1970 Challenger Gets Hellcat Engine and Viper Chassis

Highway Star

If the 2020 SEMA show can somehow manage to happen this fall, we'll once again be treated to what feels like endless rows of amazing custom rides. And that will include this incredible creation from Ellsworth Racing. At its core, this is a 1970 Dodge Challenger dubbed "Highway Star" (a Deep Purple classic jam), but in reality, it's basically a brand new car conceived by Danny Berry Designs.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

Viper Ties

The crew has been working on making these sketches a reality for a whopping five years now, but this is no simple project. In fact, it's packing a second-gen Viper frame from a car that was reportedly a total loss after an unfortunate fire. But the guys at Ellsworth Racing are no strangers to the platform, as they currently compete in a 1997 Dodge Viper GTS and 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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Body Mods

Meanwhile, the crew also sourced a Challenger body that was reportedly in pretty bad shape as well, with lots of rust and various damage. So they clearly had their work cut out for them. To make the Viper frame fit the classic Challenger body, it had to be stretched out 13 inches, while the fenders were widened a total of 1.5 inches. The hood is from a Challenger R/T, and has been modified as well.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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Plenty O' Power

That last mod was to make room for the new supercharged 6.2-liter V8, of course, which is mated to a Tranzilla-built Viper T56 six-speed manual transmission. Power flows back to a 3.73-geared gear, which in turn delivers it to some pretty massive tires, which measure in at 335/30 R18 out back. The fronts are slightly smaller at 295/30 R18.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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Custom Fab

The suspension was also largely lifted from the donor Viper, as you might imagine, and features the same coilover setup, brakes, and cooling as the modern snake. But much of the project is clearly custom fabricated, including the cage, headers and exhaust, and all the aforementioned body modifications.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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Time Attack

Since the Challenger is being built as a time attack machine, it'll also wear some serious body mods including a big rear wing, diffuser, and splitter. Ellsworth is aiming for around a 3,400 pound curb weight, which should make this thing a heck of a lot of fun to drive in the twisties.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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One of a Kind

Not to mention one heck of a nice looking ride. With any luck, SEMA will find a way to go on, but if not, this won't be the last we see of Highway Star. And once it's finished, there won't be another classic Challenger out there in the world quite like it.

Photos: Danny Berry Designs

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