It almost feels like yesterday when David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan pulled a 1968 Dodge Charger out of storage and transformed it into the first of a new breed of sloppy mechanic restomodding. One supported by the endless power of the then all-new, Mopar Hellcat Hemi engine.
The General Mayhem's been through a couple of iterations through its seven-year odyssey as a Frankenstein's monster mashup of old and new Chrysler parts. In 2020, it's seen as the first in a line of Hellcat swaps that have found their way onto the internet, it's a trend for which we must give the General Mayhem our thanks.
Let's take a deep dive into one of the greatest car projects in the history of YouTube, and how it's shaped the modding community to this day.
Genesis Out Of Old Motorhome Parts
We've all had fantasies about pulling a clapped out rolling chassis out of quiet slumber, slapping in some seats, a steering wheel, and an engine before thrashing around in it. Well, Roadkill aficionados David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan moved heaven and earth ( in the form of all of Davids's junk) to get to a 1968 Charger rolling chassis which according to Dave, was traded for a set of cylinder heads in order to do just that.
Think an 80s motorhome is a dumb place to find an engine for a late 60s muscle car? Be prepared to eat your words. As luck had it, this 1980's Pace Arrow motorhome had the exact big block 440 Mopar engine that David was looking for. Only one thing was really neccesary from then on, break out all the cutting saws in Southern California, and get hacking.
In the end, most of the motorhome wound up in a dumpster. But the 440 engine that powered it was now ready to go in the Charger. After salvaging a transmission, a limited-slip diff, and brakes from Freidburgers 73 Plymouth Fury fresh from the 24 hours of "Lemons", all the pieces were in place to resurrect a Charger which Freidburger admittedly had no plans for until the time came to film the car for Roadkill.
The episode ends with the Roadkill duo finally thrashing the car across the California Desert and one final smokey burnout. A satisfying end to what was a crazy journey, except, it wasn't the end at all.
A Second Supercharged Renaissance
The unfortunate truth about test mule cars is they more than often wind up crushed into cubes no matter how significant the car it was testing was. Thankfully, when that time came for a 2015 Charger Hellcat mule, Freiburger and Finnegan were there to make sure it wasn't in vain. Fresh off a sponsorship from Dodge, the Roadkill duo were given the opportunity of a lifetime. Take the 440 out of the General Mayhem, and in its place, put an engine which was only just being revealed to the world.
The supercharged Hellcat Hemi engine was not yet available to the public as a crate motor, which made swapping them into other cars a big hassle, as people had to wait for wrecks to appear online. In a way, we're happy that Roadkill got to jump the line because the newly revamped General Mayhem set the stage for what we like to call the decade of the Hellcat. A time when the Hellcat engine surpassed the almighty LS engine as the most eyecatching engine swap for enormous power.
Apart from a set of wheels, brakes, and Hoosier drag slicks on all four corners, there's very little that tells the mark II General Mayhem from the first. The Plymouth Fury hood scoop ensures the engine stays cool, while the rest of the car stayed quintessentially Roadkill. Underneath, of course, the car is much improved. With an upgraded 9 inch rear end from Mosler engineering, upgrades to the suspension, and the same automatic transmission that came from the 2015 Charger doner car.
The results were stunning, this rusted out 68 Charger with mismatched body panels, rusty floorboards and a grill made from corrugated steel ran the quarter-mile in 10.9 seconds at 125 miles per hour. That's faster than a brand new BMW M8 Competition, Jaguar F Type R, and even a Ferrari 458 Italia. Roadkill has a reputation for aiming high and failing hilariously but with the General Mayhem, they'd genuinely pulled off something astonishing, and car wrenchers across the world took notice.
The Birth Of Hellcat Mania
Nowadays, Hellcat swaps are all the rage. In the same way, the LS revolutionized high-performance engine swaps, the Hellcat offers all the engine you'd ever need at a price that can't be beaten. Everything from Ram pickups to Jeep Gladiators and Wagoneers, Chrysler 300s, Buick Grand Nationals, Plymouth Barracudas, and even Mazda Mx-5s have all had their guts ripped out, replaced with Hellcat engines, and uploaded to Youtube for all of our enjoyment. So the next time you see something bizarre with a Hellcat swap, thank Finnegan and Freidburger for pioneering this new philosophy in engine swaps.
Sources: HotRod.com, MotorTrend, Zeroto60times.com