Lowered Toy: Erik Vierstra’s 2007 Dodge Charger


Rewinding back to October 2007, Erik Vierstra of British Columbia, Canada can still remember the day he walked into a Dodge dealership to look at a new car. “I went in looking for a Chrysler 300. I had a low rider mini truck at home so I wanted one for a daily driver. I had wanted one for quite some time so I decided it was finally time to take the plunge and purchase one. When I was at the dealership looking, something drew me to a Dodge Charger rather than the 300. I decided to take a Charger for a drive and loved it right away so needless to say, I bought it,” recalls Erik.

With his new 2007 Charger in his possession, Erik used it as his daily driver for quite some time. Fast forwarding to summer of 2008, Erik did what any natural car guy would do; he started modifying his Charger. Erik tells us, “I got an Air Raid cold air intake and put SRT8 exhaust on my car and then attended one of the local BCLX modern Mopar car meets. The meet opened my eyes up to the potential these vehicles had. I was able to see what other people were doing to them; from custom pin stripping to engine bay dress up and all sorts of other modifications. I swore I wouldn’t modify my Charger very much as it was my daily driver but these amazing people I got to meet up with and enjoy the cars with quickly changed my mind on that.”

From there, Erik’s Charger started transforming with every modification from a stock daily driver towards a modified show vehicle. With the desire to modify his Charger more, Erik sold his low rider mini truck and started putting even more money into the Charger. That summer, he entered it into the local Mopar Madness car show in Langley and won 1st place in his class. That further bumped up his passion for modifying the car. After that he installed his first set of aftermarket wheels and had the stereo system upgraded.

Being as he needed a way to get to work, Erik continued to drive his Charger to work daily and unfortunately, the daily driving duties out in the public started to show. “I parked the car at work one day and for some reason unknown to me, someone decided my car looked better with key marks from the front to back and some ‘very colorful abbreviations’ in the paint”, says Erik. Needless to say, it had to get fixed. Erik arranged to get it fixed at a local shop named Little Valley Restorations and partnered with Axe Graphics to do a more custom paint scheme on the Charger to further bring it away from stock. It was arranged that the car would be painted while he ventured down to the Spring Festival of LX’s down in California for the first time.

Erik tells us, “Going to Spring Fest was a big eye opener for me with all the custom things that people were doing to their vehicles. Everything was custom from wide-bodies to vertical doors and so many different other types of modifications”. While he was at the event, he met Heidi and Nick from Billet Technology and purchased some from dress up products from them. He also picked up another intake from Flex Wheeler who had supercharged his V6 just before the meet. Every part was another step in his desire to modify his Charger further and further.

When he got back to British Columbia, he quickly rushed to the shop to see how his Charger was progressing. Much to his excitement, the Charger was finished and ready to go. Erik chose to have it painted in a Grayish Blue metallic with a Candy Apple Red stripe down the quarter panels and real fire airbrushed in the stripe and the results were absolutely striking. “With the paint complete, I started to go to more car shows and got invited into the Street Creationz Truck and Car Club which was an honor and started rolling with them. With this came more modifications. When you’re in a custom car club, there is no stopping with modifications. By this point, I was making the Charger into a full out show car yet still using it as a daily driver,” says Erik.

Three years ago, Erik decided with the permission of his amazing wife Naomi that he wanted to take his Charger to the next level and install air ride. With his goal of riding low in mind, Erik went to work. The install wasn’t an easy one though as in the process of doing it, Erik had a new addition to his family with a new baby and he was then diagnosed with KLS (Klein Levins Syndrome). Not willing to let it get to him, he kept moving forward and got it done. Over the years, Erik has continued to modify his Charger bit by bit to the result you see today.

On the exterior of Erik’s Charger, you’ll see the custom paint job by Little Valley Restorations as previously mentioned. Topping off the paint job is custom pin stripping on the trunk by Spiderman Pin Stripping and a gloss black vinyl wrapped roof. The exterior also features a Grip Tuning front fascia, carbon fiber side skirts, color matched front marker lenses, G-Force LED tail lights with custom paint, Advanced Automotive Concepts RGB LED Halos and a 6000k HID kit to light up the night sky. Turning to the inside, you’ll find a custom painted dash and center console, custom made leather arm rest with the Charger logo embroidered in it, Challenger SRT8 seats, anodized red Billet Technology door pulls, T-handle shifter and shifter insert plate and Advanced Automotive Concepts White LED interior lighting.

Erik loves his music so his Charger has been fitted with the best of the best such as a Pioneer AVH-2300NEX head unit, Polk Audio component kit, MTX 7801 amp, MTX Thunder pro subwoofers, two Shuriken SK-BT20 Batteries and a custom built amp rack and subwoofer box. To keep the car safe, a Compustar alarm and remote starter was also installed.

Erik’s Charger also features a Universal Air Suspension kit that features two Viair 444 chrome air compressors and a Slam Specialties Manifold. It rides on a set of 22” Factory Reproduction custom painted Viper wheels wrapped in Yokohama Prada Spec 4 tires. Stopping is done thanks to the help of a set of R1 Concepts slotted brake rotors. The suspension has been upgraded with a DC strut brace that has been painted metallic red, SRT8 sway bars and Raybestos ball joints.

Under the hood, Erik’s Charger has been loaded with tons of goodies such as a Diablosport Trinity programmer, Modern Muscle Xtreme ported throttle body, an Edelbrock cold air intake, a painted coolant reservoir, 3G Customz ABS cover, 3G Customz coolant tank cover and a Killer Glass radiator hose with red LEDs. Billet Technology supplied all of the anodized red dress up pieces which includes a fuse box cover, strut covers, oil cap cover, low pressure A/C port cover, oil dipstick, power steering fluid cap, throttle body cover, washer fluid cover and an oil catch can with a custom mount.

Erik says, “I would love to thank all the people that have either contributed or sponsored my vehicle on the way to what it is now and with more to come, it is never done. Thank you to Mike Whitehead, Derek Cobb, Bobbi Parsons, Oscar Joseph, Heidi and the crew from Billet Technology, Pure Audio, Slam Specialties, PropR Props, my mom and papa and of course my very understanding wife Naomi.

I would also like to thank the guys who filled me with ideas and inspiration with their amazing Chargers; Bryan Fuller, Jay Lightner, Flex Wheeler and Patrick Taylor to mention a few. I quite enjoy going to car shows. I like to go to a couple of new ones every year and the car catches a lot of eyes and attracts a lot of attention. Over the 10 years that I have been showing it, the car has won over 50 trophies from top 50 to best Mopar to even best Lowrider.”

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Cody Krueger

Car Feature Editor – cody.krueger@shawgroupmedia.com Since the age of 4, Cody has been obsessed with everything Mopar. On Christmas of 1998, Cody's parents gave him a rusty '69 Charger shell that his father saved from a field. Cody's garage still features that '69 Charger as well as the additions of a '71 Charger R/T, '71 Super Bee, '73 Duster, '08 Challenger SRT8 and a '13 Ram 3500. Cody can truly and proudly say that he is a true Mopar nut in love with all types of Mopars!

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