Showcase: The DEQ Dodge Demon
I know what your thinking. “Wait, that’s not a Dodge Demon” but hear us out!
Back in 2015, our studio wanted to have some fun with automotive design. We were especially interested in exploring the question, “What kind of car do young, wealthy car enthusiasts want to buy these days?”
Our hypothesis: modern car enthusiasts want to buy something you can drive to work on Monday and race at the club on the weekends. Foreign models like the Subaru ___ and Miata ___ were really popular at the time, presumably for that reason.
This inspired another question: What would it look like to combine the DNA of popular foreign racing cars with a classic American automotive brand?
Enter DEQ’s Dodge Demon.
The funny thing is, only two years after we designed our version of the Demon -- a small, bespoke racer that combined the classic Dodge design traits with the deft maneuvering of a Miata or Subaru -- Dodge decided to release a new version of the Demon that was exactly the opposite of our theoretical model: a big, clumsy muscle car with an absurd amount of horsepower.
The 2018 Dodge Demon is an outrageously powerful drag racer. We’re talking great heaping gobs of power. It’s so powerful, in fact, that it’s illegal to drive on the road unless you take all the racing components out (including the gas), put them in a gigantic box, and sell it for an extra dollar to Richy-Rich McMuscleCar. When you want to race, you essentially have to reassemble the car. Seriously. It took Richard Hammond from Top Gear over an hour to put all the pieces together.
Now, going back to our design. We were aiming to create an American version of a weekend racer for wealthy 30-40 year olds. Of all the American auto companies, Dodge seemed the most likely to go for something like this. They’ve long been known for designing more outside the box than your typical Detroit-made muscle cars. Plus, the 1971 version of the Dodge Demon was a smaller hot rod, so it seemed the perfect car to remake for this design concept.
In our original sketches, we merged the classic Dodge aesthetic with modern car proportions. We identified “Dodge-ness” by looking at the Dodge Challenger and adopting the anchor points of it’s design: the continuous tail light, narrow grill and embedded headlight details.
With this signature Dodge design in mind, we then turned our attention to the racer qualities. We added a roll cage to the foundation of the car, as well as side pipes and even a transparent hood over the turbo charger. For the interior, we imagined a single seater with an optional extra seat (an asymmetrical configuration. Cause these guys probably don’t have girlfriends).
After completing the sketches, we turned to Alias for rendering. In order to capture the attention of our target audience (AKA the “Type A Braggadocious Bro”), we wanted this car to be excessively boastful. With that in mind, we decided it would be cool to add a big piece of glass from the top to the back to show off the roll cage and race car interior.
The DEQ Dodge Demon was completely theoretical, but we stand by our version of the car. If you’re an engineer in your 30s, you want a zippy fun race car, not a throwback hot rod you can’t even race on the road.
The Demon that Dodge released is a retirement car, plain and simple. It’s a design that will be quickly outpaced by the smaller, maneuverable cars that are popular today. Even electric cars are outpacing the Demon (Tesla’s electric seven-seater family sedan, to be exact. No assembly required). Now that’s embarrassing.
Here is what you should’ve done, Dodge.
For more information, you can read our blog, check out our design process, or contact us directly.