One-Off 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Convertible Is a Drag Racer’s Guilty Pleasure
Normally, chopping the roof off such a high-performance car would be a no-go. This one, however, is a bit different.
The 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is such a violent car that most people would probably prefer more sheet metal between them and the open air, but one shop in Florida felt differently. The team at Droptop Customs chopped the roof off a Plum Crazy Purple example of the menacing muscle car—number 2,762 of 3,300 built—to create a one-of-a-kind drag strip bruiser. The cost? $146,000.
Droptop Customs has experience chopping Dodge Challengers, having previously converted two cars for NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal. The shop’s sales manager, Larry Moran, says that the process of making a Demon convertible involves a lot more than just hacking off pieces of the car. The roof is a big part of a vehicle’s structural rigidity, and removing it creates a host of challenges with body flex and handling, even for cars that come from the factory as a convertible. The shop had to add significant reinforcement under the bodywork to handle the Demon’s massive horsepower and torque in order to keep it from tearing itself apart during heavy acceleration.
The result is a car that actually looks like a legitimate factory convertible, and it even comes complete with a three-layer soft top that has a heated rear window. There are controls inside to operate the motor, which can raise and lower the roof in about 20 seconds.
With only 172 miles on the odometer, the car is virtually new, to boot. The CarFax report indicates that it's had two previous owners, the first of which flipped the car just one month after taking delivery of the Demon. Hopefully the next owner will put it to good use because no matter how rare the car, it's a shame to see it serve its sentence as a showpiece rather than a road-pounding muscle machine.
The Demon is up for sale at Cape Coral Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Florida. And while the $146,000 asking price is a far cry from the car’s original MSRP of $84,995, it's not all that unreasonable considering only 3,300 were built and most of the examples for sale today are listed well above their original sticker prices.
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h/t: Motor Authority
