Image via ThatDudeinBlue/YouTube
There have been many words written conjecturing why the Dodge Magnum was killed before the Hellcat was created. Whatever the reason, a huge opportunity was lost and some of us can never forgive Mopar for it. But one YouTuber has given us a glimpse of what might have been, which is glorious and at the same time fills us with a measure of grief.
Check out a ’69 Plymouth Road Runner with a Hellcat Redeye engine swap.
We are of course talking about throwing a Hellcat Redeye crate engine into an old Magnum wagon. For good measure, the transmission is a manual, so it’s an even more cathartic thing to watch, especially as a kinder, gentler, more electric Dodge brand is now rolling out.
But if you’ve ever taken on a big project like this, you know it doesn’t come without any hitches, especially if you’ve never done anything like it before. This is the sort of thing you don’t really see on those high-production car shows on TV or even in streaming services.
Seeing these guys struggle with different issues, including the Redeye engine throwing a bunch of codes and going into limp mode repeatedly when they try ripping burnouts in the wagon is relatable. It happens over and over and you can tell they’re just sick of not being able to figure out the reason.
But they persevere and eventually get it ironed out then immediately run into more problems just as the build needs to be buttoned up and shipped out for Roadkill Nights. This is just life, but they buckle down and somehow work through things.
Building cars and racing them are two different things. It also doesn’t help when one of the problems they thought was fixed suddenly reared its ugly head again. But the build is still cool, so check out the video if you haven’t already.
Images via ThatDudeinBlue/YouTube
