Chrysler Hemi turns 50

[awa355]

In the 60's 70's, the name Hemi was up there with the Mustang. Did any KB'rs race this engine?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=11188180

Another website with lots of history,

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/hemi/chrysler-hemi.html

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w420/awa355/Untitledpicture.png

[The Reibz]

I bet that car does maddddddd skiddddsssss

[scumdog]

Too rare down here - must have been almost the 80's before I saw a 426 Hemi!

[fridayflash]

i love the big hemi's, only ever seen them in drag cars tho...of course even chevrolet have hemi engines now courtesy of keith black dying and them assuming the rights to copy the infamous head design. hemi nascars did so much winning in the 1960'sthe rules had to be tweaked...two four barrel carbs for ford and chev, and just the one four barrel for the hemi's, talk about handicap!

[ellipsis]

...the local hemis collect in our domain most years,(Canterbury)...it's always a good display of dedicated to the slant, owners and their cool stuff...

[Motu]

Chrysler's first Hemi was made in 1951, they were called the Firepower in the Chrysler, Firedome in the DeSoto and the Red Ram for Dodge. They called them Hemi in the '60's - so the design is a lot older than 50 years. I've got a service manual with the dodge engine in it, was in the Mitsi dealership where I worked, previously Rootes and Chrysler before that. I doubt they ever saw one....I've never seen one in a real NZ car.

First time I saw a blown Hemi was at the Kopuku drag strip.

Of course motorcycles of the time always had a hemi head, so what was the big deal ? Bad design as they found out later.

[fridayflash]

ive owned a number of hemi's...but they were all sixes of course, the americans didnt have the hemi 6 used in aussie cars (apart from the orig prototype made for an american market pickup) but they were damn impressed when mopar magazine tested an e38 and e49 charger, yeehaa!!!!

[Laava]

There is a series of ads for Hemi, this one being the original. They are worth a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyrcP5utXt4&sns=em

[James Deuce]

ive owned a number of hemi's...but they were all sixes of course, the americans didnt have the hemi 6 used in aussie cars (apart from the orig prototype made for an american market pickup) but they were damn impressed when mopar magazine tested an e38 and e49 charger, yeehaa!!!!

A test ride in an E38 is still one of my favourite joyrides. When I look back on it, I wonder what all the hoopla around drifting is about. That's how we test drove cars back in the day.

[Woodman]

My first car was a Charger. Just a standard 6 cyl (v8 Valiant chargers arent proper IMHO) great car, great memories and man oh man do I wish I had kept it instead of selling it off in bits :bye:.

[fridayflash]

A test ride in an E38 is still one of my favourite joyrides. When I look back on it, I wonder what all the hoopla around drifting is about. That's how we test drove cars back in the day.


i know what you mean, chargers were light in the boot and went sideways real quik! a mate of mine was running e49 cam grind, 650 holley double pumper on a home made manifold and headers on a 265, that poor mans "e49" setup worked like magic and that thing would break traction on any bend or sweeper whenever asked...no question at all. (on bf goodrich 265/50/14's ...eight inch triden mags of course)

same bloke later bought a gen-u-ine e38 for $4000! imagine that nowadays? with the bathurst tank in the boot you'd be lucky to fit a ten speed wheel as a spare let alone a, eight inch rim lol

[SMOKEU]

Antiquated V8s are still nowhere near as cool as Chrysler's turbine cars.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2A5ijU3Ivs

[fridayflash]

My first car was a Charger. Just a standard 6 cyl (v8 Valiant chargers arent proper IMHO) great car, great memories and man oh man do I wish I had kept it instead of selling it off in bits :bye:.


i agree there, a v8 charger aint quite right....their pedigree is all hemi to me:clap: i did own a v8 regal but it had the later 'blue' smogger engine 318
went ok but nothing on the older 'fireball' 318's

[fridayflash]

this is what ford came up with in '64 to compete with the new 426 hemi in nascar and nhra drag racing a 427 sohc! talk about high tech

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1163/1270351616_cdf21e7734_o.jpg

[pete376403]

And if you look at the allpar pages (link in the first post) Chrysler designed and possibly built (opinions vary) DOHC 4vheads for the hemi block to counter the sohc fords in nascar -
"A pair of 426 dual-overhead cam Hemis might have been produced in 1964 to counter Ford's response to the 1964 426 Hemi, the 427 SOHC, but when NASCAR ruled against Ford's engine, there was no need for the overhead-cam Hemi."