Over the past two decades, one of the greatest concept cars to come out of the Chrysler Group Auburn Hills design studios was the 2004 Chrysler ME-Four Twelve (or ME-412). Creating the ultimate supercar, the Chrysler team built a mid-engine (ME), quad-turbocharged (Four), V-12 (Twelve) engined concept car.
The car would enter the early stages of development with working mules being built, before being shut down by Daimler-Chrysler’s supreme leader at the time, CEO Jürgen Schrempp. Schrempp would shut down the program, due to the fact he didn’t want the more premium Mercedes AMG offerings to be overshadowed by the American “blue-collar luxury” brand of Chrysler.
Fast-forward 18 years, and the creative mind of one of our favorite digital artists Abimelec Arellano (@abimelecdesign), has created a new take on the ME-Four Twelve Concept for his latest series on “What If”, featured on Hagerty.com.
Taking the beautiful exterior design by Chrysler designer Brian Nielander, Abimelec has updated the design to blend it with today’s newer technologies. Gone is the Mercedes-sourced quad-turbocharged V-12 and in its place is the awesome supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI HELLCAT V8. As he imagines the car (now dubbed ME-8), the car would come in three power levels ranging from 707 to 847 horsepower and mated to a 6-speed manual transverse Xtrac gearbox.
Despite the exterior changes done, the car’s design continues to hold its own in today’s world. With new LED headlamps with signature lighting, 20-inch x 11-inch “Brass Monkey” wheels, LED taillamps, more cooling for the mid-engine layout, and a set of more modern exterior mirrors, embrace a more modern overall appearance. The side trim pieces and spines on the hood have been removed, giving the car a cleaner and more upscale look on par with most of today’s supercar offerings.
To read Abimelec’s complete description of his envision, you can check out his article on the Hagerty website.
