The History of the Chrysler Hemi Gen I

The Chrysler Hemi engine has been around for a long time, maybe even longer than you think! This engine goes back to WWII when Chrysler designed a V16 for the Air Force to power their fighter planes. It never made it to production, but it sparked the beginning of one of the world's most famous engines! Step into the Gearhead Lounge and check out the History of the first generation of the Chrysler Hemi--The Chrysler Fire Power, the DeSoto FireDome, and the Dodge Red Ram.
#chryslerhemi #hemienginehistory #hemi

Music

[michaelbenardo]

I have a 54 New Yorker wagon with the 331 HEMI. Superb engine. One reason they were so expensive to build is that there were three different ones.

[theyangview]

Dang!
This documentary was soooo good I spent my breakfast time watching this and now it’s time for lunch!

[billjamison]

Growing up in the fifties and sixties, in 1956, my father bought a 1951 Chrysler Imperial 2 door Club Coupe in jet black paint, of course. That car had the 331 cu/in Hemi, automatic with Fluid-Torque drive (automatic with a clutch), power steering, power brakes, electric windows and a mohair interior. What a Beast! He had that car until 1975. We always had Chrysler products over the years and I now drive a '22 Rebel with, of course, a HEMI! MoPar or No car ! HEMI's Rule! HA!

[kennethconnors]

One of the BEST video's on motors EVER "thanks, well done"

[billyjoejimbob]

Excellent research, video production, and narration! I had a very clean survivor 1957 Imperial years ago. The engine was the single 4BBL 392 Hemi that had a 9.25:1 compression ratio that year, 325 SAE net HP, first year of the 3-speed pushbutton Torqueflite. It was quick for such a heavy car... about 10 seconds 0-60 on a stopwatch. Sure wish I had it back today!

[aussiebaz]

Brilliant, my old dad would have loved your film, in Australia in 1960, the Chrysler 313 Poly head was the fastest production car in the country, and he bought one. What a classic. Thank you for a well presented explanation of the Hemi.

[CAT-yktz]

Great video. Packed with all kinds of information, photos and nostalgia.

[prunesquallor]

Thanks for the epic history on the various versions of Chrysler’s famous Hemi engine. I’ll never forget my first view of a 426 hemi in a brand new1970 Dodge Challenger. I couldn’t get over the size of the valve covers. They were immense and I’ve been hooked on the hemi ever since.

[rotaxnut]

It always blows my mind to see the beauty and the innovation of cars from the 50's era, those cars are worth a fortune today even as rusty wrecks and the engines of course are legendary, the hemi design was a winner all the way and has won more races than you can shake a stick at, the genius of fantastic engines and fantastic cars, I love it!

[georgeburns]

I was only going to listen for five minutes, but this was really good, and I stayed, and enjoyed the entire presentation. Thank you

[jetsons]

Great narration and loads of information. Enjoyable use of, the right amount, of humor. Thanks for your time and

[williamhogg]

And here I thought I knew all about the HEMI. DUMMY ME! Thank you so much for your efforts to teach me things I never knew. GOD BLESS YOU!

[donswier]

Just stumbled upon your channel.
So much detail and accompanying pics😊👍.
You strike a great balance of technicality for viewers.
Not bogged down with details, but just enough background to explain why Mopar adopted this.
Me like👍

[talldude]

My 2019 Dodge 1500 Ram has the 5.7 Hemi. I always wanted one and it hasn't left me down. I love it. Good video.

[warrenbrenner]

Excellent video on a subject I always wanted to know more about!

[shoominati]

The Ardun kit wasnt actually developed for Hot Rodding, it was developed for truck drivers - because you had some pretty huge van bodies being put on the Model A truck platform - but there weren't any diesel engines like Cummins or Detroit available at the time.. And instead of taking some oof your load off to get over the rockies let's say, with one of these hemi conversions on the flathead you could make it on time and with a full load.

[johnbehneman]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! TOTALLY AWSOME EDUCATION!!!! CHRYSLER WAS ALWAYS INNOVATING!!!! GREAT VIDEO AND EDUCATION. THANKS FOR SHARING. PLEASE CONTINUE TO SHARE YOUR TRUTH.

[lancelot]

Hi "Gearhead", my hat to you for enlightening the YT and Hot-Rod community with the history behind the design and production of the Chrysler Hemi engine. You are bringing back a lot of memories from my younger days in engineering (late 60's). Some of our teachers would entertain (or captivate) us with historical notes in our "engine" classes. It was such an "emotional" experience for us "kids" to hear from the actual guys who created the automotive marvels that made the racing headlines (NASCAR, SCCA, Trans-Am, GT-40s...). Thank you for bringing me back to a time of excitement, optimism, freedom... (before the war, that is). Ciao, L (Veteran, former FoMoCo engineer)

[charliechristie]

I can tell you hundreds of personal adventures I had racing NHRA in the late 60's early 70's. I worked on it, fought with it, modified it, and fell in love with it. The HEMI is in my thoughts to this day. I wish I still had that car and money has NOTHING to do with LOVE THE 426 HEMI. I sincerely hope you are going to cover MY HEMI soon !

[sgt.duke.mc_]

In the early 60's a friend and I went in together and bought a '53 Dodge with the Fluid-Torque drive tranny, for I think about $15.00 (yes, fifteen, not a typo)' It was ugly as hell and not much for pickin' up the babes, but, what the hell, it got us around for picking up jobs thru the summer when we were able to buy a real "babe" machine, a 57 Ford Custom with inline 6, for about $75. 🤣🤣10th grade sucked--as I got older, I began to question my memory, did our 1st car really have a clutch/auto transmission. This video was a time trip--thanx so much.