Recently, we found out that the days of the iconic Dodge Challenger, as we know it, are numbered. And if we do not know what the future holds in store, let us take shelter in the past.
Last summer, Dodge announced that after 2023 model year production concludes for the Challenger and Charger models, complete with no less than seven ‘Last Call’ special edition vehicles, there will be no more ICE-powered versions going forward. Instead, the Stellantis brand will embark on the EV revolution’s journey.
But there is a potential problem – in the future, there may not be enough ‘space’ for both iconic nameplates. After all, Dodge also revealed the Charger Daytona SRT Concept, which is set to have a Banshee EV-powered production version complete with nine power levels. But here is the catch: the Charger prototype reverted to the coupe lifestyle, posing a big question about the future of the modern Challenger.
Luckily, anyone can also revert to the past in a bid to safeguard the nameplate. Both in the real world as well as the imaginative realm of virtual automotive artists. And, over there in those dreamy parallel universes, a lot of creative things can happen. Including visions of classic Challengers gunning for the rough and tough JDM muscle car atmosphere.
So, inspired by two vastly different automotive cultures, Ish Babaria – a self-taught automotive artist better known as ish_babaria_design_v2 on social media, has cooked this, a 1972 Dodge Challenger R/T ‘LBWK.’ In translation, the pixel master kicked off the CGI proceeds of 2023 big time, complete with the fusing of “American muscle with Japanese works style!”
The result – a 1972 Dodge Challenger R/T featuring the 426 Hemi and a full Liberty Walk LB-Works kit – is both outstandingly cartoonish and impossible to unsee, at the same time. According to the author’s description, it packs a “custom-covered front fascia, (new) splitter, works-style fender flares, and a simple ducktail wing inspired by the Kyusha cars.”
But that is not all, since it also “sits very low to the ground on fat and wide Yokohama Advan slicks wrapped on custom deep-dish Cragar SS wheels.” Meanwhile, the cherry on top of everything is the Mooneyes Yellow paint job which bodes extremely well with the fact that the CGI expert went into so many details that he even includes his “concept sketch for this build as an Aoshima 1/24 scale model kit box!”
And do not even think he is the only digital Liberty Walk fan out there. Instead, here is also Abdu, a 23-year-old “upcoming automotive artist” better known as wizart_concepts on social media, who again proves his CGI brush’s worth by way of a dark cherry-flavored Ferrari 360 also donning the feisty LBWK attitude!
