This Display Red Ram Hemi Is a Cut Above
Preserving and collecting automobiles has a fascinating side effect: Preserving and collecting all the of the other ephemera that surround our cars. The original sales brochures, shop manuals, and other promotional materials are often a fascinating window into another time. Then there are the promotional items that literally had windows cut into them so we could see the future. One such example was this Red Ram Hemi V-8 cutaway spotted on Facebook Marketplace by Barnfinds.com recently.
The engine is said to be part of promotional material that introduced the public to the idea of the Hemi engine and the combustion chamber shape that gave it that name. The 1950s saw pretty rapid innovation, and lots of manufacturers began to roll out overhead-valve V-8 models into production cars. The Hemi had not yet become the legend we know today, but it seems like someone knew what was on the horizon and kept this piece of memorabilia for the future.
The engine is sliced and diced to show various internal features that are nigh impossible to put eyes on when assembled any other way. Liberal use of a bandsaw aside, this model also has a motor tucked inside, and when the cord hanging out the back is plugged into a 110v wall outlet, a number of lights illuminate the inside and set the crankshaft in motion. The valvetrain cycle through is cool to see from the valve cover side, but to see the actual timing vs piston location is really something.
The seller claims this model is one of three and, per Don Garlits, the only one that is kinetic—the others were just stationary models with other chunks of the engine relieved for sight. That would be something worth researching more before putting in a bid or signing the check for the $22,000 asking price. The seller believes this to be one-of-one but there is evidence of at least one other moving cutaway that was used in a promotional film starring Groucho Marx.
The difficulty of making a clean and functional operating cutaway makes this a really cool bit of kit. That this one has survived over half a century only furthers the wow factor, and the idea that it should be enjoyed well into the future. If your garage or showroom needs something but you just couldn’t find the right thing, this could be it. Also be sure to ask about that cutaway transmission sitting just behind this engine. The seller says he has decided to include it with the sale price—in case you needed any more reason to check your bank account.
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Space is one of the holy trinity of collecting (along with time and money). You can either fill that space with car stuff, or you can fill it with ‘car stuff’ (referred to as ephemera above). I have always strictly opted for (a) and am still challenged for space. If someone has the room for this and is willing to shell out 20K (I would probably buy a whole car or two with that) my hat is off to them.
I think I’d like to see a compression test on that one, first!
When I was studying plastics engineering at Western Washington University, at the other end of the first floor was the Vehicle Research Institute. There was a similar cutaway motor in front of the VRI and I used to stop and look at it all the time. Can’t recall for sure but it may have been a Hemi as well.
It’s cool to look at but really only makes sense in a car museum.
Be nice if somebody in need of a tax deduction would buy it for The Gilmore.
Nobody remembers DeSoto for anything but tailfins, but their teensy hemis are a favorite of mine. We had a ’54 wagon that got over 20 MPG pulling a (tiny) travel trailer. Premium fuel only, but it was usually one cent a gallon more. Lovely ‘Town & Country’ woodwork on the wagon deck, too. We sold it to a garage door maker who ran a fleet of them because the frames were so stout.
The DeSoto hemi was about the size of the original Chrysler hemi, wasn’t it? Like the ChiZler, the DeSoto showed up in a lot of early rails and comp cars, in HRM.
The Red Ram was certainly physically smaller than either, as I recall. Alittle jewel of an engine! I drove on for a few weeks for a friend (selling it for him) in a ’54 Dodge; it had great lugging power for 241-cu.in. mill, and with the B-W overdrive, decent mileage too! Still, couldn’t beat my ’55 Nomad PowerPak 265-cu.in. with O.D. at 25+ mpg on highway trips. But I used the PowerGlide 3.56:1 rear end.
Anything with Groucho worth a look. In magazine ads in the late ’30s, Spencer Tracy pitched DeSoto.