At the time of writing, Dodge HQ in the USA has no formal arrangement or plan to ship any of it’s 3,300 units of the high powered Dodge Challenger Demon down under to Australia. Certainly there is no process to manufacture in the USA for Australian right hand drive conversion as does Ford for example with their Mustangs.
However, a keen enthusiast, and we presume lover of the Demon and all things Dodge, has paid a deposit to bring one example to our shores.
It can’t be done via normal channels, and certainly not via the dealer network who would liaise with HQ in the USA and be declined. However enlisting the assistance of private importer Crossover Car Conversions, an order for a whopping 626Kw Demon beast has been confirmed.
The car will be imported largely intact and as per the factory build, however Crossover Car Conversions will be required to convert the drive train to right have drive for the Australian compliance.
The Demon is actually a Hellcat but comes with widebody flares, 626Kw 6.2-litre supercharged V8 motor and street drag radial tyres. It is by all definition, a factory built racer with street compliance!
Or is it ? Yes in the USA, but in Australia, once imported it will need ADR compliance if the owner wants to drive it in the streets.
“On the conversion side, we’ll just have to work with that when it gets here,” says Craig Dean from Crossover Car Conversions, “the Demon’s not that big a difference in the car, anyways, just a bit fancier and more power.”
Although Craig has converted many Hellcats and admits to using a Chrysler 300 SRT steering setup, as well as bespoke dash and console, he also says that the import and compliance for this one is a challenge.
“To get it from the US it’s actually very hard to tie up a deal. There’s not many made.” He says, ” Besides that, Dodge don’t like selling export examples so we try and network and get the good stuff. We managed to get an order in.”
As challenging as the import process is, and the risk around compliance in Australia, the bigger hurdle is the price for most Australians. Although the car in the USA sells for around US$62,495 or AUD$78,250, by the time it is shipped to Australia, converted and all tax duties applied, including the dreaded Luxury Car Tax and Stamp Duty on registration, the price is quite easily in the AUD$200,000 bracket.
Will it be worth it though ?
It certainly is for at least one Australian who receives his in about 12 months from now.
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