The Dodge Durango Hellcat is a pricey and desirable machine, but take it on an illegal street race in Louisville, Kentucky and you may shed some tears later on watching it get crushed by an industrial press. Irrational? Maybe. Efficient? Absolutely, the local police say.
The campaign to end dangerous street overtakes and racing started in Louisville a few years ago. During a public event dedicated to the crushing of the Durango, the police revealed that it had confiscated 167 vehicles from perpetrators over that period. The SUV was seized last year and had waited several months for the execution.
Why not add a car as desirable as the Durango to their own fleet or, failing that, auction it off? According to the police, the SUV had a number of illegal modifications installed, a stolen engine being the biggest of them. Legalizing it would have been too much pain for what it was worth.
Moreover, the city authorities said they wanted to send a message to anyone still in the mood of turning Louisville streets into their personal race track. Mayor Craig Greenberg promised to keep seizing and crushing any non-street-legal vehicles found until the roads are safe again.
