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Dodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car Madness

We hate to admit this, but the reason for the "win on Sunday sell on Monday" saying is that race cars usually have nothing in common with their road-going cousins. It's happened everywhere, from the European rally stages to NASCAR. But today, we're just going to focus on why Funny Cars don't look like a production Dodge Challenger Demon.
Dodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car Madness 7 photos
Photo: Rostislav Prokop for Holley
Dodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car MadnessDodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car MadnessDodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car MadnessDodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car MadnessDodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car MadnessDodge Challenger Demon "Funny Car" Rendering Is Muscle Car Madness
America has Top Fuel dragsters, machines with the thirstiest engines known to man, packed tightly between gigantic tires and a bit of scaffolding. Funny Cars, also known as fabulous floppers, are kind of the same thing, but wrapped in a bit of plastic to make them look like regular cars.

Why the overlap? Holley didn't like this, and so the performance parts shop went to rendering artist Rostislav Prokop with a request. They asked if a modern-day Challenger SRT Demon could be made into a Funny Car while still being immediately identifiable.

We think he nailed it. Obviously, his isn't going to happen in the real world, but I bet one toy company is going to be interested in this design. While it's still identifiable as a Challenger, there's no denying that most of the bodywork has changed.

The stance is the most obvious thing, with the Dodge muscle car body that's normally as flat as a brick now sitting at an angle. The wheelbase has been extended a little as well, but you still get the feeling that it's unstable and could crash, which is part of the fun when watching Funny Car races.

The trademark Demon headlights are still there, but the twin-scooped hood now has a cowl-style design to accommodate the larger engine. And you can't miss the four large exhaust pipes coming out either side of this thing. Dodge was kind enough to send its muscle car racing, but the rear tires on the Mopar Drag Pak seem tiny by comparison.

The roots of Funny Cars are stock car racing in the early 1960s. As the shows grew in popularity, the Plymouths, Dodges, and Fords grew blowers and giant tires. It became quite the spectacle.

It didn't take long before they transformed into full-blown dragsters wearing long-nosed versions of the street-going car. You could still identify them and root for the ones that looked like the one you owned. Holley argues we should get the Camaro, Mustang, and even the Supra to do a showroom-inspired Funny Car. Do you agree?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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