I have heard that some people question whether we have true Hemis in our Challengers. The name Hemi is short for hemisphere, which is the shape of the top of the combustion chambers. Ours are not perfectly hemispherical, but there has not been a true hemisphere-shaped Hemi since 1971. The new 5.7 and 6.1 engines do not have true hemispherical heads, but they look vaguely like hemispherical heads with parts filled in.

The bottom line is that we, in fact, have a new Hemi- one that has evolved and improved with time to deal with emissions. (Note: The Hemi design combustion chamber is one of the poorest designs for emissions). In fact, Chrysler boasts that the new Hemi puts out more power per cubic inch that any engine it has ever produced.

So be proud that our engines’ ancestor was the 426.