When it comes to tastefully modified modern Mopars, Ron Palma of British Columbia, Canada is no stranger to the game. Back in October 2015, we did a feature on Ron’s drop dead gorgeous 2005 Dodge Magnum R/T. Through all of the years we’ve known Ron, he’s always mentioned how he wanted a Challenger since they were first announced over ten years ago.

“Back in 2006, Motor Trend Magazine featured the modern concept Challenger on one of their covers. That issue of the magazine is what always made me want a Challenger. The minute I saw it, I fell in love but I never thought I’d be able to get one having 3 kids,” says Ron.

Over the years, Ron built and modified his Magnum, always doing something different to it until he felt it had reached the point where it was “just right”. Meanwhile though, he couldn’t get the thought of a Challenger out of his head. Just over two years ago, Ron decided he was ready to pull the trigger and get one.

Ron tells us, “I was considering R/Ts and Scat Packs with the Hemi. I originally was going to get a bone stock Challenger and build it and modify it to my liking. I was constantly getting ideas for my build. The first time I saw a Challenger with a Liberty Walk body kit, I knew I had to have mine that way. People love it or hate it and that’s totally fine. Fender flares on these cars isn’t for everyone and I get it but I absolutely love the raw style these cars have with the Japanese-made Liberty Walk flares with the exposed fasteners. They made the already aggressive look of the car that much more imposing, especially when it’s laid out on the ground with air suspension.”

It was right around this time that Ron happened to be offered a Challenger for sale from a mutual friend in the car community. The car was a bright white 2015 Challenger located down in Los Angeles, California and not only had air suspension and custom wheels but also had a Liberty Walk body kit. The bulk of the modifications Ron had planned to do on a Challenger were already done on this one. The boxes all seemed to be checked for Ron, except for one thing.

It wasn’t a Hemi; it had the 3.6L Pentastar V6. While they are plenty powerful in their own right, it just wasn’t the Hemi he had wanted. However, the car did have the major modifications he wanted already done and would be a perfect canvas for him to build on. After some thinking, he decided the deal was too good to pass up and pulled the trigger on the Challenger and brought it back home to Canada.

Since getting it home two years ago, Ron has continued to build the car to his personal vision. While the air suspension set-up came on the car when he bought it, Ron couldn’t leave it alone without some minor modifications. He had BagBarn custom build a hard line air tank set-up to tie in to the existing Universal air suspension set-up that consists of Bilstein struts, UAS bags, a Thirty3 Pneumatics manifold valve and a VIAIR air compressor.

Everything is controlled by an Accuair management system with a touch pad that sits in the center console. Ron’s Challenger rides on a set of Infinitewerks LS wheels (20×13.5 front and 20×14.5 rear) that he had re-done in a gloss black and gun metal finish wrapped in Toyo Proxes R888R tires (285/35/20 front and 315/30/20 rear).

As mentioned, Ron’s Challenger features a Liberty Walk body kit that was installed by LTMW in El Monte, California. For the longest time, if you wanted wide wheel flares on your Challenger, Liberty Walk was the only way to go. They made these long before Dodge did. To complete the vision he had in mind for the exterior, Ron had BagBarn add front and side splitters to go with the duck tail spoiler that the previous owner installed out back that is a lot more aggressive than the factory piece. He brought the car to Canawrap to do the vinyl and decal work on it.

Besides the addition of a Magnaflow exhaust system, the engine is stock and how it left the factory. “I have a Sprintex supercharger for it but have never installed it. I flip back and forth almost daily on installing it. I’ve also considered a Hemi swap or getting a different car and starting another build from scratch. I have dialed it down with this car now so I think there’s a possibility of getting something new soon,” explains Ron.

“I have to thank RJ Motorsports for maintaining the car. My absolute favorite moment with the car is having it featured at the Vancouver International Auto Show in both 2017 and 2018. I never thought I’d have the honor of doing so; let alone two years in a row. I really have to give huge thanks to the good people at Drive Marketing, Dub Magazine and Monster Energy for making that happen,” says Ron.

He continues to say, “I’d like to thank the people and companies that helped make this car the result you see today; Liberty Walk, BagBarn, Thirty3 Pneumatics, Sprintex Superchargers, Toyo Tires, Canawrap, RJ Motorsports, Treadwear Tire Stickers, Magnaflow, Infinitewerks Wheels and Sakay Lifestyle.”

In closing, he says, “After all those years of wanting a Challenger, I’m fortunate enough now to have my own and have it modified in a way that is totally my style; extreme in some regard with its wide stance and wheel set up, but still clean and tastefully done.”

If you are a fan of Ron’s Challenger, give him a follow on Instagram at Narts23 and keep an eye out for a feature video due soon by Pixel Motion Films featuring Ron’s love for cars and his family. Photography courtesy of Dylan Ackimenko, JP Mataleon, Jamie Moon, David Delafuente, Taylor McPhail and Ron Palma. Thank you very much to all of you for supplying these fantastic shots!

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