Not every car needs to be pretty. The paint does not need to shine, the interior only needs to care for the driver, and whether or not other people like it is irrelevant. For those who do not see a car as an appliance, but instead as a personality extension of sorts, some cars just need to menace. They do not, and should not, exist as art, but instead should be likened to a dark hero’s horse: always reliable, always ready, a symbol of power, and damn hard to kill. These types of cars, when featured in films, tend to find more favor than the pretty, show-and-shine ready vehicles. Look at Max Rockatansky’s Ford Falcon, or Frank Castle’s GTO in the 2004 version of “The Punisher.” Even in the steaming pile that was “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”, Sean Boswell’s Monte Carlo pulled off the look, as the all-motor monster that stood out from a parking lot of rich kid cars at the high school. I love these kinds of cars. I grew up with several stripped-out monsters as a kid, and I’ve done the conversion to a couple of cars I’ve owned, and each time I slid into the seat, fired off the pissed off V8 under the hood, reached for the cold metal shifter and stomped down on a stiff gas pedal, the rest of the world just disappeared into a soundtrack ripped straight from a 1970s car chase movie.

Finding this 1966 Dodge Coronet on eBay was like seeing a mirage miles down the road from where you are at. I’m not a fan of the squared-off 1965-67 Mopar B-body normally, but like any car, sometimes the theme works better than the car itself. Let’s just go front to back on this one: under the flip-front is a 440 that packs a dyno-proven 383 RWHP and 433 Ft/Lbs of torque…nothing overkill but plenty to use. Power runs through a 727 automatic out back to a 489 rear axle filled with 3.23 gears and a locker. The fuel tank was ditched in favor of a trunk-mounted fuel cell, the front and back glass was ditched in favor of polycarbonate, some rust was patched (the seller admits that his bodywork isn’t great) and inside, two bucket seats, harnesses, and cagework welcome the driver. Gas pedal? Horizontal bar. Shifter? A B&M ratchet. If you need any reminder of what you’re driving, just look at the dashboard.

According to the seller, “This car is an absolute blast to drive. It runs and drives great, and has a clean title with tabs good until September. I’ve only put about 1000 miles on it this year so I’ve decided to sell it. I understand this is a very customized car and that it’s not for everyone, but I think it’s really cool. I’m embarrassed to say how much money I have into it and unfortunately I know I’m going to end up losing out when I sell it, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. Even my buy it now (which is not listed) is less than 1/4 of what I have in this car.” In this case, don’t ask questions. Think about tearing down a lonely stretch of asphalt in this thing as a thunderstorm approaches. This is a villain’s car just waiting to be discovered, a vigilante’s daily driver. All that’s missing is the shotgun rack next to the very, very pissed off driver.

eBay Link: 1966 Dodge Coronet