After the build, the team takes the Challenger to a local off-road playground to test their modifications.
The concept was beautifully simple and utterly insane. Freiburger and Dulcich wanted to build an off-road vehicle. But instead of a Jeep, a truck, or a classic Baja Bug, they chose a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Yes, a quintessential muscle car—long, heavy, low-slung, and built for pavement—was destined for dirt jumps, whoops, and desert washboards.
The donor car was a rust-free (by East Coast standards) but mechanically tired 1970 Challenger coupe. It had a slant-six engine and an automatic transmission—the least powerful, least glamorous version of Mopar’s iconic E-body. For Freiburger, that was the point: a cheap, disposable body that could be hacked without guilt. roadkill garage s02e04 the off road challenger
In true Roadkill fashion, Steve Dulcich and David Freiburger take a break from the drudgery of restorations and sanctioned racing to answer a question nobody really asked: Can a rusty, decrepit 1972 Dodge Challenger be transformed into a capable off-road warrior? In "The Off-Road Challenger," the duo puts their budget-mechanic skills to the test by attempting to blend classic Mopar muscle with raised-truck utility, proving once again that with enough fabrication and a welder, anything is possible.
“Roadkill Garage,” the spin-off that lets David Freiburger and Steve Dulcich dig deeper into the mechanical mayhem away from the roadside repairs, hit a high-water mark of lunacy in Season 2, Episode 4. Titled simply “The Off-Road Challenger,” this episode is a textbook example of the show’s core philosophy: take something completely wrong for the task, hammer it into submission, and see if it survives. After the build, the team takes the Challenger
The second half of the episode is the payoff. They haul the lifted Challenger to an off-road test track—a dusty, rutted trail with berms, jumps, and high-speed straights.
The driving is pure Freiburger: flat-footed and fearless. The Challenger, now nicknamed the “Roadkill Special,” does things a 1970 E-body was never meant to do. It flies over small jumps, lands with a crunch, and drifts through sandy corners with all four tires spinning. But instead of a Jeep, a truck, or
The drama is genuine. The crude lift causes the rear axle to hop violently under braking. The unmodified steering box provides all the precision of a rowboat rudder. At one point, a rear tire starts delaminating after a hard landing, and the exhaust system is ripped loose by a rock. But the car never dies.
In true Roadkill fashion, they solve problems with baling wire, a borrowed hammer, and sheer stubbornness. They finish the episode not with a polished “after” shot, but with the Challenger caked in mud, leaking oil from a cracked pan, and somehow still running.