Midsummer Mopar_® Car Show

– PRESENTED BY WESTCOAST CALI MOPARS
– CALIFORNIA’S WEST COVINA SPORTSPLEX VENUE
– DODGE CHALLENGERS – COME ONE, COME ALL!

Within Los Angeles County is the city of West Covina, located some 30 miles inland from the ocean, with this being the location where the recent “Midsummer Mopars” event took place. It was their fourth edition and it was well attended – 275 Mopar_® vehicles joined in the festivities. The movers and shakers behind this show are the dedicated members of the Westcoast Cali Mopars car club, established in 2013 and very active in Southern California Mopar happenings.

For sure it was a fun day for all in the Cali sunshine! Everywhere you looked there were high-quality Mopar vehicles, with the vast majority of them being modern Mopar vehicles! There was a broad mix of Challengers, Chargers, Durangos, plus a random Viper and Neon attended, along with a handful of early Mopar muscle cars. There truly was something for every Mopar lover!

There were over 20 individual car clubs that participated and lots of solo riders, too. The Mopar clubs that were part of the show included: Only Mopars, Mopar SoCal, Mopars of Cali, Lady Driven Mopars, West Coast Durangos, 909 Mopars, Hardcore Mopars and Demented Mopars. 

Here’s our photo recap of the day spent in West Covina – and in this Part One coverage, it covers the various Dodge Challengers that attended, of which there was no shortage.

WIDE RANGE OF VARIETY

Custom paint, widebody conversions, big brake upgrades, upgraded wheels and tires, a great deal of colorful Challengers of all types, personalized and modified versions included! 

SRT^® DEMON

Included in the assortment of Dodge Challengers seen at this event was one of the 2018 “SRT Demon” models, an extremely potent special edition! These versions saw production numbers limited to 3,300 units, with 3K in USA and the remaining 300 for Canadian buyers. This one done in Destroyer Gray, which was 8 percent of total production, is a one-of-138 car. The wide hood scoop was the clue to anyone walking by!

Under the hood is the 6.2L supercharged HEMI^® engine that is rated at 808 horsepower (with 91 octane fuel) and if fed 100 octane race gas, power gets bumped to 840! These SRT Demons have a specialized 8-speed automatic transmission with trans brake, and with the sticky drag radials it’s worth 9.60s in the quarter-mile.

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

It’s #56 of 70 built, the 2020 Challenger “50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition” and an R/T version (6.4L HEMI) with Shaker, slightly modified/enhanced with Airlift suspension, front splitter, rear diffuser, side skirts (all wrapped in Honeycomb pattern) and underglow lighting. 

SRT8 W/ 303 MILES

2012 Challenger SRT8 6.4L HEMI equipped with factory Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission, with dual-disc clutch, limited-slip differential and 3.92 gearing. The 392-cube HEMI engine was rated at 470 horsepower. Top speed: 182 mph! This example has been driven and enjoyed over 300,000 miles in the California sunshine!

YELLOW JACKET

Adding visual changes to make it stand out from the others, Dodge in 2012 did a run of SRT “Yellow Jacket” Challengers featuring an exclusive Stinger Yellow paint, black side stripes, 20-inch wheels plus leather seats with special stitching and embroidery. Power was the standard 6.4L HEMI engine and the one-year-only model saw production of 1,310 units.

DESTROYER GRAY JAILBREAK

A happy coupe with a “Jailbreak” Last Call edition, which was one of the six special-edition models marking the final year of the HEMI engine-powered Dodge Challenger. 6.2L supercharged HEMI engine and competition suspension, Brembo brakes and widebody design. After talking with the husband and wife, it was revealed that it’s her daily driver, and she enjoys it thoroughly!

CHESTER

This 2018 392 Challenger, “Mr Cheto”, is part of the Hardcore Mopars Car Club and the HEMI engine has been fully tuned by Definitive Performance and delivers 481 horsepower to the rear wheels, dyno tested. Upgrades include Airlift suspension, 22-inch wheels, JLT cold air intake, honeycomb graphics and a handful of tasteful body mods. Creative ride!

VERTICAL DOOR CONVERSIONS

She color-coordinated her outfit to her custom-painted Scat Pack Challenger, and especially wanted to highlight the vertical door conversion she did to the car! As we walked the show, we lost count on just how many cars featured the “Lambo Door” cars we saw, but it’s definitely a thing in LA!

PROUD CHALLENGER OWNERS

Walking the grounds, there were plenty of owners of custom Challengers – gals and guys – heavy graphics plus more subtle, all enthusiastic about their Mopar vehicles!

THE PATRIOT 2015 CHALLENGER R/T

Red, White & Blue is the theme here for a 2015 5.7 HEMI engine-powered Challenger with 6-speed manual transmission (which is listed as “Millennial Gen-Z Anti-Theft System), Airlift suspension, Mach Euro Concave ME8 wheels, front splitter, side skirts, Downforce Solutions Wickerbill. For afterdark visual effects, underglow lighting with Lightning Trendz LED light strips. Stars, stripes and HEMI power!

GRAPHICS EXTRAORDINAIRE

Custom graphics were a part of the scene with all things on the creative side, mild to wild!

SHAKERS

Among the numerous Challengers that were displayed, there were the various factory hood designs, and what stood out above the rest were the Shakers! 392 HEMIs in all their glory!

HOW IT ALL STARTED

It was September 21, 1969, when the all-new 1970 Dodge Challenger was released to the public. The Challenger was based on a fresh new E-body platform featuring a size and look never before seen at a Dodge dealership. While they were late to the Pony Car market, very much welcomed by Mopar aficionados! Many rejoiced with its arrival! This example is the “R/T” model (which came with 340, 383, 426 HEMI and two different 440 engines, a Magnum with single 4-bbl carburetor, and a “Six Pack” 440 with three two-bbl carburetors). This is an “FC7” car, meaning it was factory produced with the extra-cost Plum Crazy High Impact paint. In addition, it has the V9X Bumblebee stripe, in black, which is a distinctive transverse stripe across the deck lid that fades into the quarter panels. 

In the Dodge dealer 1970 ordering book, there was an optional “E87” 440 Six Pack engine, which was unique with stronger rods, valve-reliefed pistons, revised 3-bolt camshaft, stiffer valve springs, deeper oil pan (with baffling) and dual point distributor. Topping it off was a cast iron 3 x 2 intake with 1,350 cfm (cubic feet per minute) of induction, a 350 cfm center-mounted carburetor, and 500 cfm each from the front and rear carburetors. Potent!

NEXT TIME: A whole lot of Dodge Chargers, Durangos, plus a nice selection of cool classics, it was a mega Mopar happening!

Author: James Maxwell