Man took a chance on a stolen Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, but opening it revealed its true story

This 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat comes with both a story to tell and something a little less desirable inside.

It had been stolen and driven for three years without a title or registration.

When it was finally recovered by police, it was deemed a total loss by the insurance company and bought by a YouTuber.

However, it’s hiding something inside its cabin.

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Stolen Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

As well as being stolen, it’s believed the car was actually lived in before the police tracked it down.

Despite its patchy history, car expert and content creator of LegitStreetCars Alex Palmeri saw its potential.

He came across the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat on an online auction, paying $23,300 to take it home.

While it runs, drives, and has a clean title, little is known of the one-owner car’s history, after it was reported stolen in February 2021 by its original owner, Matthew from Houston, US.

Its last odometer reading was at 49,338, but the auction website listed it with 71,604 miles on the clock – and it’s a mystery what occurred in the interim.

Meanwhile, this 14-year-old paid $450 for a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440, and 45 years later it’s a true love story.

What was inside?

Palmeri flew from Chicago to Salt Lake City in Utah, US, to check out his purchase.

He was pleasantly surprised by its condition – especially the 6.2-liter HEMI V8 under the hood.

However, there is a hose dangling there and the driveshaft is disconnected.

The worst news, though, has to be that, after being used as both a means of transportation and home – it’s been labeled a biohazard.

As well as finding clothes, shoes, receipts, medication, cigarette butts, a toothbrush, and deodorant – it also seems that whoever stole it had a drug problem.

They adopted the services of a drug-sniffing dog, but it didn’t find anything.

The good news, however, is that the red key is also there.

While you might think that a car-dwelling thief wouldn’t do any kind of vehicle maintenance, he was relieved to discover receipts for an oil change and a coolant flush from the past 12 months inside.

Tantalizingly, there’s also a hand-written bill of sale from someone who exchanged his ultra-light trailer for this Hellcat at 63,000 miles.

Under the trash, the black leather interior is actually in pretty good condition bar signs of wear on the driver’s seat.

The car’s condition

However as well as the good: the driveshaft and a new battery donated by a Porsche 911.993 in place, the 707HP Dodge is back up and running with the eight-speed automatic transmission and brakes working fine.

They need to be prepared for the bad: the ‘Check Engine’ light is on, and they hear something knocking from underneath the car, plus the instrument cluster goes blank.

As well as the ugly: the 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat has a disconnected fan and an airbag light on, doesn’t have a VIN, there’s a scratch on the rear bumper, a dent on the left-side rear wheel, and a missing rear sensor.

It remains to be seen whether they made it back to Chicago in the HEMI-powered sports car.

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