It’s been a while since I’ve run into Rattamus Maximus. Possibly over a decade. Which seems impossible!
When Scott Harris took delivery of his red Challenger SRT® in 2009, he knew it was destined for greatness. A lot of people would take it easy on a brand-new vehicle. Some would admire it under nice garage lighting for a few weeks before even considering modding it.
Not Harris! With just 8 miles on the odometer, his wife walked into the garage to find him with a blanket across the engine bay, drilling holes in the firewall to install a strut brace. “What are you doing? It’s a brand-new car!” she exclaimed. “I’M MAKING IT BETTER!” He replied. She shook her head and slowly closed the garage door. That first modification was merely the opening salvo that would become an all-out assault of modification madness.
“I knew I had to put my hands on everything to turn this Challenger into what I truly wanted,” Harris explains. The suspension came first – lowered on progressive rate springs, strut tower bars and pretty much all of the Hotchkis catalog. Some NoHop bars from HopNot to dial out the wheel hop he experienced at the dragstrip, and everything settled into the feel Scott was looking for. Now? “This thing pulls more than 1G easily.” Whether he’s ripping around the road course at Barber Motorsports Park or cruising Talladega at 150 mph, the car remains planted and composed.
The drivetrain transformation is where things get genuinely mental. After months of “bothering, badgering and harassing” (Scott’s words… not mine, lol.) his wife about engine mods, she finally relented: “Enough! I’m tired of hearing it. Go do it.” He made her repeat it three times for good measure.
The original transmission couldn’t handle the newfound power and was replaced with a beefier Viper-sourced unit. Even that couldn’t contain the beast entirely. The first clutch, rated for 900 ft-lbs of torque, gave its life trying to fight off the engine’s fury. The current setup features a SPEC multi-disc clutch capable of handling 1,550 ft-lbs while maintaining surprisingly civilized street manners.
Even the axles weren’t immune to Rattamus Maximus’s appetite for destruction. On his first test drive after the engine build, Harris “nailed it,” returning to the Arrington Performance shop, and – BOOM… a rapid unscheduled demolition of the supposedly bulletproof aftermarket 1,200-horsepower axles occurred. After close inspection, a manufacturing flaw was discovered. A new pair of axles were installed and life was good again. With the driveline sorted, it was time to dive into some serious paint, interior and detail work.
Prodigious power and finely tuned suspension are not the only things that set this Challenger apart from the crowd. It’s the artwork that transforms it from merely fast to genuinely unforgettable. The idea for the Rat Fink theme came after Harris lost a car show to what he describes as a “JC Whitney Mustang – it looked like somebody opened a JC Whitney catalog and just shook out everything that would fit.” Mr. Harris was not amused.
Determined to stand out, Harris connected with Dennis Lyons at “Impatient Creations” and airbrush artist extraordinaire “Airbrush Mike,” and the journey began. Scott was on a mission to incorporate Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s iconic Rat Fink character into the Challenger, and nothing would stop him. “As I was telling Airbrush Mike about the concept, I could see his eyes starting to glow. I think he’s an alien,” Harris jokes.
An escalating artistic vision followed. Transforming the Challenger into a rolling tribute to hot rod culture. The Mopar® tribal styling on the bottom quarters, Rat Fink characters throughout, the underhood airbrushing, the custom interior – “one thing led to another and another and another,” Harris recalls.
The universe has a funny way of validating passion projects. At a local car show, Harris spotted a wide-eyed man meticulously studying the murals, interior and pinstriping. Something in the man’s gaze suggested more than casual curiosity. Harris asked, “Do you know who the character in all the custom work is?” Expecting the usual blank stare that greets most cultural references predating TikTok. “Yeah, it’s Rat Fink,” the man answered without hesitation, his eyes never leaving the green rat in the red tank top. Surprised, Harris asked, “How do you know about Rat Fink?” The reply came like a thunderbolt: “My dad.” That dad wasn’t just any enthusiast – the man’s “Dad” was Ed Roth himself! Not long after that show, Ed’s wife, Ilene, contacted Scott. “I love what you’ve done with that car! You have carte blanche to do anything you want with that car, as long as it’s a tribute to my husband.”
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The interior received equally meticulous attention. Roadwire Leather Interiors decided to aid in the build, and Jina’s Simple Sew in Corona, California, recreated the Rat Fink imagery in intricate embroidery. “She said it took 8 hours per design to do on a computer,” Harris notes. These designs were sewn into the headrests and armrests, creating a cabin unlike any other Challenger on the planet. Harris also worked with SMS Supercars to use their signature design – his remains the only non-SMS Supercar to feature their material, with the SMS logo still proudly displayed on the back of the seats.
What brings Harris the most joy isn’t the raw power or the unique aesthetics – it’s sharing the car with others, particularly young people who may have never heard of Rat Fink or the automotive counterculture of the ’50s and ’60s. “It’s so much fun telling the story of the Rat Fink, how it came about. And they learn something,” Harris says with great pride. “My daughters are so used to it when people see it; they explain what the Rat Fink is, where it came from, what it means.” He lights up when describing how children react to the car. “You give the kids a show card, and they love it so much! Maybe those same kids are going to fall in love with cars. And 5-10 years from now, they buy their first car and start modifying it… that’s the next generation of hot rodders right there.”
This connection across generations transforms Rattamus Maximus from mere transportation into rolling automotive art. As Harris puts it, “It’s a direct link to the automobile counterculture from the ’50s and ’60s. Rat Fink is cool!”
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