In the past couple of SEMA Shows, we’ve been pleasantly surprised and covered with warm fuzzies after seeing the display of Mopar performance and muscle. This year, however, we were a little disappointed with the lack of modern brawn on display. We didn’t see a Viper or a Hellcat, and the crate engine displays from last year were missing this year.

When we first arrived, the first vehicles to catch our attention were trucks: namely the Jeep Crew Chief 715, which was flanked by a soft-top Jeep Comanche pickup and Dodge Durango Shaker sporting Viper seating and the infamous shaker scoop.

The Comanche was cool from the rear, but that front end was a little distracting. It was a melding of classic Jeep pickup and the millenial-esque Jeep Renegade. We loved the concept behind it, but it definitely needed a more rugged-looking front end to match the box behind the cab.

A few feet over, now that’s what we’re talking about. The Jeep Crew Chief 715 had that classic Comanche look and paid homage to the legendary Jeep military trucks, particularly the Kaiser M715. Utilizing the Wrangler concept many might remember from the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, the Crew Chief was a beast.

As cool as the Crew Chief looked on the outside, the power came from the Pentastar 3.6 liter V6, and that was a bit of a disappointment; another millenial-esque strike to the Jeep many of us grew up with. We would have loved to see a straight-six powering this truck, but it was still cool nonetheless.

The next stop on our mystery tour was the Durango Shaker in look-at-me B5 Blue. The Durango has been a great looking SUV, and adding the shaker to it meant that it now has some beefiness added. Now the Durango can hang with the Chargers and Challengers and not look like the wife brought the kids (even if she did).

All in all, even if we were a little disappointed, we think all three should hit the showroom floor as-is, because let’s face it… we are starting to like a little luxury with our brawn these days, and that makes for a pretty good combination on all accounts. The Daytona gave us a little bit of hope, but it was the lone modern musclecar on display at the FCA booth.

Old School Makes An Appearance

After cruising past the Charger Daytona – the lone modern musclecar at the FCA booth – we saw some old school Mopars that were tightly roped off, keeping us from getting some decent full profile photos.

The early 1950 Dodge truck sported a modern 6.4L hemi engine, laid down on the frame with air bags, and had just enough patina to make it very cool. The wheels were a bit large, but that’s par for the course these days. We liked the rusty chain on the bumper, too.

In the same area we came across a pair of E-body cars transplanted with modern Hemis. The dark satin finish on the Shakedown Challenger drew us in with unique red and gloss black striping. Under the shaker hood was a modern 392 Hemi, and out back, modern Challenger tail lamps were a very nice touch.

Next to that, roped off and caged in, was another classic with modern 392 Hemi power. The Graveyard Carz Hemi ‘Cuda was wearing a Sassy Grass Green paint job and truly stood out. Behind the Hemi was a Silver Sport Transmissions-supplied Tremec Magnum six-speed.

The other classic Mopar was the 1975 Dodge Dart Sport “Project Yankee” from Mike Garrett at Speedhunters. This car sported a satin purple wrap and looked very much the part of a car you might find in someone’s virtual garage on Forza Horizon – and we like it!

The purple Dodge was also powered by a modern Hemi – a 5.7-liter variant. It was every bit the road race car it seems to be, and had plenty of performance bling inside and out. Though it ddn’t have the same look that many other high-dollar musclecars have at SEMA, we dug the simplicity of it.

There were a few other Jeeps and RAM trucks, and vans, and we almost forgot to mention the one modern Challenger at the show. However, this Bondurant Hellcat was attached to a video game, so it was more or less the ultimate rich boy’s video game – one most any of us would love to have, or even just have the room for it. So until next year, or the next Mopar gathering, we will have to limit our Mopar appetite to just a few cars from the FCA booth.