[Jeff Higgins]

The Hemi was such a game changer back in its day. It forced Ford and GM to step up, but neither really did catch up. The Ford "Semi Hemi" 428 and 429 came close, and the canted valve Chevy 427 did as well, but they never quite got there. The Hemi represented the first real serious effort at controlling heat in the cylinder heads, vital in NASCAR racing. It wasn't so much that it made a great deal more power than its predecessors or the competition (although it actually did), it was that it could make that power with no risk of heat soaking the heads. It could simply run harder longer.

I grew up in an era when Hemi cars were just out of reach for us "kids". We settled for 383's and 440's instead. Interestingly, upon the occasions we had the opportunity to run against some better heeled older guy with a Hemi car, our 383's and 440's would mostly out run them. Tires, as noted above, were a pretty severe limitation at the time. Kind of "the great equalizer", when everyone had more power than those hockey pucks could hold.

The real issue, though, with the Hemi cars was that they just never had the chance to "stretch their legs". Even being such a big motor, they were all top end, high rpm affairs. By the time they were ready to show their stuff, most street races were over. Now on a legitimate drag strip, with a full quarter mile, it was a different story. But those impromptu street races, even the "organized" ones, were the province of the wedge motors.

Funny, I wound up rattling my way into early 911's a couple of decades ago largely because of these Hemi cars. You see, I had finally reached a point in my life where I could afford to get back into a "hobby" car. It was going to be some form of "B" bodied (Coronet, Belvedere, R/T, Road Runner, Super Bee, etc.) MOPAR with a Hemi and a four speed. I knew full well that it was going to have to be a clone, or that I would even have to build it myself. But, even with that attitude, at that time anything close was just unreasonable. So I gave up and took a sharp turn into the 911 hot rod world. And, well, I have to say I have no regrets. Our cars a so multi-dimensional. Those cars are very one-dimensional.

But I still want one...