Rare 1,025 HP Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 Convertible Up For Auction Could Be Worth $250,000
The Dodge Challenger went out of production in 2023 with a mic drop … and a drop top.
The final version of the muscle car introduced was the $100,361 Challenger SRT Demon 170, which featured a 900 hp supercharged V8 that boosted to 1,025 hp when running on E85 fuel.
That made it the most powerful car with an internal combustion engine ever offered by a major American automaker. That has now been surpassed by the 1,064 hp Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, which doesn’t need E85 to get there, but the Demon 170 still holds the title for five-seaters. Just 3,000 Demon 170s were built for the U.S. before production ended in December 2023.
The Challenger was first introduced in 2008 as a coupe and Dodge never sold a factory convertible to compete with the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, but it figured out how to do it for the final year.
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For 2023, it teamed up with Florida’s Drop Top Customs to offer a streamlined ordering system for a convertible conversion that was formally approved by Dodge. It was still technically an aftermarket conversion, but customers could order it for any Challenger from their Dodge dealer, who would handle the process for $25,999. At the time, it was also the most powerful American convertible, but the Corvette ZR1 is available with a retractable roof.
Most of the conversions were done to the mainstream models, but a few brave buyers had the tops chopped off of their Demon 170s. (American Cars And Racing has reached out to Drop Top Customs for an exact number and will update this story if we get a reply.)
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The work done was more complex than that, of course, and included a custom-designed soft top and significant chassis stiffening with an aluminum plate designed to add strength but not much weight.
One of the cars will be crossing the block at the Mecum Auctions event in Kissimmee, Fla., on July 12. The TorRed example has just 22 miles on the odometer and is equipped with several major available options.
Mecum hasn’t put an estimated valuation on the car, but a similar one with 30 miles on the odometer sold at one of its events last year for $242,000. That’s roughtly the going rate for hardtop Demon 170s, according to Classic.com, but one unusual Panther Pink-painted car was sold for $450,000 on Bring A Trailer this April.
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Drop Top Customs still offers Challenger convertible conversions outside of the formal Dodge relationship and will soon be selling a new model. The outfit recently revealed that it is developing a convertible version of the electric Charger Daytona and it’s probably a safe bet that it will do the same for the upcoming Sixpack turbocharged straight-six-powered Charger that goes on sale later this year.