THE Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is an instant classic.
This two-door muscle car, styled to resemble the iconic Charger from the 1970s, may have an outlandish name, but it’s not until you hear the ridiculously powerful 1026-horsepower engine rev that you realise its epithet could be an understatement.
This unique model is proudly owned by Shepparton’s Graham ‘Butch’ Goodfellow, a muscle car enthusiast and founder of Goodfellows Rental and Storage Solutions.
Butch saw the car at the San Diego International Car Show one year, and knew it was a vehicle he’d love to have back here in Oz.
“That car was on show because it was the Las Vegas NASCAR pace car for that year,” Butch said.
“And it was for sale, owned by a Nissan dealership in San Diego.
“There had been US$45000 spent on the motor and wide body kit, with specially made and designed wheels.”
Under the bonnet sits a 6.2l supercharged monstrosity poised to take you a quarter mile in a hot-handed 8.6 seconds.
Built in San Diego, only 3,007 of these vehicles were produced. Butch reckons there are may be half a dozen of them in Australia. He happens to own two of them.
“It’s one of the highest horsepower cars you’d get anywhere in the world at 1100 horsepower,” he said.
“You don’t even get that with a McLaren, Ferrari or Porsche.”
Butch, who was the victim of a traumatic assault in early 2018, couldn’t drive any vehicle for 18 months, devastating the car, truck, and Harley Davidson enthusiast.
Now, through determined physiotherapy rehabilitation, he’s back behind the wheel of at least his automatic transmission vehicles. He’s still got a way to go before he can handle the six-speed manual transmission of his 2015 Hellcat, but it’s a heck of a goal to be working towards. All the best, Butch.
