Pikes Peak has never been short on wild machinery, but a vintage Dodge muscle car weighing roughly 4,200 pounds still stands out among purpose-built prototypes and lightweight race cars. This Dodge Coronet R/T was built specifically to attack the mountain while retaining much of the character that makes an old-school Mopar so appealing.
Automotive photographer Larry Chen recently got a close look at the unusual build, which combines largely stock-looking vintage bodywork with a thoroughly modern chassis and a supercharged Hellcat Redeye engine. The result is a street-legal machine producing a claimed 833 horsepower at the wheels.
Its owner previously competed at Pikes Peak in Ultra4 vehicles when portions of the course were still dirt. Once the mountain became fully paved, he wanted to return in something completely different, eventually choosing a vintage car rather than another modern competition machine.
The Coronet may look like a classic from the outside, but underneath, almost everything has been reworked for the demands of the famous Colorado hill climb. Somehow, it still has headlights, turn signals, a horn, a manual transmission and even a hydraulic drift brake.
A Hellcat Redeye Engine Provides The Muscle
Under the modified R/T hood sits a Hellcat Redeye powerplant paired with a Tremec T-56 Magnum manual transmission. The combination already provided serious performance, but practice runs revealed several sections where the driver could hold the throttle completely open, convincing the team that the big Dodge could use additional power.
The supercharger received a ported snout, while the engine was fitted with a 108-mm intake and a smaller supercharger pulley. According to the owner, those changes added approximately 135 horsepower, bringing output to an impressive 833 hp at the wheels.
Altitude remains one of the biggest challenges at Pikes Peak, where the increasingly thin air affects both engine performance and cooling as competitors climb toward the 14,115-foot summit. The Coronet’s supercharger helps compensate for some of the power loss, although its owner noted that the difference can still be felt during runs on the upper sections of the mountain.
Cooling was another major consideration. The car uses a custom cooling package along with a separate heat-exchanger system for the supercharger, with a large rear-mounted reservoir and coolant lines running through the car.
This Is No Ordinary Vintage Mopar Chassis
Despite its relatively stock appearance, the Coronet underwent an extensive structural transformation. The car was 3D scanned before a custom chassis was designed with Schwarz Performance, with the setup developed specifically for racing rather than a typical pro-touring build.
A tightly fitted roll cage was also engineered for the car. Installing it properly required the team to cut off the roof, allowing the cage to sit extremely close to the body while preserving as much interior room as possible.
The cage is tied into the car across multiple planes and extends toward both the front and rear, creating a significantly more rigid structure than the original 1960s platform. Additional reinforcement around the engine bay helps strengthen the front end and provides protection in the event of a serious impact.
Its weight is considerable at approximately 4,200 pounds, despite fiberglass bumpers and aluminum bumper brackets removing around 130 pounds. That makes the Coronet an unlikely candidate for a technical mountain course, yet the owner says the substantial chassis and sticky tires help make it surprisingly planted through corners.
Big Brakes And Sticky Tires Help Control 4,200 Pounds
Getting a car this large up Pikes Peak is one challenge. Slowing it down repeatedly while navigating the mountain’s relentless corners requires equally serious hardware.
The Coronet uses 14-inch front brake rotors with six-piston calipers and 13-inch rear rotors with four-piston calipers. Openings that once housed the front turn signals have been converted into brake cooling ducts, while additional airflow has been provided for the heat exchanger.
Yokohama Advan tires provide the grip, with soft-compound rubber fitted at the front and medium-compound tires at the rear. The owner praised their ability to generate grip quickly from the start while avoiding excessive heat farther into a run.
The steering system has also been upgraded, while the rear uses a Ford 9-inch-style setup with a 35-spline full-floating arrangement and a Wavetrac differential. Careful gearing allows the driver to attack the course’s tight hairpins while still reaching a claimed 112 mph through one of its faster sections during practice.
It Still Has An Old-School Manual Gearbox
For all the modern engineering underneath, the Coronet hasn’t abandoned its muscle-car personality. The owner considered installing a sequential transmission but ultimately decided the car needed a traditional manual shifter complete with a white Hurst shift ball.
Inside, the factory dashboard remains, although it has been modified to incorporate modern race equipment and a Holley digital display. An audio navigation system provides corner prompts, particularly useful because the driver is tackling the mountain without a co-driver.
There’s even a hydraulic drift brake alongside a separate conventional parking brake. Combined with the six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive and enormous supercharged power, it gives the heavyweight Dodge an unusually playful personality for something designed to tackle one of America’s most intimidating motorsport events.
Perhaps the best part is that the Coronet remains registered, titled and insured for street use. It may have been built to charge up Pikes Peak, but once the racing is finished, this 833-wheel-horsepower Dodge can still head out for a cruise, which might make it one of the most entertaining vintage muscle cars to ever take on the mountain.