As I made my way through the SEMA show last Monday, I found an interesting shape under a cover in the Source Interlink booth. I could tell by the profile that it was a B-body Mopar of some sort, but one that had been drastically altered.
The following day, I cruised by again to find the Roadrattler, a heavily modified ’69 Plymouth Roadrunner built by Spitzer Concepts and owned by Jim Mitchell.
It’s an extreme take on one of the most famous Muscle Car models of all time. Virtually nothing is stock, aside from the overall shape of the body. We are talking about a full tube frame chassis with fully independent suspension and a heavy dose of carbon fiber.
As with the front, the styling of rear-end has been heavily modified. The rear taillights are completely custom.
What really caught my eye was the lowered roofline. It’s extreme, yet manages to keep the original Roadrunner lines.
The Roadrattler gets its power from a 528 cubic inch dry sump Hemi that makes nearly 800hp. If that wasn’t enough, and additional 500hp can be summoned via its nitrous kit.
The car rolls on custom 19 and 20 inch wheels from Greening Auto. The enormous Wilwood brakes can be seen behind the spokes.
Inside the carbon-laden interior, you can see the unique looking shifter for the Lenco three-speed transmission. The instruments are from Racepak.
Carbon buckets and harnesses for the driver and passenger. Hopefully they’ll be put to good use!
The overall package has to be one of, if not the most insane Mopar Muscle Cars ever built.
If there’s one thing to be said about the internet, it is the fact that it has made the world, no, the universe a smaller place –a much, much smaller place. With the simple click of a mouse, you can be instantly teleported to China, England, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea or to our neighboring star system, Alpha Centauri. When talking about the automotive world, that too has shrunk because of the binary web of input and outputs. It’s brought together enthusiasts from all walks of the vast automotive umbrella and exposed them to disciplines which they would normally not frequented delve in. Road racers become exposed to drag racing, drag racers become exposed to drifting, drifters become exposed to the hot rod and rat rod scenes, hot rodders start to take notes from the import show scene and the list goes on. Each day, we’re witnessing this crossover influence happen over and over throughout the digital universe.
This 1970 Ford Maverick, which was designed build by Lance Peltier for Spectre Performance, is a shining example of this crossover of automotive worlds.
Many, many moons ago, crossover engine swaps of any kind were a taboo. But today we see hybrid swaps becoming more and more accepted. The original, American made, Ford Maverick motor was ripped out and replaced with a Japanese built 2JZ-GTE inline six from a 1995 Toyota Aristo. Some may look at this car, its engine choice and think of it as utter blasphemy to anything and everything Detroit muscle represented.
Lance decided that the original turbocharger wasn’t producing the power he wanted. So a Drift Effects 67MM Turbocharger, with Toyota 550CC injectors was installed. A custom made liquid-to-air intercooler, heat exchanger, pump and tank from Performance
Fabrication was also added to the turbo setup. Performance
Fabrication also crafted a 3″ oval exhaust system.
On the drive train side of things, Lance employed a Toyota R-154 5-speed coupled with a Toyota 1JZ bell housing and a six puck ACT Extreme pressure plate. The rear end was beefed up with a Ford 9″ rear-end from Performance Fabrication.
Not only did the engine see a total make-over but so did the interior. The major interior change was the custom aluminum work all over, including the dashboard, from Performance Fabrication which houses a set of Autometer Ultra Lite II gauges. Performance Fabrication also made the roll cage. The original steering wheel and seats were ripped out in favor of a Momo “Competition” steering wheel and a Momo Street Racer GT bucket with seat belts from Crow.
If you think this thing is all performance based with no creature comforts, you’d be wrong. You’d be surprised to hear that this car actually has air conditioning and a AM/FM radio with iPod link! How’s that for modernizing?
The recent trend in the muscle car world seems to be making these old brutes handle a corner better than they normally would have. Lance and his team gutted the suspension and added a Rod and Custom Motorsports Mustang II front end, with tubular A arms, and QA1 double adjustable coil overs.
Far from being any sort of flush, the car fills up the wheel wells the best it can with a set of Forgeline SO3 18×11″ in the front…
…and 18×12.5″ in the rear.
A set of Toyo Proxes R88 was the choice set of tires for the car. It rocks a massive 295/30/18 tire in the front…
… and an even more massive 335/30/18 int the rear. Check out that ominous stance!
On the exterior side of things, a custom made aluminum splitter sits in the front and a custom Big Wig Race Cars aluminum rear spoiler sits in the back.
The internet has brought every single person on the planet a bit closer to each other. Each one of our culture now intertwine within the very fabric of the web. And with all that exposure to so many different things, it’s hard not to notice that certain new ideas, subjects, and thought processes are making changes to your everyday thought. A Japanese motor in an American car? Not blasphemous, but rather, it’s amazing.
At the end of the day, it never really matters what brand of motor is under the hood of a car, but instead what matters is how a car like this makes you feel. When you look at a car like this, find out what sort of motor is in it, hear it expel satanic demons, down the main straight of a racetrack, and makes you scream like kid getting a brand new video game system on Christmas morning, you know instantly that this car is doing something right.
Once again I'm truly amazed at the global scope of this website. We have Rod & Dino bringing the latest from the WTA in Australia, Paddy, John and crew continuing with 24hrs of Nurburgring Coverage, and that's not even everything.
As for me. I'm back with some more all-American action from the Goodguys Orange County Get Together.
Capri is a name that's put on all sorts of Ford vehicles around the world. This lowdown beauty is also known as a Capri, available from Lincoln dealers in the mid '50s.
A proper beast this blue Plymouth is. One look at the aggressive lines of this car and you'll know why Mopar B-bodies fetch such a pretty penny.
Back in the autocross area, here is the wicked El Camino built by Spectre Performance. What was once a car primarily used for hauling kegs out to the lake is now a mid-engined corner shredding beast. Spotlight anyone?
Some more cruisin' around the showgrounds with this "rat" pickup.
This Pontiac looks like it's been in service untouched since the early '50s. So cool.
Some more second gen Camaro love. Take your pick, green…
…or blue.
Meanwhile this first gen Camaro looked super mean rumbling around with a wild raked stance and giant tires out back.
Some more of the interesting mix of hot rods, street machines, and customs spread around the fairgrounds.
As far as the static displays, there was nothing crazier than this pickup.
I really don't know what to say, other than it looked like something the villain would drive in a steampunk fantasy story.
Stepping back into reality for a moment, you might recognize this Camaro from my visit to Starlite Garage earlier this year.
I thought this El Dorado had an interesting combination of classic body styling and modern paintwork.
A brilliant replica of infamous Hurst Hemi Dart, one of the most infamous Mopars ever.
It's hard for a street legal car to have more presence than this.
A monster-tired '69 Camaro waiting its turn for some autorcross action.
This sweet little rod was parked in one of the indoor show areas, in quite a contrast to the glossy show machines that surrounded it.
Sittin' in the back of a long white Cadillac…
Next time I'll be back with a final bit of action from the Street Challenge Autocross.
I think most will agree with me that the defining aspect of the SEMA Show is its diversity. It’s the one place where the automotive world truly comes together, and the mash up of so many different subcultures in one place is both strange and brilliant.
This year’s show is heavy on both custom European cars and Japanese compact machines lead by the Scion FR-S, but in the end SEMA is still home turf for the customized American machine. With that in mind, lets take a look at some of the big Hot Rods, Customs, and Muscle Cars from SEMA 2012.
Let’s begin in the Ford booth, where I found this ’32 Roadster produced by SO CAL Speed Shop and Detroit Street Rods to help celebrate the 80th birthday of the Deuce.
Style-wise, the car has a “modern-traditional” feel with a classic SO CAL race paint job and a simple, period correct interior style.
The powertrain on the other hand is completely modern. That’s a Ford 5.0 liter Coyote V8 there, which is mated to a six speed manual transmission. It also features other modern touches like four wheel discs and adjustable coilovers. The result is a seamless mix of both classic and modern Hot Rod style.
Found in the GM display, this ’67 Camaro is a replica one of the first Hot Wheels diecast cars released back in 1968. It’s powered by one of GM’s LS3 E-Rod motors and features custom-built 18″ wheels based on the ones that appeared on early Hot Wheels cars. Also, check those awesome side pipes!
Who doesn’t like a proper Station Wagon? I got quite a kick out of seeing this olive drab Nova Wagon sitting in the Turbonetics booth.
…with LS3 power and of course a giant Turbonetics snail on board.
The interior of the wagon looked very NASCAR, with a full cage and custom built dash. The hardcore race buckets and harnesses were there for both front seat and back seat occupants.
Speaking of NASCAR, check out this ’64 Plymouth Belvedere created by championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham. Ray is a huge fan of vintage stock cars with a soft spot Mopars in particular, and this build reflects that.
While it has the look of a Plymouth like Richard Petty drove in ’64, the classic body is actually set over a modified Dodge “Car of Tomorrow” Sprint Cup chassis.
Power comes from a 358 cubic inch Dodge NASCAR motor which should produce somewhere north of 750 horsepower at screaming high RPMs.
Inside, the car has is loaded with modern equipment, like a Momo race wheel, carbon fiber panels and full digital instruments. How amazing would it be to take this thing out for a romp on the street?
Of course it doesn’t all have to be crazy horsepower numbers and race car handling. When you just want to ride low and slow, something like this bare metal Caddy on Rocket wheels and wide whites should do nicely.
One of the craziest custom cars at this year’s show is this slammed and chopped ’51 Ford Shoebox from the mind of professional BMX rider TJ Lavin.
This is another car that’s done with a military-inspired theme – something which is getting more and more popular both in the United States and abroad.
Peeking inside the massively chopped window openings, you can see the warplane seats and aircraft inspired controls on the center console. Wild.
Let’s not overlook the modern Muscle Cars now. One example that caught my eye was this Camaro Convertible in the Mobil 1 booth. The drop-top ‘Maro is equipped with a Turbonetics turbo kit and KW suspension for starters, but it’s really the exterior that sets it off.
Here we have another example of the RWB/Retro-Japanese inspired fender flares being used on different types of cars. The wheels are big-lipped three-piece Tarmacs from Fifteen52.
It’s only fitting that I include an example of the original Muscle Car – the Pontiac GTO. This particular ’65 Goat is a modern take on the Hurst edition Muscle Machines of the 1960s.
It’s powered by a supercharged LS3 making around 600 horsepower with a six-speed stick, four wheel discs, traction control and all sorts of other modern gear.
Say hello to “Suncammer”, the 1956 Ford Convertible that took home the prestigious Riddler Award last year. It’s a bit understated by SEMA standards, but an absolutely stunning piece of work.
What I especially liked about is that it’s powered not by a modern crate motor by an original Ford SOHC 427 with a custom intake manifold and a pair of inline carbs.
Words cannot express just how popular early model Camaros are at SEMA – not just this year but every year. It may come off as unoriginal, but it’s very interesting to see how builders continue to push boundaries and try new things with established platforms. The first generation cars are still the favorites, but early second gen models are getting more and more plentiful.
When it comes to the business of building crazy Pro Touring cars, few are better than the Ring Brothhers. Each year they come to the show with a stunning machine, like this year’s ’70 Camaro known as the “Grinch”.
Powering the Grinch is – you guessed – LSX power.
From the cutting edge Camaro we take a step back in time with “Pacifica”, a Ford Econoline pickup truck built by legendary builder Gene Winfield.
The truck is actually a recreation of an Econoline-based show machine that Gene in the early 1960s as part of Fords’ “Custom Car Caravan”.
The look of the truck is pure 1960s show style, but with a few modern touches like Accuair suspension. The original definitely didn’t sit this low back in ’62!
One of the coolest Muscle Car builds at SEMA this year is also one of the most unusual. You rarely see any AMXs around the show, let alone one as crazy as this example from British Columbia. Just look at the way the slammed stance and enormous wheels complement the angular lines.
You won’t find the original AMC motor under the hood, but you will find a 427 cube LSX with a pair of large turbos for good measure.
The interior treatment is equally off the wall. Like the rest of the car, the cockpit is a unique mix of both show car and hard core race elements. I’m not sure if AMC purists will like it, but who cares?
Lastly, I want to share a couple more images of the altered wheel base Ford Falcon you caught a glimpse of during my SEMA preview post from Monday.
It’s a pretty cool concept – with the legit look of a 1960s AFX drag special but in street form with the refinement and details of a top level show car. It’s definitely one of the best pure retro cars this year.
