Imagine having two machines that are truly one of a kind and their combined horsepower is close to or even beyond the two grand mark. Dr. Rico Guerra loves to live life in the fast lane and with the top down. This transplanted Chicago native calls Edmond, Oklahoma, his home and has been an Interventional Pain Specialist for 15 years while achieving a double board certification in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. When he’s not making his rounds, Dr. Guerra can be found in his shop next to his home playing with his cars and going all out with a supercharged 6.2L HEMI® engine under the command of his right foot while he can easily haul these machines down to the posted speed limits courtesy of Brembo brakes and the feel of his left foot.
“I have always loved cool and exotic cars, when I was a kid, I had posters on my bedroom wall of Lamborghinis and Ferraris and always knew one day that I would eventually own one,” said Dr. Guerra. “Before 2020, I’d owned a Lamborghini Jalpa, Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari Testarossa, Aston Martin Vanquish, Lotus Elise and even a DeLorean. I’ve also owned a Ram SRT10 Quad Cab truck, SRT8 Grand Cherokee and SRT6 Crossfire, so I was very familiar with the SRT® brand.” But as Dr. Guerra discovered, owning and driving exotic cars comes with a price, especially if you live in the rough and tumble landscape of Oklahoma with its pothole roads and ruts that appear out of nowhere. “I began to lose interest in driving these exotics, it just wasn’t enjoyable, so one day in 2020, I simply Googled ‘Badass Convertible’ and pics of a 2018 Challenger SRT Demon Convertible appeared. I called the dealership, learned it was a conversion done by Drop Top Customs and a rare piece, and I bought it,” noted Dr. Guerra.
Wanting to put his personal touches on his new ride, Dr. Guerra made some subtle changes. It’s not like a one-of-one 2018 Plum Crazy Challenger SRT Demon is something you see every day, but the good doctor wanted to add his personal touch that included changing the wheels, custom-painted brake calipers and adding rear quarter panel graphics. Hitting the local “Cars and Coffee” happenings and numerous local shows, the response from fellow car enthusiasts had been overwhelming. “Many people get excited when they see my 2018 Demon convertible. They say, ‘Is that really a Demon? That’s insane!’ and I tell them the unique story on the car,” noted Dr. Guerra.
While enjoying his 2018 Challenger SRT Demon, Dr. Guerra was also passing his love, enthusiasm and passion for cool cars down to his son. “I bought my oldest son an orange 2008 Challenger SRT8 for his high school graduation. Ironically, that was my dream car while in residence, but I couldn’t afford one at the time,” noted Dr. Guerra. “I had no idea the Dodge would be doing a ‘Last Call’ Demon 170 until my son called me on the morning the press release went out. Once he emailed me the press release and it indicated 2018 Demon owners had the option of VIN matching to the 2023 Demon 170, I realized it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own two very special cars that will never be made again.”
Not knowing what to expect when it came time to order the SRT Demon 170 and get a VIN match to his 2018 ride, Dr. Guerra began calling a variety of dealers near and far from his home that would have allocation. “I was busy seeing patients, but I did not want to lose out, so my wife Kari made many calls to numerous dealers and secured an order. She gets the credit for finding me a Plum Crazy 2023 Demon 170. Once the order was secured, I contacted the Demon SRT Concierge Line to get a VIN match and the folk there were great to deal with,” exclaimed Dr. Guerra. “I immediately received an email confirmation on the Demon 170 order and called Jeff Moran at Drop Top Customs in Florida. Since my 2018 Demon was built by his team and I know the work they do, I wanted to turn my Demon 170 into a convertible. My concern was if he could do the conversion with the increased horsepower and torque, and he assured me it would be no problem since he already made his personal F8 Green Demon 170 into a convertible and knew what increased modifications to the chassis had to be done.”
Once his SRT Demon 170 arrived at the dealer, Dr. Guerra wasted no time shipping it down to Florida for Drop Top Customs to begin the conversion process. “I picked up the Demon 170 on a Friday morning, drove it 2.5 miles and had shipped out Saturday morning. Back in March, I headed down to Drop Top Customs and witnessed the top being cut off and helped remove it from the car and that was a bucket list for me,” remarked Dr. Guerra. “The quality of work from Jeff (Moran) and his craftsmen is second to none!”
With two rare VIN-matching SRT Demons in his stable, we have a feeling Dr. Guerra’s passion for the unique, fast and extremely rare car will continue and eventually, more will get added to his collection. But for now, he’ll have to decide which Challenger SRT Demon convertible he’ll take to car shows around Oklahoma City. But that’s okay, the feeling is surreal, and words cannot explain how he feels when he hits the red dash-mounted ignition switch, the HEMI engine roars to life, the top goes down and he’s driving the only one in existence.
Photo credit: Underline Photography
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