The HELLEPHANT In The Room – 1968 Dodge “Dumbo Charger”!

When you hear the name “Dumbo”, your brain might automatically gravitate to thinking about the 1941 Walt Disney classic film about an elephant that is ridiculed for its oversized ears. But when it comes to Mopars, there is one elephant that no one will be making fun of. Nicknamed “Dumbo”, this 1968 Dodge Charger might be one of the meanest builds we have ever seen.

Dumbo is the brainchild of car owner David Stapp and builder Jimmie Anderson of Wildthings Customs. Following in the footsteps of Mopar’s own 1968 Dodge Super Charger Concept car, Stapp jumped at the chance to pre-order one of the initial 100 “HELLEPHANT” engines back in April of 2019. 

This means that two ditched the naturally-aspirated 6.3-liter (383 cubic-inch) 2-barrel V8 that originally sat under the hood of the Charger, in favor of the all-aluminum 7.0-liter (426 cubic-inch) HEMI “HELLEPHANT” V8 crate engine with a mammoth 3.0-liter IHI supercharger on top. The results is 1,000 horsepower and 950 lb.-ft. of torque at the crank, right from the OEM. To help put that power down to the ground is a built Magnum T-56 6-speed manual transmission and a Strange Engineering Dana 60 rear axle with a 4.10 rear axle ratio.

The HELLEPHANT has no problem expressing its grunt thanks to a set of TTI stainless steel headers, Borla mufflers, and Kindig-it cutouts.

The powertrain wasn’t the only thing touched, a complete rotisserie restoration, a major suspension upgrade from Magnum Force, and an upgrade brake system from Wilwood make sure that Dumbo can tackle any auto cross, drag strip, or any weekend adventure.

On the exterior, Dumbo is painted in a reproduction of Destroyer Grey (which may be a shade different than the factory Dodge color) with bold black rear quarter stripes featuring a blue HELLEPHANT logo. The car has been equipped with billet aluminum door handles, LED headlamps and taillights, and a monochromatic appearance by ditching the chrome bumpers for painted ones.

When it comes to the interior, Dumbo gets fine leather touches on most touching surfaces. There is also a new custom Fiberglas center console which houses Vintage air-conditioning system. The instrument panel (I/P) also houses the a Dakota digital guage setup. Sorry music fans, there is no stereo in this ride.

Originally scheduled to make its debut at last year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, work on the car slowed once the pandemic hit. The team took their time and completed the car back in March. Since then, Dumbo has taken home a “Best of Show” award for the Kansas City World of Wheels show.

To keep up to date with the Dumbo Charger, you can follow the car’s Instagram page for the latest news and information on the car.

Be sure to watch the latest episode of Autotopia LA, where our friend Shawn had a chance to talk to the owner and spend some time with this amazing build.

1968 Dodge Charger “Dumbo Charger” Image Gallery:

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