In reality, this is a minivan body on a Dodge Charger chassis but the resulting look is still fun
December 27, 2024 at 18:16
- YouTube channel Rich Rebuilds is going to feature a Hellcat-powered Chrysler Pacifica.
- This is at least the third time that a YouTube channel has promised to build such a car.
- Rich Benoit’s build combines a Chrysler minivan body with a Dodge Charger chassis.
Over the years, Stellantis has shown a remarkable willingness to cram their Hellcat engine into just about anything. Trucks, SUVs, muscle cars—if it has four wheels and a steering wheel, it was a candidate. The Ram 1500 had it. The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk had it. Even the Dodge Durango still has it.
Read: Tesla Model S Plaid Transforms Into A Dodge Challenger Hellcat After Body Swap
Yet somehow, Chrysler, the brand that arguably needs some excitement the most, never got a Hellcat of its own. Enter Rich Benoit of the YouTube channel Rich Rebuilds, who says he’s finally going to give Chrysler the shot of adrenaline it’s been denied for far too long.
This isn’t the first time we’ve been promised this either. Freddie “Tavarish” Hernandez promised one a few years back and SpeedKore teased one too. The former never came to fruition and the latter isn’t something we’ve actually seen rolling around yet either. Of course, those builds were going to feature a Hellcat V8 in the chassis and body of a late-model Pacifica. This is a touch different.
A Minivan With Charger Guts
Instead of sticking to the typical “Hellcat swap” playbook, Benoit is doing a body swap. Essentially, the only bit of this that will end up being a Chrysler minivan (a Town And Country for those asking) will be the body itself. The chassis, drivetrain (obviously), and interior will all be Dodge Charger. Why do it that way? Benoit explained that in a post on Facebook.
“Yes we would rather have done it the ‘right’ way like the V8 Tesla and created a new transmission tunnel, front/rear subframes, engine mounts, harnesses, exhaust, cooling, driveshafts etc. But people nowadays have the attention span of gold fish so they wouldn’t stick around for a year till it actually moves. So we are merging the bodies so we can surprise people at stoplights in a couple weeks.”
Practical? No. Entertaining? Absolutely.
Sure, this might not be the Hellcat Pacifica of several past fever dreams, but it looks like it’ll be more than enough to satiate us til that day surely comes. Before Benoit finishes he still needs to add in a roll cage, do a lot of welding, and test everything out to make sure the car won’t just fall apart when he gives it all 800+ horsepower.
We can’t wait to see it shredding tires, embarrassing supercars, and generally being the most ridiculous family-hauler anyone’s ever seen. Let’s just hope Stellantis is paying attention. Maybe even Chrysler could learn a thing or two from this wild project.
