4 Ways to Celebrate All Things Hemi on 4/26
Even though Hemi-powered car and truck production is now firmly in the rearview, today’s date, 4/26, will never not make us think fondly of those all-mighty beasts. Although it was an expensive and somewhat rare option, Chrysler’s 426 Hemi V-8 made a huge impact in both street cars and in racing. It set records in NASCAR, was a menace in Pro Stock drag cars, and rewrote the rules in Top Fuel drag racing, where Hemi V-8 architecture is still being used today. Here’s a look back at our favorite Hemi content to get your Hemi knowledge firing on all cylinders for April 26.
Know the History
Step one in Hemi appreciation is a look into its history and development. Performance-testing veteran and engineering aficionado Don Sherman shows the guts of the Hemi engine and how its design decisions applied to real-world power.
Dig into the Machine
You can tell the 426 Hemi means business without even popping the valve covers, and the bigger, meaner, 500-cubic-inch Top Fuel Hemi found in the quickest cars in the world makes that even more apparent. Davin Reckow and the “Redline Rebuild” crew tore into an 11,000-hp nitromethane-burning Hemi to see the extreme end of pushrod technology. It may be made of aftermarket components, but deep down it’s just the latest evolution of Chrysler’s big-block Hemi.
Love the Legends
Big-block Hemi V-8s were record-setters and race winners right out of the gate and claimed plenty of memorable automotive firsts. The 1969 Charger Daytona you see above was the first car to run 200 mph on a closed circuit.
Appreciate the Art
Not every 426 Hemi car was a racer; some were just powerful, beautiful machines. This 1971 ‘Cuda convertible is about as understated as a Hemi ‘Cuda can be and yet still exudes muscle car machismo.
If you’ve got a Hemi-powered machine of your own, whether it’s an early Firedome-powered fantastically finned cruiser, one of these 426-powered brutes, or a late-model daily driver with some attitude, we hope you get a chance to hear your V-8 roar today.
This story originally appeared on our site April 26, 2021.
***
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.
Hemi is actually misnamed. Its combustion chamber is significantly less than HALF a sphere.
I’ll give them the Hemi nomenclature on the early (426 and prior ) Mopar designs. They may not be fully half a sphere but they’re close enough for jazz. Fords Boss 9 is often referred to as a Hemi , often even in print. We called them semi(E) hemis and Ford called the combustion chambers ” crescent shaped “. In one of Hagertys ‘Drivers Club’ issues they discussed the development of the 911 engine and how a ‘true’ hemispherical head was found not to be the optimum design by Porsche as well. There are many other examples. Today’s Dodge/Ram sport the Hemi badge prominently. Not really true to form but it still sells well enough and they seem to have copyrighted the term.