Story: Reynald Fries
Photography: Scott Dukes

Quinton Jackson literally first made a name for himself at the age of 8, when his cousin dubbed him “Rampage” as a result of his explosive anger. By channeling that rage, he went on to a career in ultimate fighting, ultimately claiming the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (and many other titles). He then crossed over into acting, making a name for himself on the big screen as B.A. Baracus in The A-Team, but it’s his love of cars that caught our attention. We sat down with Rampage to discuss his widebody Chally, his career and his future plans, which include customizing—Rampage style.

RIDES: Let’s talk about your Challenger. How’d you decide on this Dodge?
Rampage Jackson: I saw the body kit at SEMA, so I had to do it. The only reason I wanted the Challenger is for the widebody kit, so I could put those big rims on there. That actually inspired me to get the whole car. I saw the car with the widebody on it, and I was like, “Man, that looks like a mean-ass muscle car.”

Did you buy the Chally stock? Or was it already modified when you scooped it?
It’s an SRT8 but it came stock. Then I put a supercharger in there, an exhaust, performance clutch and the widebody, and the rims. I like the Challengers, but I don’t really like how they look stock. The last addition I had was putting the air bags on there, ’cause when you put big rims and stuff on that car with stock suspension, it won’t be the same. I had the car for years and I didn’t like the way it drove. When I hit bumps, I could hear scraping against the tires. Finally, I got hooked up with AccuAir, and it makes the car look super mean. It just drops all the way down. Now I’m really happy with the suspension and air bags. The car is super pimp. I can slam it when I park, and I don’t gotta worry about people stealin’ my car and shit!

Do you drive it a lot?
Yeah, since I got the air bags on it, I drive it a lot now. I stopped driving it for a while. Honestly, I stopped liking the car because if I had anybody in the backseat or anything in the trunk, you couldn’t really even enjoy driving the car, ’cause if you drove over any bump or hill, you could hear it scrape, you know? My sister is really fat and she likes that car. When she was sitting in the backseat, I could barely get out of my driveway without scraping it up, messing up my tires, and I thought it was killing the car. So now my fat sister and all her fat friends can ride in the back of my car and stuff, no problem.

I noticed the Challenger has the same colors as The A-Team van. You played a major role in that movie—did you choose A-Team colors, or is that a coincidence?
Yeah, I know! It does look like The A-Team van, but it’s not intentional. But red and black are my favorite colors because they were my high school colors. I’m actually wearing red and black right now. When I was wrestling in high school, I was a Raleigh-Egypt Pharaoh in Memphis. So the school colors are red and black. It’s crazy, though, ’cause The A-Team van is red and black. So when they asked me what color I wanted the car, I didn’t really give a fuck ’cause I figured I’d paint the car later anyway, so I was like, “Just give me a black car.” But then it came black with red stripes, and I was like, “Whoa, that’s tight!” So I got black and red rims and stuff like that. You know what? If B. A. Baracus had a second car, it would be this one.

Do you have other cars?
I have a ’69 Lincoln, but I’m not done with that one. I have a ’64 Impala that I’m still working on, and I have a Lamborghini Murciélago, and an Audi R8. That Challenger is my only muscle car, though. I have lifted trucks. I have a [Ford] Expedition that I changed into a personal limo, but you can’t even tell it’s a limo unless you get inside it. I call it a midget limo. And I have a Tesla Model S Performance Plus.

Do you keep them at your crib, or in a garage somewhere?
Well, right now, my neighbors really hate me because I got too many cars parked in my driveway and in front of my house. But I don’t understand it, because it’s not like they’re broken down or anything, and I keep them clean. My neighbor was like, “Um, I don’t wanna see your cars.” And I was like, “Okay, I have a roof on my house too. Want me to take that off?” I guess they just hatin’.

Damn, how do you drive all these?
Sometimes when you got nice cars, people like to drive your shit. I let my friends drive my cars, and I drive my Lambo, ’cause I don’t want nobody driving my Lambo. So I’ll have one of my friends drive my Audi R8, and my other friend can drive the Challenger. Then we’ll go mobbin’ down the street and shit like that. We play with ’em like toys.

I see your name all over the Chally. What’s up with that?
I like to put my name on stuff. I got my name on my bed, in my pool, on my rims. You see my name on the rims? I’m weird like that. I put my name on my own body. I got “Rampage” tattooed on my body. I tattooed it on my arm when I was 15. I’ve been putting “Rampage” all over everything since I was 8. I even tattooed “Rampage” on a couple of my ex-girlfriends’ asses. People wouldn’t know that, but that’s what I do. I put “Rampage” on shit.

How does an 8-year-old get a name like Rampage?
You gotta be a bad motherfucker. I used to play the game Rampage all the time. My cousins and brothers used to always fuck with me and stuff. And as a kid, I used to hyperventilate when I lost my temper. You know how you look when you hyperventilate? They would all make fun of me and torment me until I lost my temper, so I’d hyperventilate. I’d huff and puff and turn all red, all my veins would pop out and stuff. They would do that to me so many times, I would just fuckin’ go nuts. So I would just try to beat all of them up, then punch holes in the walls, kick everybody’s ass, throw chairs around to have them leave me the fuck alone. But they would torment me because they liked the way I looked when I lost my temper. So sure enough, my cousin nicknamed me when I was 8, after the video game. It stuck with me, especially when I started wrestling in high school, because I had it tattooed on my left arm. It’s covered up now, and I got a new one on my right arm professionally done—only ’cause the one I got on my left arm looked really ghetto, it was all crooked and shit. But if you go back and find a video of my very first professional fight, you can actually see that tattoo on my arm. It’s very embarrassing. That name stuck with me, so now my family members call me Rampage.

So what does life after fighting have in store for you?
I wanna buy cars, and I want to fix them up Rampage style. Then I’d want to ship ’em out to places like Japan or to people who like the same style. I want to get a car, pimp it out, put different rims on it, then put “Rampage” on it. I wanna put “Rampage” on the seats, maybe even on the dash. Kinda like a Rampage-edition car. I’d have cars fixed up the way I would fix them up.

Spec The Technique:

Year/Make/Model: 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8

Performance: Vortech V3 Si Supercharger kit with air-to-water charge cooler, producing 560hp and 510 lb.-ft. of torque; AccuAir e-Level system; Brembo brakes; MagnaFlow performance exhaust

Exterior: Asanti widebody kit with Asanti grille

Interior: Stock

Ice: Stock

Wheels/Tires: Asanti ELT162 wheels, 24×9-inch front, 24×14-inch rear; Pirelli P ZERO NERO tires, 275/25/24 front, 405/25/24 rear