Ever since spectating once at the Challenge in Orlando, I've always wanted to compete. Moving cross-country put a damper on that , plus the whole school/house/wife/kids/career thing. I've been working on a secret project for months ever since picking up the donor 3 years ago, and it's finally finished.
Behold!
Yes, I cut up a real Shelby Charger! It was a basket case when I got it, missing parts and really rough. There wasn't a lot of room in the budget, so I went for the one thing that would totally transform the car...
I moved the engine to the back! Yes, I took the easy route and just plucked the whole drivetrain and suspension and put it in the hatch. I wanted more performance, so I installed a much larger hybrid turbo on a swap-meet header modified to fit. I also added a rear spoiler and a set of wider staggered chrome wheels I had from other projects.
Inside there's now a 3-point rollbar, some cheap aluminum buckets with old harnesses, and a cracked dashboard.
Overall the engine install came out really clean. By removing the hatch glass, I was able to get it all to fit without any body modifications.
I'm so happy with how this project turned out! I even have enough time to arrange transport to the Challenge.
Make sure to get the extra insurance with the carrier, some of those guys can be pretty rough during loading and unloading.
Matt B
UltraDork
10/11/17 3:59 p.m.
Also, the bondo sticker is a nice touch.
Didn't know there was a class for that but nicely done.
If you drive it across country, you are a shoe in for the win. 
Cool project.
I was hoping for a motor in the front and back.... but I know the 2 throttles can be tricky. I like the dash. Nice job.
Nice job.
With winter rolling in I will be switching projects from my 1:1 scale Z28 to my 1:25 scale Z28. Should turn out like this... except crappy. er.
This reminds me I need to do something about that Cutlass stock car body swap I started.
Thanks everyone! Yes, it is obviously a scale model car. I've been wanting to model a Challenge car for awhile and I ended up buying a collection that included a lot of built-ups 3 years ago. This Shelby Charger was one of them and it was pretty rough. The suspension was broken, a wheel was missing, and the decals were tore up plus it's not even painted, that's bare plastic. I thought it would make a cool Challenge car and made a ton of changes. Obviously I moved the drivetrain to the back and I used a bunch of spare parts to make the crazy header and turbo setup. Same story with the interior, it's just parts box pieces thrown in, though I did cut up the dash with an Xacto knife to make it looked aged and cracked. Where the motor was originally I put in a NASCAR radiator cocked so it would hide the crossmember and broken suspension. The parts box wheels and tires are literally glued in with spacers and blocks to get the ride height and the chassis is completely black with no details on purpose to mask the missing suspension and molded-in exhaust pipe and other details that ruin the illusion. The paint is what I'm most proud of, it's a this layer of Elmer's white glue, and then you pick at the edges and it makes a hyper-realistic clearcoat peel. The decals are parts box (and yes, Bondo was on purpose!) and for the GRM ones, I literally cut them out of a magazine and glued them to the car. The side panels are from the editor article endings by the page numbers, and the hood one and Tire Rack banner are from the ads in the back, for the UTCC actually.
I hope you guys enjoyed it, it was really fun to build and then make the tongue-in-cheek post about it. Have fun at the real Challenge!
I'm wondering if you should have moved the battery to the front for better weight distribution? :-)
