Video: Drag special Dodge Challenger is a tyre-chewing loon

We’re well used to track-biased versions of our sports cars – think Porsche 911 GT3 RS or Ferrari 458 Speciale – but what us Europeans don’t tend to do are drag specials.
 
The same can’t be said across the pond. If you thought the Dodge Challenger Hellcat existed purely to increase the share prices of tyre companies, then we hope you’re sitting down for this: the Challenger Drag Pak. And yes, that is how they’re spelling it.
 
Its staggered wheel and tyre sizes and competition styling immediately lend the Drag Pak an air of aggression, backed up nicely by the choice of two engines – V8s, naturally – available in supercharged 5.8 and naturally aspirated 7.0-litre forms. The interior is stripped of anything unnecessary.
 
Power and performance figures are thus far secret, but the drag-racing fraternity were never ones for keeping a car in its original state, so its unlikely many will stay standard. Mind, how easily the burnout below goes wayward suggests the stock bhp count is, erm, lots. Good job this car is just for straight lines – it looks like it would be terrifying in corners.
 
Sales start in a few weeks, priced from just under $100,000 – or around £64,000. Quite a lot for a car you’ll only ever use in several-secret stints, perhaps, but likely small-fry in a world of DIY, hyper-tuned muscle cars.