- 94
- Italy
Manufacturer: SpeedKore Performance Group (originally: Dodge)
Country: USA
Year: 2015 (originally: 1970)
Gran Turismo body class: tuned car
Gran Turismo engine class: Turbo
Layout: FR
Power: ~1300 hp
Torque: ~2000 N⋅m
Displacement: 9046 cm³
Background
You are a Port Washington, Wisconsin outfit that makes custom builds out of 70s American classics with modern materials and technologies, what do you make to gain some serious reputation? A Charger build maybe, but it has to be something truly special to stand out. Carbon parts blended into a solid black paint job? Maybe. A grille milled from a single block of aluminum? Alright, but what about the engine? Is that just another V8 under the hood? Wait, turbocharged? what did you say the displacement was?
Mercury. You have probably heard the name before, but not in an automotive context (no, no relation with the Ford marque). They, in fact, make powerboats. At some point, they realized their QC4v power plant (a monstrous dual-turbocharged 9 liter V8) had a quite "driveable" torque curve and could, from a purely theoretical point of view, fit in a car, and they put it up for sale as a crate engine, hoping to see it used as a mid-mounted engine in kit cars. They probably didn't expect SpeedKore Performance to realize that the generous engine bay of a muscle car could, again in a purely theoretical way, accommodate it.
The considerable power output of the marine racing engine (up to 1650 hp at the shaft when running on 112 octane gasoline, with a measured torque in excess of 2000 N⋅m) is transmitted to the rear wheels through a reliable and adorably old-fashioned drive line: a six-speed Tremec T-56 with a pistol-grip shifter, and a 9″ Ford heavy-duty axle. The rear wheels are custom-made 20″ forged aluminum HRE S104s wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. The Tantrum (as the custom Charger build was dubbed) was driven in anger in an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, and the arrangement (which includes a reinforced chassis and new suspensions) proved up to the task of unloading the insane output to the pavement.
While the carbon body panels and exotic engine are obviously the highlights of the Tantrum, the highest care was put in the interiors as well: completely redesigned, with carbon panels, several custom details designed and built at the in-house CNC plant, and Alcantara and leather trim from Gabe's Custom Interiors.
Why add it to Gran Turismo: the Tantrum lost the 2015 SEMA Gran Turismo award to Sung Kang's "Fugu Z" '73 Datsun 240Z, but I believe such a unique and insane build deserves a second look.
What am I asking for: premium model of the Tantrum under the SpeedKore Performance manufacturer.
Image gallery
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