(Photos: Facebook/SRT-8 Mirada) I can already hear you, reader: “Who in their right mind would build a Dodge Mirada?” Ok, besides me, who? What would make someone look at Dodge’s forgotten coupe from the early 1980s and go, “You know what, I want that. I want to put money into that car. I want to do something with it that nobody has ever done before, I want it to be gorgeous, nice, fast, and reliable. But most of all, I want it to be mine.” Who does that? Don’t point the finger at me this time…while I enjoyed the SuperBeater Mirada, that car was bought with a very sinister intention: I was going to beat the stuffing out of that car every chance I got, and I did just that. The Nightwatch Blue beauty you see here is as far from a low-buck beater as you can get. For about six years now, I’ve been following the progress of this particular 1983 Dodge Mirada CMX on Facebook. It was kind of hard to pass up when the name of the page is “SRT-8 Mirada”…it doesn’t matter your opinion on the J-body, just seeing that alone deserves a good look.

According to John Morawski, the builder of the SRT-8 Mirada, “The project started when the owner (Jim Smith, a friend of his since they met at a major airline in 1998) told me that his dad had a car like this one, that he always liked when he was a kid. He wanted to make a car like his dad’s, but one with more modern characteristics…not just a big engine stuffed into an old car. We came up with the idea to take the body off of a new SRT-8 Charger & put the body of this car onto it. 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.”

Starting with good bones was a requirement for such an ambitious task. Luckily, the Mirada sourced was as nice as they come, complete, taken care of, and stock. On it’s own, it presented as well as a bone-stock Mirada can. The second half of the project was a 2007 Dodge Charger SRT-8 that had been the recipient of a 40-MPH nose job. Showing only 15,000 miles on the clock, the Charger had barely been broken in, and once an ABS sensor had been replaced, a repair made on the wiring harness, and the hood and radiator secured, the Charger was yard-driveable…and impressed John with the grunt from the 6.1L Hemi and all of the features found on the inside.

But before any hacking or carving could begin, measurements had to be taken to ensure that the project didn’t turn into welding hell. Precise measurements were taken from both cars and a binder filled with every last detail of both cars was built up as a reference guide to ensure that once the grinders and welders started going to town, that there would always be a guide to fall back on. And it would certainly be needed, because there are major differences between the Chrysler Corporation J-body and the DaimlerChrysler LX-platform. In total, Morawski cut out 7.3 inches out of the rear seat footwell area (done in two cuts, one initial and one after the chassis had been test-fit to the Mirada body) and the suspension had to be narrowed three inches, which involved slicing and dicing 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. Take the interior: on the surface, most of it seems to be a direct lift from the Charger. But look closely, because in addition to the custom door panels and plastics that match the Mirada’s shape, there is the custom dash that uses a good section of the “top plate” from a Mirada’s dash, a seriously modified HVAC ducting system, custom window motors that function with the Charger’s switches, and more…lots more. Remember, the goal was to have all of the modern amenities, and that meant that everything, from dash readouts and audio system to the air conditioning and the seat controls, had to function properly. 

The body and paint work wasn’t much easier, either. What appears to be a custom bodykit with ground effects is necessary…the Charger floorpan sits about four inches lower than the Mirada floorpan did, so Morawski created the full-perimeter effects that taper at the ends for a sevelte look, a rear bumper valance and modified the nosecone, completing the look with foglamps. The taillight surround pieces, a nortorious issue on Cordobas and Miradas, had to be replaced, and Morawski went with correct corner pieces that required major working to fit properly. The windshield proved to be especially difficult to source and expensive to do. Since nobody makes glass for a Chrysler J-body, a custom windshield had to be made. Don’t ask how much that was, you simply do not want to know.

As you can expect, for one man working out of his garage for most of the time the Mirada was undergoing it’s transformation, John has poured heart, soul, and a metric ton of hours into the project. According to his figures, he alone (not counting a lot of the paint booth time or the interior shop) has over 2,083 man-hours into the car. Additional help with body modifications, final fitment, exterior paint and paint finessing was performed by Frank Waggoner. Add in the time it took in the upholstery shop for the interior and the complete reskin of the Mirada’s faux convertible roof from tan to white, and you start to grasp the entirety of the build. The car is done, and soon Smith will get the car he has been dreaming of for years now. It’s been fantastic to watch the progression of this car, seeing it transform from a very nice and complete stocker to what it is today. And you can see what has taken place as well: the video below has every picture taken, in order, from start to finish. And if you need to take some time and want to look over the work yourself, the SRT-8 Mirada Facebook page has the entirety of the build documented.