Widebody 2017 Dodge Challenger Mimics a 1969 Chevy Camaro, Because Why Not

As far as the muscle car segment is concerned, history books note the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang as the main antagonists. The two have been at it since the mid-1960s, carrying the torch of their fight over the decades and into the modern age.

The same 1960s and even the 1970s that followed saw a host of other muscle cars join the fight of the then-nascent segment, and spark their own, somewhat less impressive rivalries. A look back will reveal incredible machines like Road Runner and Barracuda made by Plymouth, the Firebird and GTO of Pontiac lineage, or the Buick Gran Sport or AMC Javelin.

None of them, and a bunch of others I didn't mention, have survived to this day, for reasons that no longer matter. But from the same era come the two muscle Dodges, the Charger and Challenger. And they survived.

Both of them, in their current incarnation, can trace their roots to the 1960s, and both of them were designed to take on the Camaro and Mustang first and foremost. At some levels, they not only succeeded, but also surpassed their rivals. Yet for some reason Dodge has always remained the third party in the proverbial three's a crowd of this Camaro-Mustang duo.

And it's not for the lack of trying to make that a trio. Both at an official level, in the cars Dodge rolled off the assembly lines, and unofficially, in the cars put together by the custom industry, the Charger and Challenger have always strived to offer the best in terms of performance and style.

And it's style we're here to discuss today, more specifically that of the 2017 Dodge Challenger. The two-door sack of muscle from that model year retains all the great design aspects of the 2008 third generation, of which it is part, updated a bit for a touch of modernity. For all intents and purposes, the car is the most appealing of all modern-day muscle cars, bringing a touch of old-school style to a segment that, with the modern-looking Camaro and Mustang, seems to have lost its connection to the past.

Some of those who own a Challenger tend to keep it, at least visually, as is. Others, if they reckon some modifications are absolutely needed, build on what's already there and make it better, in most cases. It almost never happens for the owner of a Challenger to give their ride a makeover so radical it makes the car look like one of its main rivals. Almost…

Enter the 2017 Dodge Challenger that tries to trick people into thinking it's a 1969 Chevy Camaro. What for we don't exactly know, but this is at the same time both too good and too strange of an apparition to ignore.

We found the Challenger over at auction house Mecum, where it awaits sale during an event scheduled to be held at the end of the month in Dallas, Texas. We're told it's packed full of "1969 Camaro replica body components" and just a quick look at the thing is more than enough to confirm that aspect.

It all starts at the front, where the Challenger-specific grille has been replaced by a Camaro-style one. The set of two headlights to either side of the grille has shrunk to a single piece, and all of that is somewhat squeezed between a massive valance (where, coincidentally, the two fog lights have moved) and a hood with an enormous cowl.

When looked at from the side, the lines of the body tend to be shaped more like those of the old Camaro than of the new Challenger. At the rear, the Dodge tail lights seem to have been preserved, but the presence there of a large Wickerbill-style wing makes things a bit confusing.

All around the Challenger is wearing a six-inch widebody wrapped in a deep shade of matt gray, made even darker by the fully black 5-spoke wheels. They spin under the power of a HEMI engine 5.7 liters in displacement, which is what one usually gets in a Challenger from that year.

The unit develops in this application 375 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque, is controlled by means of an 8-speed automatic transmission, and breathes out through a custom exhaust system wearing Dynomax mufflers.

The interior is not visible in the pics supplied by Mecum, but we are told it comes in black everywhere, including on the bucket seats. All the modern fittings of the 2017 Challenger, down to the airbags and traction control, are on deck to make a drive in this thing safe and comfy.

There is no estimate as to how much the modern Challenger that mimics an older Camaro is expected to fetch, and it's very hard for us to come up with a number too, as such things don't come along very often. So we'll have to wait until the end of the month to see how much this thing went for. Or didn't…