MC&T Staff 
We are living in a muscle car renaissance the likes of which have never been seen. Head over to your local Dodge dealership, and you can walk out of the door with a nearly 800 horsepower tire smoke machine that’s currently seeing nearly $8,000 off the sticker price. While Ford and Chevrolet have pushed their pony cars into the sports car segment, FCA has stayed true to the muscle car formula of the 1960’s and 70’s. Big power and straight line speed are the name of the muscle car game, and Dodge has that droves. But there is a hole in FCA’s muscle car line-up: a Dodge Challenger convertible.
Unlike their rivals, Dodge has never released a convertible version of their modern muscle cars. When looking back at the history of fast Mopars, this seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. In the heyday of six-pack Hemi power, there was a number of convertible options in the line-up, from the Cuda to the Challenger itself. The most valuable muscle car of all time is actually a convertible Mopar, with a 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda drop top fetching $3.5 million at a Mecum auction in 2014.
There is something special about cruising around with the top down, hearing those eight cylinders rumble away. Drop top fans of Dodge need to sulk no longer, as a dealership in North Carolina has started taking matters into their own hands.
The folks at Keffer Chrysler Jeep Dodge & Ram Trucks got sick of waiting for FCA to hack the roof off of some Challengers, so they asked Convertible Builders LLC from High Spring, Florida to take a crack at it. Convertible Builders LLC has been doing drop-top conversions since 1976, and they have a lot of experience in chopping the roofs of off modern Dodge Challengers, including a Cuda-inspired ride for Shaquile O’Neal.
Motor Authority were the first to report on these three Challengers for sale in North Carolina, including a Widebody R/T Scat Pack, a R/T Scat Pack, and a R/T Challenger. Despite their intensive modification, all three cars somehow retain their factory warranty and include an additional one year warranty for the soft top. That new roof is power retractable, and of course, adds a bit of extra cash to the price of these muscle cars.
The Widebody R/T Scat Pack is naturally the most expensive, coming in at $63,995. The skinnier Scat Pack costs $59,780, with the standard R/T sitting at $56,300. Now that is Hellcat money or more across the board, but the premium price is to be expected when something is this highly modified.
We are glad that someone has decided to build a Dodge Challenger convertible, as there currently exists a blatant hole in the vehicle’s lineup. Now all we want to know when the first Hellcat is scheduled to get a trim off the top.
