![]() Chrysler engineers experimented with a production aluminum block to shave over 100 pounds but studies concluded that the potential loss of cylinder head seal quality with larger bore engines combined with a four-bolt head pattern wasn’t worth the risk versus the weight reduction. These first 5.7L engines immediately enhanced the Hemi brand with a cast iron block and aluminum heads. The Hemi re-emerged as the 5.7L Gen III in 2003 in trucks followed quickly in passenger cars. The Gen II version appeared in 1964 with Tom Hoover and Keith Black among many others making the "Elephant" notorious as a Race Hemi, quickly followed by the 426ci Street Hemi with its expansive chrome valve covers. It later grew into the 392ci variant made famous by every early Top Fuel drag car in the country. Dubbed the FirePower, it displaced a mere 331ci. ![]() ![]() The original hemispherical chamber concept evolved from an experimental aircraft engine designed by Chrysler at the end of WWII.įor the sake of an acknowledging nod to history, the first Chrysler hemi V8 appeared in 1951 in Chrysler full-size cars. The original appeared in 1951 as a 331ci Chrysler FirePower engine that eventually evolved (amid radical changes) into the Gen II and now the Gen III version. This is a Chrysler drawing of the engine that really put the Hemi name on the map – the 1966 Street Hemi.
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