The archetypal classic American muscle car looks cool, makes a good noise, and goes well in a straight line, but will generally find itself undone by corners. Of course, there are ways around this, one of which is shedding weight, and that’s the end goal of US custom shop and carbon fibre specialist SpeedKore.
In addition to creating full custom builds for Marvel actors Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, SpeedKore has crafted a series of one-off custom Dodge Chargers to show the effects that lashings of carbon fibre can have in place of old-school American iron.
SpeedKore Ghost – rear
Its latest creation is named “Ghost”, in honour of its white paintwork, breaking SpeedKore’s run of stealthy-looking black Chargers. Though it looks like a 1970 Charger, it’s actually a ground-up reimagining. SpeedKore president Jim Kacmarcik calls it “the most advanced 1970 Dodge Charger in the world.”
Everything that can be made from carbon fibre… is. That includes the entire body and floor, both of which are mounted to a custom steel chassis, with a wider track and longer wheelbase than an original Charger. We don’t have a weight figure, but the liberal use of carbon means it’s probably quite a lot less than the roughly 1800kg that a genuine 1970 Charger weighed when equipped with a 426 Hemi V8.
SpeedKore Ghost – engine bay
Speaking of Dodge’s famous Hemi engines, the Ghost does have one, but it’s much more modern – the 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat V8. SpeedKore has given it its own design of cold air intake, four-into-one headers and exhaust system. The company says it has “over 700 horsepower.” Given the stock Hellcat engine makes 707bhp in its most basic state of tune, expect a bit of an increase on that. Helping get the power down is a Tremec six-speed manual and a full carbon prop shaft.
SpeedKore Ghost – interior
Stopping all that power from simply overwhelming the lightened chassis is a host of high-end chassis components. There’s double A-arm suspension from Detroit Speed at the front and SpeedKore’s in-house designed diagonal link setup at the rear. There are Penske adjustable coilovers and Brembo brakes all round. The Ghost sits on a setup custom HRE wheels – 19 inches at the front and 20 at the rear – which are shod in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.
On the outside, the visual overhaul is completed by a billet aluminium grille, LED headlights and SpeedKore’s carbon rear light panel. Inside, there’s a full carbon dash, carbon-backed (obvs) bucket seats and a custom centre console that’s home to a hefty 2000-watt audio system.
SpeedKore Ghost – side
The Ghost will likely remain a one-off, a demonstration of how SpeedKore employs carbon fibre to, in its words, “meld timeless design, advanced composites and reliable performance to redefine what the American muscle car should be.” The result is something that keeps those loveable drag-racer looks, but could be in with a real shout of embarrassing some modern supercars on track – the best of both worlds, really.
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