Dodge Demon tears through Pittsburgh streets in new Pennzoil ad

A new Pennzoil ad starts with a mysterious hooded figure walking through a dark city, then cuts to a yellow and black Dodge Challenger SRT Demon peeling out with tires smoking.

Windows shatter, wrenches rattle and Pennzoil containers fall from shelves as the the 800-horsepower, rear-wheel-drive muscle car screams past.

Over bridges, through tunnels and empty downtown streets, the Demon pops wheelies, drifts and executes powerslides in a spectacular ride through what is soon revealed to be Pittsburgh.

Released Aug. 14, the Hollywood-style YouTube spot titled "Exorcising the Demon From Pennzoil Synthetics" features the driving skills of Rhys Millen, a former rally driver and top competitor in drifting.

In an accompanying video, "Unleashing Unprecedented Power: Behind the Scenes of Exorcising the Demon," the narrator says, "Pittsburgh is about strength. You're surrounded by steel and iron. A car with this much power is meant to be shot here."

And, of course, it's the Pennzoil, which was founded in Oil City, Pa., that gives the world's most powerful production car the ability to perform at such a high level.

WTAE Channel 4 News reported on May 25 that a Pittsburgh police officer was injured during the video shoot.

The officer's car was blocking the intersection of Liberty Avenue and 24th Street in the Strip District at 4 a.m., when another driver hit his car.

"With movie shoots, commercial shoots, it's possible that perhaps the lights were requested to be off for purposes of filming whatever was being shot," possibly to eliminate glare, police spokeswoman Emily Schaffer said at the time.

The officer was treated and released from the hospital, and the other driver was not injured, police said.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.