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Bad Ass Road Kill Charger

Muscle car enthusiasts will have definitely heard of Hot Rod Magazine and their brilliant YouTube channel. If you know this channel you’ll most likely know the Road Kill channel formed by Hot Rod Magazine’s Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger. These two guys literally know every nut and bolt of any muscle car ever built – the episode featured in this article is a testament to their knowledge.

The Dodge Charger is an iconic muscle car, not only featuring in classic TV and cinema but also making it into modern film too. The car pictured above is a ’68 Charger painted with the ‘serial child murderer’ brush. It is dripping with ‘bad ass’; it emanates a sense of dread, fear and disgust.

Finnegan and Freiburger take this beaten up Charger, throw spanners and wrenches its way and take a road trip any true man would kill for. It’s the kind of adventure that would take you to the level of excitement an 8-year-old kid would experience the night before Christmas. The best bit is its heart… yes, it’s a 440 big block, but it is ripped from the bowels of a camper van.

This is a bastard of a car, a Frankenstein machine botched together for the purpose of eating tarmac and terrifying the general public (the latter, I’m all for :D). It looks extremely sinister and irrationally evil; it is loud and probably handles like the devil with an icicle shoved up his arse, but it is beautiful and I want it.

Yank Jeep With A German Heart

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Air suspension is becoming a massive deal in the restoration industry, so much so I did a little surfing today to delve into how these air assisted systems operated on Air Society. However, I got a little side-tracked when I came across this and the previous article on the WRX STI. Both use the system (and I will touch upon this subject in more detail in an upcoming article), but for this piece I want to bang on a bit about this simply beautifully executed Rat Rod.

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Look at it; you can see into its soul through those headlamps. This brilliant build comprises from a World War II Willys-Overland Motors’ Jeep brand Willys SUV and a 1996 VW TDI lump.

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Of course, the power was increased – if stage 2 cams and a Kerma K03/K04 hybrid turbo weren’t enough, other upgrades were installed such as better intercooler.

Because this thing virtually sits on the ground, four air springs powered by a compressor feed air via copper hard lines through manual paddle valves to provide the desired look this Frankenstein rod deserves.

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

This car is a great example of what Gargling Gas likes to see – it has a personality, it has soul, it has a heart.

After all, cars have feelings too…

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod

Joshua Joyce’s 1947 Jeep Willys TDI Rat Rod