Chrysler 300C SRT10, its whole dark history

A lot has been said online about a model, specifically a Chrysler 300C fitted with a V10 engine taken from the engine bay of a Dodge Viper, which curiously appeared in a YouTube video. Among the most notable rumours, perhaps we should dwell on the one about a supposed modification carried out on the Chrysler LLC itself for the SEMA Show.

But all of this was just that: rumours that spread like wildfire, since the real story of this model began when Derek Ekins, the owner of this particular car, mysteriously found a V10 engine abandoned somewhere in the eastern United States. He decided to restore it and fit it into “somewhere”

Now, since he had no suitable place for this enormous engine and basically the only thing he had was his humble 300C, the decision was easy. According to Derek himself, all the work was done by him alone in the garage of his own house. For the whole transplant, poor Derek spent more than a year going to specialist firms just for the installation of the electronic management.

On the other hand, there is one very basic point to clarify, one that has been much discussed: the specific version of the engine block. Until now it was said that the block was a fourth-generation 8.4 V10, but what we actually have is the 8.3-litre V10 that Dodge developed and fitted in the third generation of the Viper, so we should be looking at an engine of 500 horsepower which, thanks to certain mechanical tweaks, its owner assures us is capable of delivering 525 horsepower.

Among the modifications carried out on the rest of the vehicle, the main one is the new six-speed manual gearbox by Tremec, Eibach coilover suspension, a larger fuel tank, a sportier radiator and air filter, simply the changes needed to drive with the new engine in sufficiently safe conditions.

Finally, its owner presented this very special 300C at the Viper Owner’s Invitational, an event you will surely remember because Dodge unveiled the new logo that the next Viper will carry. Since then the story has been spreading across the web and changing considerably, and because of this Dodge has been forced to clarify the whole 300C SRT10 affair.

Via | jalopnik