Old race cars are cool, I don’t care what they are. If it’s got a history to it and is legitimate, I’m all about it. In the case of this particular Dodge Neon SRT-4 ACR, I’m seriously all about it because it’s one of the three factory-built SCCA T2 SRT-4 body-in-white cars that were factory prepared the 2004 season. Two cars were painted white, black and blue and ran Mopar Performance as their main sponsor. This car was painted white/black/red and ran Dodge sponsorship. They were all pulled off of the line without VIN numbers and prepared for racing. T2 racing was highly competitive and very mixed, with these SRT-4’s running with the likes of Cadillac CTS-V, Chevrolet Camaro Z28, Pontiac Firebird, Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang GT and Mustang Cobra, Saturn Ion Redline, BMW M3, Honda S2000, Mazda RX8, and Porsche Boxsters. Out of the 11 races that were run in 2004, this Neon won twice and sat on the podium six times.
If you think for a second this is just a bone-stock SRT-4 with no interior and a roll cage, you would be sorely mistaken. Even the seller admits that not everything is as it seems under the hood. The long block, turbo, and transmission are “pretty much stock” SRT pieces, with Mopar Stage2/Stage3 fuel injectors, Stage2/Stage3 3-bar MAP/TIP sensors and a PCM with a custom calibration created specifically for the car by Mopar. This tune allows the engine to run on 21psi and 100+ octane race fuel. For suspension, custom valved Suspension Dynamics struts with extremely high rate Mopar race-only springs are used at all four corners with oversized roll bars front and rear, and to stop everything a Wilwood brake kit is used, with the front rotors cooled by ducts ran from the fog light holes.
SRT went all-out to make sure the cars were as light as possible. No sound deadener or undercoating ever met the body shell, and while the under hood wiring harness is close to stock, the interior wiring harness was gutted of everything that was non-essential: window controls, lock controls, radio wiring, rear defrost and other items were hacked out of the system to keep weight down. One lightweight Racetech seat, the same type used in the Viper Competition Coupe, was installed and provisions still exist for bolting a passenger seat into the car. With a second seat installed and a full tank of fuel the SRT-4 weighs in a 2,675 pounds.
The SCCA T2 racing group only lasted one year. After cancellation, the car was returned to Dodge and was used for research and development of parts that were sold to racers through Dodge Motorsports, and occasionally the car was used for “thrill rides” at certain events across the country.
With a buy-in of $11,850, this little Dodge could be an absolute riot to play with. The seller has all of the documentation including the SCCA book for the car, and other than a typical once-over that any used car should get, this SRT-4 would be ready to rock.
To see this SRT-4’s eBay listing (and more pictures), CLICK HERE.
