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Somebody created a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon droptop

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is a vehicle built with one purpose in mind: going fast down a drag strip. Weight is the enemy when it comes to acceleration, and one surefire way to add weight to a car is to make it into a convertible. However, that’s exactly what one Demon owner decided to do to their Challenger. Motor Authority spotted this Plum Crazy Demon convertible conversion for sale online, and the dealer and builder even spilled a few details on the car itself. This particular conversion was done by Droptop Customs, a shop with experience, having previously converted a couple Challengers into convertibles for Shaq in Miami. However, ripping the roof off the 840-horsepower Demon is no small task. ThatÂ’s a ridiculous amount of horsepower to handle for a car that has lost a fair amount of structural rigidity from removing the roof. The Droptop Customs sales manager told MA about the changes that were made to make this build work. To begin, the frame rails were reinforced with 1x2-inch pieces of metal. Then, the shop added diagonally-mounted metal braces underneath to resist twist. Even more structural supports were added to the trunk, front and rear shock towers, and gussets were added to the bottom of each door to keep them from moving. Lastly, the shop boxed the connection of the front rails to the engine cradle. No specifics about weight gain were provided. There is one sad bit of news about this Demon, though. The dealer told MA that itÂ’s currently on consignment, despite being listed for sale on FCA dealership Cape CoralÂ’s website. ItÂ’s priced at an eye-watering $145,995. But the new owner wonÂ’t have to manually put down the top! ThatÂ’s right, itÂ’s powered, and itÂ’s supposed to take about 20 seconds to lower or raise into place while stationary. Somehow, the car has only 172 miles on it, so itÂ’s hardly been used. We have no photos with the top up, so youÂ’ll have to settle for top-down photos for now. It looks like a professional job through and through, and we actually dig the convertible look. Plus, who doesnÂ’t love Plum Crazy? 

Here are the Challenger SRT Demon's bare-minimum performance numbers

This week's Dodge Challenger SRT Demon teaser video provides what seems like more concrete evidence than any of the others before it. We say it seems that way because the numbers flashed on the screen are likely not showing us everything the car has to offer. So we're looking at these as the minimum performance stats and expecting Dodge to reveal even crazier numbers alongside the car next month. The video also provides some hints at features and modes the car will offer. Let's pick it apart. First off, there's the performance data from the various SRT Performance Pages screens. The 0–60 mph time is 3.0 seconds, which compares well to the "regular" Hellcat's 3.5-second manufacturer claim. Then there are two 0–100 times: 6.08 and 6.8. An eighth-mile time of 6.6 seconds at 125 mph and a quarter-mile time of 0.5 seconds at 129 mph lead us to believe the driver lifted off the throttle in that second eighth-mile and that the car will actually do the quarter in the low 10s. For reference, Dodge claims an 11.2-second quarter for the Hellcat on its street tires and a 10.8 with race slicks. View 7 Photos We also get a cryptic message about the supercharger boost pressure, which suggests it will be higher than the 11.6 psi of the 6.2-liter Hellcat engine. A graph shows it heading up toward 10 psi but the final spike is obscured by a Demon head. Cute. There's a hint at horsepower and torque numbers in a graph on the Dyno page, which shows both peaking around 750. In every shot of this video, the clock is set to 7:57, which we think means it either has that much power or, well, more. We think there's more to it because it appears that part of the graph above the dyno run shown, which would reach to 800 or 850, has been blanked out. A horsepower total of 808 would be a nice complement to the Hellcat's 707, don't you think? We can see from the shift indicator screen that the car will come with or at least offer the eight-speed automatic that's also available in the Hellcat and other Challengers. That's likely to be the best option for drag racing. The Demon's user-defined shift light feature, which lets you choose an optimal shift rpm for each individual gear, also suggests that a six-speed manual will be available. We'll cover the many modes and settings highlighted in this video in a separate post. There's a lot to discuss. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Question of the Day: Most heinous act of badge engineering?

Badge engineering, in which one company slaps its emblems on another company's product and sells it, has a long history in the automotive industry. When Sears wanted to sell cars, a deal was made with Kaiser-Frazer and the Sears Allstate was born. Iranians wanted new cars in the 1960s, and the Rootes Group was happy to offer Hillman Hunters for sale as Iran Khodro Paykans. Sometimes, though, certain badge-engineered vehicles made sense only in the 26th hour of negotiations between companies. The Suzuki Equator, say, which was a puzzling rebadge job of the Nissan Frontier. How did that happen? My personal favorite what-the-heck-were-they-thinking example of badge engineering is the 1971-1973 Plymouth Cricket. Chrysler Europe, through its ownership of the Rootes Group, was able to ship over Hillman Avanger subcompacts for sale in the US market. This would have made sense... if Chrysler hadn't already been selling rebadged Mitsubishi Colt Galants (as Dodge Colts) and Simca 1100s as (Simca 1204s) in its American showrooms. Few bought the Cricket, despite its cheery ad campaign. So, what's the badge-engineered car you find most confounding? Chrysler Dodge Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki Automotive History question of the day badge engineering question