Mopar Hellcrate: Make Classics 'Crate' Again (For the First Time)
CARS.COM — Mopar, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ parts, service and customer care division, has announced the release of the “Hellcrate” engine kit. For the low, low price of $21,725, you can buy the same supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 found under the hoods of the Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcat and Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
Related: 2018 Dodge Demon: Angel in the Seats, Devil in the Streets
That price includes the engine itself as well as a kit to make it easier to install the engine. These can be purchased separately but come with a three-year, unlimited-mileage factory warranty if purchased together. Mopar also claims that the system is optimized for manual transmissions and works best in pre-1976 vehicles.
With that in mind, here are some classic cars that could stand to go to hell (and plaid).
1. 1968 Dodge Charger
Specifically, the Charger from “Bullitt.” Two menacing thugs in a black Charger chase and are chased by Detective Frank Bullitt and his 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT in and around San Francisco. The 707-horsepower Hellcat motor under the hood might have been enough to let the baddies escape and live to hassle Bullitt another day. (Oh, uh … spoiler alert for a 49-year-old movie?) No word yet on when Mopar will offer multiple-hubcap kits.
2. Jensen Interceptor Mark III
These British grand touring cars were always powered by Chrysler V-8 engines, so it’s only fair to give ’em the most powerful one currently available. Please join me in pouring one out for Jensen.
3-4. 1955, 1958 Chrysler 300
The “300A” (or C-300) from 1955 performed extremely well in NASCAR races. It could have won every race with a Hellcat engine under the hood. The ’58 or “300D” set a class record at the Bonneville Salt Flats with a top speed of 156.387 miles per hour. Who knows how many extra mph it would clock with an additional 327 horses?
5. 1974 Dodge Ramcharger
The release of the Trackhawk indicates that FCA has no qualms about putting crazy high-horsepower motors into SUVs, and the release of the Demon reinforces the official “gotta go fast” policy when it comes to cars. Why not combine the two with this classic SUV? In the Ramcharger’s first two years of production, only the driver’s seat was standard (similar to the Demon), and the only roof options were both removable for additional weight savings.
Honorable Mention: 1966 Alfa Romeo 1600 Duetto
It seems highly unlikely that a Hellcat motor could fit in the tiny Alfa made famous in “The Graduate” — and it would probably double the weight of the car — but Benjamin Braddock couldn’t have gotten himself into all that trouble if he’d instead wrapped his car around a telephone pole the first time he even touched the gas pedal.
