Despite most automakers disbanding their high performance divisions, the gear heads at Mopar, Chrysler’s in house tuner, are hard at work coming up with a true ground pounder that is ready and willing to take on ¼ mile long strips of asphalt for the world’s greatest aftermarket car show SEMA. The Dodge Challenger->ke249 1320 is essentially a street legal version of the special order modern day muscle car that comes with over 1,000 pounds of stripped down, lightweight racecar Drag Pak Challenger that is sold specifically to very serious drag racers.

The 1320, named for the length of a quarter mile drag strip is powered by a 426 cubic inch all aluminum Hemi V8 crate motor that starts off making a total of 556 HP and 540 lb-ft of torque thanks to a set of Mopar long tube headers and free flowing exhaust system complete with remote operating cutouts that let the stop light drag racing Challenger spit flames at the competition if not deafen the other driver with the roar of a fuel injected 426 Hemi. Power is sent through a bulletproof six speed manual transmission and ends up at an equally proven rear end with a locking differential that ensure that every pony makes it to the ground evenly across the rear axle.

Adding to the Challenger 1320’s serious appeal, the Mopar boys have fitted the street legal NHRA Pro Stock drag car with a set of basic police wheels, widened in the back and wrapped with sticky Mickey Thompson street legal drag radials to provide as hard a launch as possible that you can get from the factory as well as a fully adjustable coil over suspension to dial in the ride and make sure that the car tracks straight pass after pass down the 1320.

UPDATE 11/08/2011: Certain cars deserve SEMA encores, and apparently, this Challenger is one of them. Check out our live images from the 2011 SEMA Auto Show.

We love the look of this car and we certainly love what Mopar did to it. We’re just wondering what its doing at SEMA while it should have been destroying drag strips.

Press release after the jump.

dodge-challenger-1320-by-mopar

Specifications
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  • Model: dodge-challenger-1320-by-mopar

2009 Dodge Challenger 1320 by Mopar

Specifications
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Press release

The Dodge Challenger 1320 began life as a Mopar Drag Pak Dodge Challenger. The current Drag Pak option is a light-weight, stripped-down, race-only, special-order version of the Dodge Challenger designed for competitive drag racing.

For the street-legal design, Mopar’s design team took the vehicle back to its roots with styling reminiscent of vintage Mopar muscle, updated with today’s technology. The Dodge Challenger 1320 image vehicle, named for the 1,320 feet on a quarter-mile drag strip, features Mopar’s 426 cubic-inch, all-aluminum, HEMI® V-8 crate engine that generates 556 horsepower. The engine is equipped with unique Mopar-designed valve covers and a dress-up kit. Mopar’s long-tube headers and exhaust system allow the cubic inches to breathe. Electric cutouts allow the exhaust to bypass the muffler system, which exits through custom side pipes for added rumble at the dragstrip. Power is put to the ground via a six-speed manual transmission through a custom Dynatrac rear housing with Mopar Dana 60 internals and a selectable, ARB locking differential. Mopar police wheels, widened in the rear, are strapped with Mickey Thompson street-legal drag radials to provide extra grip at launch. A four-corner, adjustable coil-over kit is provided by Mopar as an option for the Dodge Challenger. This system improves the handling of the vehicle under extreme loads of 556 horsepower and 540 lb.-ft. of torque.

Following Mopar’s high-impact color heritage, the design team layered the 1320 in Acidic Hue, a non-metallic yellow paint and added matte black graphics. The body is lightened with the following carbon-fiber components from Mopar’s design team and Seibon:

  • Bulged hood with HEMI scoop
  • Front spoiler
  • Grille panel/headlamp surround