1971 Dodge Charger in Green Go Undergoes Greatest V8 Engine Swap in Muscle Car History

This restyled Charger still featured a whole bunch of design cues borrowed from its predecessor, despite the semi-fastback roofline. Ultimately, while Dodge enthusiasts worried that this third-gen car would underperform, it actually went on to outsell the original.

Regardless, it’s hard to go wrong with any Charger from that era, as there are several iconic powertrain options for you to choose from when you finally decide to put one of these babies in your driveway. You could still find an R/T spec in 1971 (replaced by the ‘Rallye’ in 1972), while in terms of engines, you could get anything from the base-spec 318 ci V8 all the way up to the 440 Magnum V8 or the 426 Hemi.

I’m not one to discount a classic Charger equipped with anything resembling a flagship engine. However, if you mostly care about performance and you’re a stickler for analytics, you can achieve greater things in a straight line by swapping the factory V8 for something a great deal more modern/powerful.

Now, if you ask me, one of today’s greatest V8 engine options is the 6.2-liter Hellcat – a high performance, supercharged Hemi, originally rated at 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. This engine stood as the most powerful V8 ever produced by Chrysler (now Stellantis), as well as the most powerful production engine ever for a muscle car – until the upgraded Demon engine was introduced.

Thankfully, Mopar also sold the Hellcat V8 as a crate engine under the name ‘Hellcrate’, which in turn made it a lot easier for tuners and aftermarket specialists to swap out whatever they previously had under the hood and go for broke.

What you’re looking at here is a 1971 Dodge Charger in Green Go, powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8, just as you’d find in a modern-day Challenger SRT Hellcat. The car is set to get auctioned off come July 13 at the Florida Summer Special, and my guess is that it’s going to fetch a pretty penny.

Aside from the Hellcat engine swap, this also comes with an automatic transmission, air conditioning, an upgraded sound system, Bluetooth radio with Apple CarPlay (there’s a tiny infotainment screen there), new tires, plus a black vinyl interior featuring front bucket seats.

Other highlights include the 8-hole mag wheels, hold-down pins for the hood, aluminized headers and an aluminum radiator.

I wouldn’t go as far as to call this a restomod, but you could argue that it walks that line. I am however certain that it can kick some serious behind in a straight line.