Charger SRT Hellcat

Make
Dodge
Segment
Sedan

At this point, we don't think there is any car that can't be equipped with the Dodge Hellcat crate motor. So far, the versatile performance unit has been applied to cars ranging from a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II, to a Dodge Power Wagon School Bus, and even a Mazda RX-7. The Hellcrate Redeye alone currently sells for $21,807 MSPR, so as you can imagine, these conversions don't come cheap.

Conducting such an engine swap takes both dedication and monumental capital investments, so whenever we see one done right, it is an impressive sight to behold. The latest member to join the Hellcat engine conversion family is a spectacular Dodge Dakota that's been rebuilt to factory standards by a private owner over the past two years and a bit.

YouTuber John O'Malley of BoostedMotorsports has been working on this special Dakota for over a year and as we can see, his hard work and determination has certainly paid off. Sitting under the hood is the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The owner has ripped out the standard interior and fitted the dashboard and seats found in the current Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat models. For a muscular exhaust tone, he has also installed a factory Hellcat muffler.

Simply adding power to an old truck can come with a sacrifice to handling, so the decision was made to apply a set of wheels from the Dodge Viper wrapped in soft-compound drag radial Toyo Proxes TQ tires and housing Brembo brake discs. A set of 14-inch rotors are installed to the front but the rear gets a smaller set because O'Malley wants to fit a 15-inch wheel when he takes the truck to track events.

Giving the Dakota a more distinctive and modern look is a custom set of LED headlights, a Hellcat hood with factory grilles, a Belltech lowering kit with hangers for the rear, an LED third brake light above the rear window, and a home-made short antenna. All of these modifications have been documented in previous videos.

In this video, O'Malley shows us what the Dakota performs like at half throttle. He explains that he cannot use the full potential of the engine because there was not enough temperature to maintain an optimal grip on the tires. There's also a minimal amount of downforce on the rear axle. He adds that the driveshaft still needs work which is why he is reluctant to reach higher speeds but promises that these issues will be resolved in due time.