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1,000-horsepower ‘Hellephant’ Helps Celebrates HEMI Day
By Dave Ashton
April 26th or ‘4-26’ is National Hemi Day and helping with the celebrations is the release of the monster Hellephant Hemi engine. The 426c.i. crate engine produces 1,000 horsepower and 950 lb-ft of torque and is now available for preorder.
A little history…
The hemispherical cylinder head(Hemi and trademarked by Chrysler) was first experimented with in 1945, in the Republic P47 Thunderbolt airplane. The first overhead valve V8s in vehicles were named ‘FirePower’ by Chrysler, with Dodge having a version called the ‘Red Ram’ and pushed forward versions up to 1957. It wasn’t until the second generation of Hemi’s in 1964 with the 426 Hemi, where things started to get interesting. Produced to hit NASCAR hard, production versions had to be produced to officailly compete in racing which were dropped into the Dodge Dart, Plymouth Fury and Dodge Coronet. The ‘Street’ Hemi was introduced in 1966 to enter the 1966 NASCAR season.
The third generation of Hemis started production in 2003 with a 5.7 L Hemi and then the 6.1L/ 369.7ci. V8, 6.4L / 392 Apache, 6.2L Hellcat and 6.2L Demon engines.
The Hellephant
The ‘Hellephant’ engine was first announced at the 2018 SEMA show, inspired by the 1964 426 elephant engine and joins the other Mopar madness of the 707-horsepower ‘Hellcrate’ engine, unveiled at the 2017 SEMA Show. The Hellephant is only available for pre-1976 muscle car vehicles due to emission laws in certain states. States without the inspection or emission clamps can happily drop this engine into any car you like, but needing the pre-requisite upgrades.
Hemi day itself will celebrate the debut 50 years ago of the mighty 426 HEMI engine. Mopar will post content through social media channels throughout the day. you want to help spread the word just simply add the hashtags #Hellephant and #HEMIday.
‘The reaction when we revealed the ‘Hellephant’ engine at the SEMA Show was just amazing, and the momentum continued after the show, with close to 1,000 people expressing interest in buying this engine,’ said Steve Beahm, Head of Parts & Service (Mopar) and Passenger Car Brands, FCA.
The Hellephant Hemi engine, part number P5160194 is priced at $29,995, with the Hellephant Engine Kit (part number 77072500,) costing $2,265 which allows plug and play installation of the whole setup. The engine kit comprises of an accelerator pedal, charge air temperature sensors, CAN bus interface device, chassis harness, fuel pump control module, ground jumper, engine wiring harness, powertrain control module (PCM), power distribution center and oxygen sensors. There are also other engine bay kits available from Mopar such as the Exhaust Manifold Kit and Rear Sump Oil Pan Kit which should make installation of the whole setup that bit easier.
The supercharged 426ci/7L Hellephant Hemi engine uses a number of factors to hit its power levels, which include 4 inches of stroke and a bore of 4.125 inches.
The supercharger has a high-efficiency rotor set mounted on an aluminium block, beefing everything up to the max 1,000HP.
Pre-ordered through www.cratehemi.com
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