NASCAR race cars may be expensive to build, but they can be had for cheap once their oval track careers end. Granted, they don't pop up for sale very often, but when they do, they're usually cheaper than the least expensive new car. Especially if they don't have an engine.
The folks over at Floyd's Mayhem Garage stumbled upon such a deal back in April and purchased an early 2000s NASCAR racer. But they weren't looking to put a new V8 under the hood to take it racing or use it as a display piece. Instead, they were planning to drop a 1968 Dodge Charger body onto the chassis. Pretty much a classic Mopar with modern, race-spec underpinnings, which is a tremendous idea.
But marrying a NASCAR Generation 4 chassis to a 1968 Charger body was as complicated as you can imagine. Not only because the body of a road car wouldn't normally fit on NASCAR underpinnings without massive modifications, but also because the 1968 Charger is significantly longer than a Gen 4 racer. Specifically, the chassis was no fewer than 12 inches (305 mm) shorter than the Mopar shell.
Almost four months later and the project is almost finished. After a bit of cutting the Charger body finally fits on the stock car chassis. The rear wheel arches had to be cut out to allow the wheels to fit and the wheelbase was shortened, but it doesn't look bad at all. Even in its unfinished state, with several parts still missing and the body panels painted in various colors.
Now that the body fits, the folks over at Floyd's Mayhem Garage removed the shell and started putting together the drivetrain. The result so far is a bare-naked NASCAR chassis with an exposed roll cage and a big V8 standing tall between the front wheels. And the guys were crazy enough to take it for its first test drive on the road just like that.
Yes, it might not look pretty, but that big pile of exposed drivetrain and racing parts on four wheels is definitely an exotic sight. And not only the naturally aspirated V8 engine sounds downright insane through its side-exiting exhaust pipes, but the build also seems a hoot to drive. So forget about them Caterham Sevens and Ariel Atoms, a bare-naked NASCAR chassis is everything you need to experience spirited driving at its finest.
But as much as I like seeing this chassis on wheels run under full throttle and do smokey burnouts, I really can't wait to see it hit the road with the modified 1968 Charger body on top. Check out this insane build in the video below.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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