spray bar system with four bottles. The entire system is tuned by Josh Schwartz at HHP, yielding upwards of 1,300 horsepower.

Sending all of that power to the rear wheels is a race-built ATI TH400 automatic transmission that is built to handle 2,000 horsepower, featuring a manual valve body and an ATI Outlaw torque convertor. This car is equipped with a two-step and a transbrake, allowing for big-power launches on the track. Behind that beefy gearbox is a DSS carbon fiber driveshaft, a DSS 9-inch rear differential with a Strange Pro center section, a spool and 3.40 gears. The car also comes with a Strange Pro center section with 3.90 gears.

Finally, this Hellcat Challenger has Viking coilovers at all four corners, a 15-inch Wilwood brake conversion at all four corners, frame reinforcements and, of course, the safety cage and parachute needed to run in the 8s.

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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