He bought a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with a clean title. It was the cheapest car of its kind he could find in the United States. “This is the unicorn I’ve been chasing for years,” he says. However, that clean title isn’t squeaky clean.
The Challenger Hellcat features a supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8 engine and a six-speed transmission, putting 770 horsepower through the rear wheels.
The front bumper of his new/old White Knuckle muscle car is hanging by a prayer and cracked, while the front spoiler was torn off in the latest accident. The hood is slightly curved back and its satin black finish is peeling off. The former owner blames car washes.
The rear of the Challenger looks fine, though. There are paint chips on the doors, probably from opening them in tight parking spots. The mirror also shows signs of being knocked around. But those are easily fixable issues. The wheels look fine, but those tires are in desperate need of replacement.
The new owner, who is none other than Tyler Hoover, owner of the YouTube channel Hoovies Garage, had been waiting for such a car for eight years, ever since he saw Doug DeMuro drive one and almost crash it. At the time, he hoped that the Challenger SRT Hellcat would one day become a low-cost used car.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
However, things turned out differently and prices never dropped. Also, with Dodge retiring the HEMI and launching electric muscle cars or replacing the V8 with the Hurricane V6, they could soon skyrocket. Right now, low-mileage examples can even sell for well over $90,000.
We would never expect owners of HEMI-powered cars to go to a Dodge dealership and trade in their car for a Charger Daytona, no matter how nice it looks or how fast it goes from 0 to 60 mph.
Even the fake sound of the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust won't impress purists.
Throwing Caution to the Wind: Four Crashes and a Clean Title
The car Tyler got his hands on is a one-owner, clean-titled vehicle with four accidents on its Carfax, none of them serious, and only 70,000 miles (112,654 kilometers) on the odometer. Probably 69,000 (111,045 kilometers) of those were driven with the gas pedal floored. That must explain the accidents the Challenger has been involved in.
One of the accidents occurred on Christmas Eve 2017, hitting the left front side. The airbags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed, repaired, and returned to its owner. It is obvious that the former owner was not exactly Mr. Prudence.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
However, behind the wheel of a rear-wheel drive monster with a 770-horsepower Hellcat engine, many throw caution to the wind. At the time, the Challenger SRT Hellcat was the most powerful muscle car when it hit the market. So, we can even go so far as to say that it is a miracle that it was not worse.
In April 2019, the car suffered minor damage to the entire front end. Two more accidents were reported in May 2021 and September 2022. The Dodge suffered damage to the right front end, which should be that cracked front bumper and all that goes with it.
Tyler Hoover isn't exactly happy with the cabin. Aftermarket speakers, installed there at one point, occupied the entire lower section of the doors, but they disappeared before the vehicle was auctioned, so it will need new door panels. The black leather driver's seat shows significant wear.
The new owner can't help but wonder if the car was foreclosed on at some point in its existence. Under that satin black hood, Tyler finds a leak in the coolant reservoir. He thinks it's because the hot hood is touching the coolant expansion tank and melting it.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
Tyler Hoover bought the car at an auction and is now planning to fix it up. There isn't much to fix, though. He paid $26,000 to take it home and figures he won't need to spend much to get everything back to the way it was when the Challenger SRT Hellcat rolled off the assembly line in 2016.
HEMI-Powered Dodge vs. Ferrari 599: Who's Faster on a Straight Line?
Tyler points out that transponder keys make Chargers and Challengers easy to steal because they are easy to clone. However, this Challenger does not have one. It has never been stolen, but that manual transmission may have been the reason for keeping thieves away. We have seen many thieves fail because they do not know how to drive a manual transmission.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
But Tyler can. To see which of his cars is faster, he pits it against his Ferrari 599, which has been tuned to make over 700 horsepower from its stock 612 horsepower, coming out of its naturally aspirated 6.0-liter V12 engine. The Ferrari is also a manual. They were neck-and-neck on a makeshift drag strip despite differences in engine design, weight, and price.
However, the Dodge has a leaky rear tire and the car shakes at high speeds. But all the electronics work fine and even the Super Track Pack can be activated, making it a fully functional car. Can't believe he only paid $26,000. But it still needs a little TLC. Tyler will work his magic on it.
