Someone Built The Jeep Renegade Stellantis Never Gave Us

The iconic Hemi V8 is making a triumphant return. After several strategic missteps and an overestimation of near-term EV demand, Stellantis is now ramping up production of Hemi V8 engines, expanding their availability across more models, and leaning back into something many buyers still want: raw, unadulterated American horsepower.

Read: This Guy Is Giving Us The V8 HEMI-Powered Jeep Renegade We Didn’t Know We Wanted

With that backdrop, it felt like a good time to revisit one of the more entertaining Hemi-related builds circulating on YouTube. We first covered this Hemi-swapped Jeep Renegade back in 2022. Since then, the project has continued to evolve, and the unlikely creation is now fully driveable.

If you thought the Renegade was an unassuming little crossover, this particular example may change your mind.

Mike Martin, the man responsible for the build, started the project in late 2020. The goal was simple in theory and slightly unhinged in practice: create a Jeep Renegade unlike any other. To do it, he bought a 2016 Dodge Charger R/T as a donor car and somehow managed to shoehorn its 5.7-liter Hemi V8 beneath the hood of the pint-sized Jeep

Never-Ending Upgrades

Predictably, dropping a 5.7-liter Charger V8 into a Renegade is not a straightforward bolt-in job. Martin had to graft sections of the Charger’s floor and firewall into the Jeep just to make space for the drivetrain.

The electrical side proved just as involved, requiring a complete rewiring of the vehicle so everything would function properly. The result is a Renegade that runs with the kind of composure you might expect if Jeep had actually built a V8 version in the first place.

Over the past five years, Martin has posted nearly 50 videos documenting the Renegade’s transformation, which tells you everything about how involved this project has become. Simply dropping in a Hemi and calling it finished was never part of the plan.

The Jeep now runs Hellcat-sourced brakes, lowered air suspension, a heavily reworked exterior, and an interior packed with upgrades that range from sensible to over the top.

In fact, the Jeep features a custom-built roll cage and a bespoke audio system that he’s put together in his garage. There’s even a Rolls-Royce-inspired starlight headliner and a fully-functional air conditioning system. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and this YouTuber has proven it.