Photo: Instagram/Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart likes his car fast, powerful, and vintage. Truth be told, his taste in cars is very eclectic, but he does have a soft spot for old-school muscle cars.
In September 2019, just two months after treating himself to a one-off 1970 Plymouth Barracuda restomod by SpeedKore Performance, Kevin Hart and two of his friends were involved in a serious car crash on Mulholland Highway in California. Hart wasn’t at the wheel at the time, having entrusted his classic muscle car with the heart of a demon, nicknamed Menace for good reason, to his friend Jared Black. Apparently, Black had no experience in handling this kind of vehicle.
The result was brutal, if not surprising. When turning a corner, Black lost traction in one of the wheels and the control of the car, which went down an embankment, through a fence and into a tree. The force of the impact was so powerful that the car hit the trunk of the tree with the roof, trapping two of the occupants inside – but not Hart, who wobbled to his nearby home, presumably seeking medical assistance.
Black and the rear-seat occupant, his fiancee Rebecca Broxterman, had to be cut out of the wrecked ‘Cuda. Black and Hart both sustained serious back injuries, but Broxterman was apparently only superficially hurt. Hart’s months-long therapy and the surgeries he had to undertake were duly covered by the media. Still, despite reports that Black was considering suing the actor, not much was ever revealed about his condition.
According to the investigators, the blame for the crash was Black’s for “accelerating recklessly” when turning. Unconfirmed reports also said at the time that neither man in the front was wearing the seat belt at the time of the crash. Not that this would have made much difference: since this was a restomod, it had been fitted with period-correct lap belts. But the same reports noted that the back injuries of the two men would have been less severe. Moreover, the rear seat had been taken out, which means that Broxterman shouldn’t have been in the car in the first place.
The Barracuda had been turned into a speed demon. It drew power from a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and a 2.9-liter supercharger and had upgraded wheels, tires and brakes, and lots of carbon fiber. It was a testimony of the kind of custom restomod jobs the talented team at SpeedKore could do, but it lived up to its “Menace” moniker in the hands of someone who had no idea what to do with such a beast of a car.
Menace was dismantled by the California Highway Patrol as part of the investigation to rule out any possible mechanical malfunction as a contributing factor in the crash. There was talk that a change in legislation was due for California regarding this type of restomods so that they came with extra safety features since they delivered enhanced performance. The silver lining was that all three occupants survived and made full recoveries, that no one else was involved in the crash, and no damage was done to other people’s property.
For his part, Hart is yet to go into the details of the crash, though he did offer glimpses of the long months of therapy work. He has learned his lesson, though.
Earlier this week, word got out that he had bought himself another SpeedKore car, a 1970 Dodge Charger named Hellraiser. A couple of days later, the custom shop confirmed it: Hellraiser was completed, and it was an even more insane build than Menace.
Drawing power from one of only 100 Hellephant V8 supercharged crate engines ever made, Hellraiser benefits from 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet (1,288 Nm). It’s custom throughout, from the special tires to suspension, shocks, and brakes. More importantly, though, it has a bespoke frame with an integrated roll cage and, inside the custom cabin, modern bucket seats with 5-point racing seat belts.
It would be easy to scoff at Kevin Hart for buying himself an even more powerful car less than two years after he was nearly killed in one. Say what you will about him, but the man’s no fool: Menace was a lesson, and he’s learned it. Hellraiser is that lesson learned.
You don’t give up your love for American muscle just because some other guy nearly drives you off a cliff in your car. You make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The result was brutal, if not surprising. When turning a corner, Black lost traction in one of the wheels and the control of the car, which went down an embankment, through a fence and into a tree. The force of the impact was so powerful that the car hit the trunk of the tree with the roof, trapping two of the occupants inside – but not Hart, who wobbled to his nearby home, presumably seeking medical assistance.
Black and the rear-seat occupant, his fiancee Rebecca Broxterman, had to be cut out of the wrecked ‘Cuda. Black and Hart both sustained serious back injuries, but Broxterman was apparently only superficially hurt. Hart’s months-long therapy and the surgeries he had to undertake were duly covered by the media. Still, despite reports that Black was considering suing the actor, not much was ever revealed about his condition.
According to the investigators, the blame for the crash was Black’s for “accelerating recklessly” when turning. Unconfirmed reports also said at the time that neither man in the front was wearing the seat belt at the time of the crash. Not that this would have made much difference: since this was a restomod, it had been fitted with period-correct lap belts. But the same reports noted that the back injuries of the two men would have been less severe. Moreover, the rear seat had been taken out, which means that Broxterman shouldn’t have been in the car in the first place.
The Barracuda had been turned into a speed demon. It drew power from a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and a 2.9-liter supercharger and had upgraded wheels, tires and brakes, and lots of carbon fiber. It was a testimony of the kind of custom restomod jobs the talented team at SpeedKore could do, but it lived up to its “Menace” moniker in the hands of someone who had no idea what to do with such a beast of a car.
Menace was dismantled by the California Highway Patrol as part of the investigation to rule out any possible mechanical malfunction as a contributing factor in the crash. There was talk that a change in legislation was due for California regarding this type of restomods so that they came with extra safety features since they delivered enhanced performance. The silver lining was that all three occupants survived and made full recoveries, that no one else was involved in the crash, and no damage was done to other people’s property.
For his part, Hart is yet to go into the details of the crash, though he did offer glimpses of the long months of therapy work. He has learned his lesson, though.
Earlier this week, word got out that he had bought himself another SpeedKore car, a 1970 Dodge Charger named Hellraiser. A couple of days later, the custom shop confirmed it: Hellraiser was completed, and it was an even more insane build than Menace.
Drawing power from one of only 100 Hellephant V8 supercharged crate engines ever made, Hellraiser benefits from 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet (1,288 Nm). It’s custom throughout, from the special tires to suspension, shocks, and brakes. More importantly, though, it has a bespoke frame with an integrated roll cage and, inside the custom cabin, modern bucket seats with 5-point racing seat belts.
It would be easy to scoff at Kevin Hart for buying himself an even more powerful car less than two years after he was nearly killed in one. Say what you will about him, but the man’s no fool: Menace was a lesson, and he’s learned it. Hellraiser is that lesson learned.
You don’t give up your love for American muscle just because some other guy nearly drives you off a cliff in your car. You make sure it doesn’t happen again.
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