Why does everyone talk about a HEMI like its god?

[slantsixness]

AWSOME!

My first "car" was a hand-me-down '60 belvedere Station wagon with a 225 and a 3 on the tree. Wish I still had that, what a car!

You still have this Scamp?

[DodieLee]

Here are my thoughts on this Hemi discussion, All you need to do is talk to someone who was driving muscle cars in the late 60's and early 70's. The Hemi ruled the road and intimidated all the little camaros and mustangs out there. Ask someone who lived it, no one wanted to run their car against a hemi!!

[BleedDodge]

If there was a church for the hemi I would probably frequent it.

[Mopar87]

What Is so great about slant sixes? They Suck!
V8 is the way to go

[BleedDodge]

You can't kill a slant six if you treat it properly. Even if you didn't treat it properly it would still last a real long time.

[Polygon]

While the slant sixes performance was nothing to write home about it was a rock solid engine that could take a hell of a beating.

[AWP9521]

Actually there was 9 different sizes for the early Hemi engines, De Soto, Dodge and Chrysler each had 3 different Hemi Engine sizes from 1951-1959. For a history of the Hemi Engine checkout www.allpar.com/mopar.html for some interesting reading, they describe the history in pretty good detail about the beginning of the Hemi design they go through all engines past and present including the Hemi Six that was built by Chrysler Australia and the only Hemi V16 that was used for testing in a USAF P-47 Thunderbolt. What they don't mention is that the 2.6 Mitsubishi Engine was ever labled as a Hemi design at least in what I read. Check it out, very interesting reading.

[cndctrdj]

well heres a wrench to throw into the pot.... the new "hemi" isnt even a hemi

[KMPX2]

Because they are. Even you spelled it with all upper case letters. How many names do you see that are almost always spelled like that?

[DJ7]

I owned a 53 DeSoto with the "baby" hemi--276--and if you ever drove it you'd know what we're talking about. That baby just purred, and (when I wanted it to) would get up and go with a touch on the accelerator. I owned "Joey" for 21 years & for 17 of that it was my main transportation. I kept it tuned and the oil changed, and in those 21 years it never required any major engine (or transmission) work. In fact, the car is still running, but I had to sell it cause I couldnt afford to restore it..I just sold it last year. So now you see, it isn't just the power and performance of the hemi, it's also the durability. The engine alone, even for the baby hemi, can be worth $1000 no matter what condition. The slant six comes in second in my opinion, even though I now own a 74 Dodge Dart. Let me know if you ever see a 53 Desoto Firedome V8 Sportsman 2dr hdtp in a car show, if the last 4 vin # are 3024 I used to own it.

[AWP9521]

Originally Posted by cndctrdj

well heres a wrench to throw into the pot.... the new "hemi" isnt even a hemi

I don't see it that way, Dual Rocker Shafts, Angled Valves, Hemispherical Combustion Chamber, Spark Plugs in the Center of the Chamber, the only things different I see is a Fuel Injector and the piston crown doesn't go up into the Chamber like the old ones did. Still they are the same basic design. To me it is no different than labeling the higher output Engines the "Magnum" just like the higher performance versions of the standard Engines of old.

Other food for thought, the 3.2/3.5 Liter V6 engines could actually be considered Hemi's too due to the Valve Layout and Plug Location in the Chamber, and the power output they develop, 1 HP per CID for the 93-97 3.5 (214HP/214CID) Cast Iron Block Engines and higher for the 98 3.2 HO (220HP/195CID) and 99-present 3.5 HO (250HP/215CID) Aluminum Block Engines. But they dont classify them as one possibly because of the 4 Valves per Cylinder and the Single Overhead Cam on each head.