SEMA Challenger Gets Stolen & Recovered Just in Time for the Show
Following a police chase ripped right from some movie script, this SEMA Challenger survived and has a cool story to tell.
SEMA 2019 is chock full of amazing custom rides from all across the industry, as is the case every year. But this year, one SEMA-bound Challenger might look a little, well, unfinished to the masses. But it turns out there’s a very good reason for that. You see, ProCharger‘s Dodge Challenger, built by Quintin Brothers Auto and Performance, took a bit of an unexpected pre-show shakedown ride recently. The Challenger was being towed in an enclosed trailer, hitched up to a Ford F-250, when the whole rig was stolen just a week prior to its scheduled debut in Las Vegas.
Even worse, the keys to the Challenger were inside the car. After the car was stolen, both Quintin Brothers and ProCharger posted alerts and CTV footage of the incident on their respective social media pages. Lots of tips came in from helpful fans, many alleging that they had spotted the Challenger around town. According to some, the thieves had been joyriding the souped up Dodge locally, even being so brash as to rip off burnouts in plain view of the public. But then again, who ever said criminals were smart?
Unsurprisingly, police managed to catch up with the dimwitted criminals before long. And also unsurprisingly, they didn’t bother to stop when the law attempted to pull them over. Instead, they took flight in the poor Challenger, eventually getting cornered in a parking garage. Once the thieves were cornered with no way out, they decided to use the Dodge as a battering ram. And believe it or not, that maneuver actually worked.
The thieves made it to the interstate and somehow got away from a flock of pursuing police cruisers. They ditched the car at a bus station and disappeared into the void. Thankfully, the car was recovered, albeit with some damage to the front end and the driver’s side fender, along with one of the rear fenders. At this point, you certainly wouldn’t blame Quintin or ProCharger for cancelling their plans to display the car at SEMA. But instead, they saw this as an opportunity to tell a pretty cool story.
Thus, this tough Challenger will indeed be on display in ProCharger’s SEMA booth. Which, we’re guessing, will draw quite a bit of attention. Those who aren’t aware of the car’s story might wonder why it’s there, of course. But to us, this might just be our favorite ride of the bunch even before we’ve seen them all!
Photos: Facebook
Join the Dodge Forums now!
