My Favorite Ride: What is fallen soldier John Engeman's connection to this Dodge Hellcat?
I've worked at this newspaper with Pat Ellis for a long time, more than 15 years probably. And during that time, the man has owned a lot of cars. I'm pretty sure all of them have been red, my not-so-favorite vehicle color.
There was the 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible, more orange than red, that I wrote a column about years ago. Then he had a 1984 Pontiac Fiero, followed by a 2008 Pontiac Solstice GXP Turbo.
Others followed: a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette ("I never liked Corvettes, but it was such a good deal," Ellis said), a 2016 Ford Mustang GT convertible with a Whipple supercharger ("a race car you could drive on the road but probably shouldn't") and a 400-horsepower 2014 Z51 Corvette convertible.
Last week's My Favorite Ride: How have Corvettes evolved? 'Car show' offers two examples to compare
The last 'Vette was not a smooth riding automobile, and it was difficult to climb in and out of after Ellis suffered a leg injury last year. One day in November, while looking online at cars for sale in the area, he saw a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat parked at Community Chrysler in Bloomington.
"It really caught my attention," Ellis said. He drove down to take a look, and fell for the classic muscle car style, the six-speed manual transmission stick shift and the 707-horsepower engine. It's as powerful as a Lamborghini Aventador.
Edmunds reported in 2015 that the new Challenger "boasts a rare mix of talents, combining the power and attitude of a muscle car with the refinement of a luxury coupe."
Goodbye 2014 Corvette.
When you look under that Hellcat hood, it's not the supercharged V8 engine that catches your attention. It's the air-brushed All-American tribute honoring the late John W. Engeman you see first.
According to news and military reports, Engeman was a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army when he died in May 2006 at the age of 45. Stationed out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was killed in Baghdad during the Iraq War when a improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee.
He was awarded the Legion of Merit award, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service.
Ellis, the car's third owner, hopes to learn more about Engeman and his connection to the car, which was manufactured nearly a decade after his death. An Owen County man had the car before Ellis, but he apparently wasn't the one who added the patriotic embellishments.
More My Favorite Ride: A timely 2,200-mile father-son road trip in an old Ford truck
It would have been the car's first owner who had the tribute painted on the inside of the hood and a vinyl wrap applied inside the trunk lid.
Ellis said of the 30 or more cars he's owned, this is his favorite. Fast and flashy and right up his alley. The Hellcat has two key fobs that control the engine output: the black one sets the engine at 500 horsepower, and with the red one, it's up to 700.
"It's not just a cool car," Ellis said. "There's more to it. It's like a shrine."
He said the story he got was that the first owner had served in the Army with Engeman and had customized the car as a tribute to his friend.
My Favorite Ride gets published and read far and wide. Maybe I'll hear back from someone who knows the full story.
Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-331-4362 or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Dodge Challenger Hellcat conceals tribute to officer killed in Iraq
