World’s fastest rear-drive V8 production car hits Oz

The first two of 20 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon street-legal drag cars earmarked for Australia have arrived, courtesy of Brisbane-based Dodge muscle-car specialist SRT Challenger Pty Ltd.

Sadly, all of them are already spoken for -- despite a landed, converted, drive-away price of about $270,000 -- and a global production run of just 3300 will guarantee exclusivity for owners of the ‘world’s fastest rear-wheel drive V8 production car’.

Company principal Norm Clarke told motoring.com.au the first two red cars you see here will be followed by the arrival of a third next week, before a total of 10 grace his East Brisbane workshop.

A further eight Dodge Demons have been secured in Australia by another Brisbane right-hand drive importer/converter, SCD American Vehicles, with two more going to Melbourne US muscle-car specialist Crossover Car Conversions.

SRT Challenger says it’s Australia’s number one Challenger coupe specialist and the only outlet to offer new Charger sedans. It has been importing and converting the current Challenger since 2008 and the Challenger Hellcat since 2015. Prices for the latter start around $180,000.

SRT Challenger also supplies other local Dodge converters with right-hand drive Challenger parts including its own Australian-made dashboard, while all other components come from the Chrysler 300, including an electric steering rack, airbox and windscreen wipers.

After shipping from the US, Clarke says each RHD conversion takes about five weeks, all cars come with full new-vehicle Australian Design Rule compliance and he’s “never had one come back”.

Produced only in left-hand drive, the Dodge Demon is priced at $US84,995 ($A110,000) in North America and powered by a development of the car-maker’s 522kW (707hp) supercharged 6.2-litre Hellcat V8.

Fitted with all-new internals and equipped with optional ‘Demon Crate’ tune, which costs only an extra $US1 ($A1.33), it develops a mammoth 626kW on 100-octane race fuel.

Dodge says the result is 0-100km/h acceleration in a staggering 2.3 seconds, a quarter-mile time of just 9.65sec and the ability to pull 1.8g under acceleration.

Other sweet bits in the Dodge Demon performance pack are narrow front drag racing wheels, a high-flow air-filter and tools like a jack and torque wrench to help you swap the street rims.

In the US, like the Demon Crate option, there are a host of other one-dollar options including a front passenger seat, rear passenger bench and boot liner.

More expensive options for the tripped-out street-legal dragster are creature comforts like leather-trimmed, heated and cooled seats ($US1595), a sound system ($US995), satin black paint for the bonnet, roof and bootlid ($US3495) and even a sunroof ($US4995).