Ukraine Man Builds his Dream Challenger During War
In times of hardship, folks often turn to their hobbies. This Ukrainian man decided to make his dream car come to life despite his war-torn reality.
This story serves as a call to action for all of the folks out there making excuses as to why they aren’t working on their project car. We get it; life gets in the way. However, it’s hard to think of a more viable excuse for not working on your car than living in a country that is actively in a war with constant enemy invasion. Aside from the automotive element, here, it’s important to take a bit of appreciation from this story. Many of us in the world take our day-to-day safety for granted. For Yevhen Kovalchuk, a man from Ukraine, his desire to continue pursuing his dream was not hindered by the terrors of war. In fact, it was a bit inspirational.
According to The Autopian, Kovalchuk chose to build his dream car during this tough time. He told The Autopian that, as one might expect, War time is not an ideal time to buy a car. However, he continued to say that you need something to occupy your mind other than the war and try to retain some semblance of life. Kovalchuk is a mechanic by trade and considers cars to be what he’s most passionate about in life aside from his family. So, when the opportunity arose to buy this Dodge Challenger with a staple Hemi powerplant and a manual transmission, he jumped on it.
The Perfect Blend of Old and New
Kovalchuk set to work, giving the Challenger some retro styling cues to contrast its modern ways. That said, the Challenger’s inherent retro design truly complements the customization. Kovalchuk is an automotive journalist with some familiarity with American classics and wanted to tastefully blend old with new. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine a better way to do it. The vinyl-covered top, rear window louvers, and the rear wing take a page straight out of ’70s Mopar majesty, and Kovalchuk complemented them with classic-styled RT vinyl graphics down the side and on the hood. Of course, the cherry on top of the exterior aesthetics is undoubtedly the American Racing VN501 wheels that resemble the iconic Dodge 500 Magnum factory wheels.
It’s no surprise that these classic styling cues suit the modern Challenger’s body lines so well. However, Kovalchuk didn’t stop with exterior modifications. He made some tasteful adjustments to the interior and, of course, some mechanical upgrades as well. The interior wears custom upholstery accented with wood grain materials.
Final Touches on A Finite Timeline
On the mechanical side of things, Kovalchuk swapped in an H-pipe setup with a pair of Flowmaster mufflers and deleted the resonators to let that Hemi speak its truth. A set of Eibach lowering springs pulls the whole project together. It’s truly an astonishing transformation in that it was done very properly and very tastefully. Here in the States, we see no shortage of, uh, “customized” Challengers and Chargers that are hard to look at. Kovalchuk absolutely killed it.
Aside from the war-torn country barring his ability to put this thing together, the limitations and time constraints on receiving parts from the U.S. for this project make it all the more impressive. Perhaps the most remarkable part, though, is that despite all the hurdles to overcome, Kovalchuk brought this stock 2016 Challenger to its current state in just six months. This is truly inspiring stuff! It’s making us self-conscious about the project cars sitting on jack stands in our garages. Bravo, Mr. Kovalchuk!
Photos: The Autopian/Yevhen Kovalchuk
