FACTORY HOT ROD; DODGE UNLEASHES A CHALLENGER FOR THE DRAG STRIP.(News)

Byline: ROGER HART

* Chrysler has not offered a factory-built drag car since Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey were battling for the White House. Now, 40 years later, instead of Nixon-Humphrey, we've got McCain-Obama, and the Dodge Hemi Dart and the Plymouth Hemi Barracuda have given way to the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak.

Dodge is offering the Challenger Drag Pak to bolster the brand's representation in Stock and Super Stock drag-racing categories in the NHRA and the IHRA. And while only 100 of the Drag Pak cars will be available, a variety of components used on the car are available through Mopar parts outlets. If you can't get one of the Challenger Drag Pak cars, you can buy a street car and convert it yourself.

The Drag Pak car ships with a race-prepped engine (a 6.1-liter Hemi, a 5.7-liter Hemi or a 5.9-liter Magnum), a "placeholder transmission and a "placeholder independent rear suspension.

"We use the term "placeholder' because NHRA requires that the cars ship with transmissions and rear suspensions, but we acknowledge that racers will replace them with race-prepped versions of the components, said Jon Clark, business-strategy manager for Mopar.

When it is shipped from the factory, the Challenger Drag Pak is not a running, driveable car. It will not have a VIN, and no warranty will be offered. But for $36,999, you get a body-in-white Challenger with no body sealer, sound deadener or undercoating and no windshield wipers or HVAC ducting, controls or wiring. There are no rear seats or underbody heat shields; there is no exhaust system and no power steering.

But you will get a composite liftoff hood and lightweight components, including front brakes, front fascia, a ...