4th Wall:
The car is a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T - yes a real R/T - sporting a built 440 (7.2L) engine, 4 speed transmission, and 3.55 gears. The engine is topped with aluminum heads, mild solid cam, and a tunnel ram with twin edelbrock 500 CFM carburators. Estimated horsepower is a very streetable 550. The suspension has been completely rebuilt with heavy duty components and the brakes were converted to disc.
We built the Charger as a themed post apocalypse vehicle for participation in the annual Wasteland Weekend festival. Everything modified on the car is functional and has a purpose. It was built to be real and wears little in the way of decoration. All of the fabrication was done at home with a cheap welder and a pile of scrap steel. The attachments for the front clip, the cargo basket, and other additions use factory mount points. The entire build is 100% reversible and has not harmed the car in any way. That being said, we plan to leave the car in this configuration for a while longer.
This is our second Post Apocalyptic themed vehicle. Our first was the covered wagon jeep that debuted in 2012 and won third place in the car judging. The Charger was introduced in 2014 and won the first place trophy. As cool as the Charger is, I have many plans for improvements for 2015 and beyond. Stay tuned!
Thematically our tribe, Dauntless eXpress Corp (DXC), is a group of courier mercenaries. Our apocalypse follows closely with the Mad Max universe but with a twist of American firepower and a dash of the old west. Our characters, the Wasteland Cowboy and Lady, stumbled across the unfinished machine in an abandoned garage. Recognizing the potential of such a machine the tribe set to work immediately. Piece by piece the car was assembled in secret. The missing factory steel was replaced by an armored front clip to protect the vital components. The roof cargo basket and rear frame was built to hold fuel, tools, parts, survival gear, cargo and, if necessary, a seated gunner using various weapons including a mounted .50 caliber machine gun. Once unleashed, word of its capability spread across the wasteland and demand for the services of the Dauntless Charger skyrocketed. While relatively short range (given fuel consumption) it has shown to be an effective on and off road escort, getaway, and interception vehicle.