Dodge Mirada; that’s not a name you hear very often anymore. What was once a shining star in Dodge’s early ‘80s line-up, it’s now been more or less forgotten, although there do remain some die-hard Mirada fans out there. Our attention was caught when we heard the words “Dodge Mirada SRT-8”.

Jim Smith’s 1983 Dodge Mirada CMX/SRT-8 deserves a good long look. According to a post over on Bangshift.com, builder John Morawski says the project started when the owner Jim told him that his dad had a car like that when he was a kid and had always liked them. He wanted to make a car like his dad’s old one, but add modern features to it.

He didn’t want an old car with a modern engine stuffed under the hood; he wanted a new car wrapped in an old body. That’s when they came up with the idea of taking the shell off a 6.1L HEMI powered 2007 SRT-8 Charger and mating it with the Mirada’s body. John says “the problem is that the dimensions of the two cars were much different and it was a trick to get things to fit. As any fabricator knows, once you make a change, you have to make two or three more changes to make it all work.”

Once the duo found a well taken care of stock Mirada and a written off SRT-8 Charger, the work began. In total, John had to cut out 7.3 inches out of the rear seat foot well and the suspension had to be narrowed three inches, which involved chopping the Charger systems up and stitching them back together. There isn’t an aspect of the Mirada that didn’t require attention, skill and craftsmanship. In the end, the project required an insane amount of fabrication skills and time. Even custom window glass had to be made!

The results are absolutely jaw-dropping though and will give this once forgotten Mirada the spotlight it now deserves. In the video below, you’ll see the entire process from start to finish. The entire build has also been posted on the SRT-8 Mirada Facebook page as well.