Roadkill Garage S02e04 The Off Road Challenger Info

By the episode's end, the 1970 Dodge Challenger had been successfully turned into a one-of-a-kind off-road brawler. The hosts took a mundane dirt-track racer and created an "unforgettable E-body off-roader".

To transform the 1970 Dodge Challenger into an off-road beast, the guys bypassed advanced suspension engineering and went straight for the cutting wheels. The Off-Road Challenger Is Reborn! | Roadkill Garage

To truly turn a 1970 Dodge Challenger into an off-roader, suspension and tire clearance are everything. The hosts ditched the standard passenger-car street tires and mounted up massive 33x14 Super Swamper Boggers.

Before it became an off-road beast, the car was known to fans as the "Dirt-Track Challenger". roadkill garage s02e04 the off road challenger

Achieving this required radical modifications that would make Mopar purists cringe:

The car was so popular (or at least memorable) that it was brought back later to be revived, proving that even a sand-filled engine cannot stop the power of the Roadkill spirit. The Off-Road Challenger Is Reborn! | Roadkill Garage

In “The Off-Road Challenger!”, Freiburger and Dulcich tackle a premise that is as brilliant as it is bizarre: . This wasn't a pristine, numbers-matching collectible. The car in question started its life as a mundane dirt-track race car, previously seen in Roadkill episodes 54 and 56, making it the perfect canvas for their experiment. By the episode's end, the 1970 Dodge Challenger

episodes 54 and 56) and hack off the sheet metal to fit massive off-road tires. The Mission

The car was raised to allow it to clear rocks, bushes, and whatever else the desert could throw at it.

Once the car was mechanically functional, Freiburger and Dulcich took the ORC to a rugged lava pit and open desert trail for its maiden thrashing. The car performed exceptionally well at first, tearing through the dirt, throwing roosts of loose gravel, and proving that muscle cars can make highly entertaining off-road machines. The Off-Road Challenger Is Reborn

By the end of the episode, the Challenger proves to be a surprisingly capable off-road machine, capable of keeping up with dedicated Jeeps and trucks on mild trails. It remains a running, driving symbol of the "do anything with nothing" motto of the show.

The episode highlights the chaotic engineering process that makes Roadkill Garage unique. To make room for the massive suspension articulation and oversize tires, Dulcich and Freiburger sliced large chunks of sheet metal from the front fenders and rear quarter panels.

The 1970 Dodge Challenger used in this episode wasn't a pristine, numbers-matching survivor. It was a stripped-down, rusted-out shell that had been sitting in Dulcich’s famous grape orchard for years. The car lacked an engine, a transmission, an interior, and large portions of its floorboards. It was the perfect candidate for a Roadkill style build because there was absolutely no guilt involved in cutting it up.

: To accommodate giant off-road rubber, Freiburger and Dulcich used hammers and cutting tools to clear out the sheet metal, a move that would make any purist cringe.