Driver Madness

I find curious this car, it looks like real inspiration for the 2008 Challenger. The concept it's really modern for the era.

It was presented in Detroit Car Show as a prototype, back in 1969. It was a two seat, with a targa roof, with 428 Hemi V8 and it was painted in gold and pearled honey. His objective was to beat Chevrolet Corvette. It also had a electric rear wing which inclined depending on the speed of the car.





In my opinion the headlights look very modern.



I'm sure that John Tanner would like to take a ride in this one.

>slotmags
10/10 would bang

Are there some more pics? Such as good rear and side view just like the very good front

Found some more.





I seriously would like to see this car as a secret car or something in an upcoming Driver.

Pffftt, they'll probably be putting dubstep and more Eurotrash sports cars in the next Driver-instead of badass concept cars like this.
Lol @ the guy with a porno stache checking out that broad.
Now--does this car still exist?

Now i know why that girl is painted like that

Dodge tried to boost the car’s draw by hiring a model that showfans could body paint. It created a crowd even though no one was looking at the car.

Shame that the car was rebodied into a new model called Diamante. Which for me isn't as appealing as the Yellow Jacket version.

When black Hemi Challenger convertible VIN JS27ROB100022 was born for model year 1970, the car was destined to become something special—ultimately the world’s most valuable Mopar. Instead of being ferried into a dealer’s showroom, it was snagged by Dodge’s public relations dept. and hustled off to custom car builder Syntex Inc. in Dearborn. They converted the stock black Challenger into a show-circuit trotter named the Yellow Jacket, replete with a candy pearl-yellow hue.

While the car was the first Mopar ever equipped with cool shaker hood, sidepipes, mag wheels and a targa roof—a concept borrowed from an earlier concept—the Duster I, the Yellow Jacket wasn’t all that different from the new ’70 Challengers that were appearing on the street, so it was far from a home-run—maybe a single or a sacrifice fly.

The candy paintjob soon began to fade, and Chrysler pulled the Yellow Jacket off the show circuit and sent it back to Syntex for a redo. This time it was a big show hit. A radical nose job dismissed the shaker which by now was old hat, and the car sported a sloping, pointed hood that smacked a bit of Corvette. It had more of a ’70 Vette appearance when you popped on the removable hardtop. Had this show car been produced, with the Hemi under the hood, it would have blown the bow-tie’s plastic fantastic’s doors off. But the bean counters figured it would have cost too much to build.

The rebodied Yellow Jacket was now covered in a heavily pearled white, and a new name—“Diamante”-- adorned the targa bar when it arrived for the ’71 show season. The car was ahead of its time with its rectangular French Cibie pop-up headlights and faux “crush zone” front bumper.

The Diamante toured the show circuit from 1971 through 1974—a record for any show car to date. By ’74, the paint was started to show its age, and it was badly scratched during transport. Due for a badly needed freshening, it was trucked over to George Busti of Creative Customs in Detroit. For some odd reason, George repainted the car a candy orange. Maybe he just didn’t like white. An orange Diamante (Spanish for Diamond) did not make sense, and Chrysler put the car in storage. It was never seen in public with its orange paint.

When Chrysler decided it could put its money to better use than paying storage fees on old concept cars that it no longer had any use for, the storage folks auctioned them off. The Diamante went through the hands of several collectors before it was purchased by noted high-end Mopar collector, Steven Juliano. Steve found the car to be totally unmolested original with some 650 miles. Removing the windshield molding, he sanded through the paint layers revealing the pearlescent white (which he computer matched), the candy yellow and the original factory black.

Steve’s restoration was basically a faithful repaint of the Diamante’s white exterior. The rest of the car required just a light cleaning. It was all there just the way Syntex had put it together. The car now resides in Steve’s warehouse as the crown jewel of his amazing Mopar collection.

Full article here