Hooniverse Asks: Into what would you stuff the Hellephant crate hemi?

By Jeff Glucker Oct 31, 2018


The car pictured above is the 1968 Dodge Super Charger concept car being used to deploy the Hellephant 426 Hemi crate engine. It’s a SEMA showpiece, and it’s absolutely glorious.
Using a hood scoop modeled after the one found on the Demon, the Super Charger feeds air to that mighty 1,000-horsepower monster mill. Fiberglass fender flares help keep the widened stance in check and neatly tuck the 20×11-inch front/21×12-inch rear wheels into the bodywork. There are Hellephant badges inside and out, seats from a Dodge Viper, and exhaust bits from an Alfa Romeo Stelvio. It’s a Mopar parts-bin special, but the very best example of such a machine.
I love it. For it is insane and awesome in one classically cool shot.
If you were tasked with finding a suitable home for a 1,000-hp Hellephant crate engine, what would you go with? Personally, I think Mopar nailed it with the choice of a ’68 Charger… but I also know of an old Benz wagon project that could’ve used a new engine as well.

By Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

75 thoughts on “Hooniverse Asks: Into what would you stuff the Hellephant crate hemi?”
      1. That’s the first time that I have even seen a picture of a Commando without the traditional Jeep front end. I almost thought that it was an International Harvester product.

        1. Hey! I’ll stand by my Hellepage/Ramephant? over-engined pick-up concept.
          (In reality I’m just disappointed this engine wasn’t released by Chevrolet: ‘Hell Camino’ would have been the best answer ever…)

  1. Everything!
    I’ve been pondering this question for quite awhile, and the only reasonable answer I can come up with is, everything. I don’t mean just Mopar cars, I mean everything – lawn mowers, snowmobiles, ambulance, hearse, Hellephant it all!

  2. Nothing. I have absolutely zero interest in an engine that powerful. I mean, that Charger is awesome, but I wouldn’t want to drive it.

  3. Lokki enters stage left, sits in large leather chair; lights cigar, takes a sip from his Scotch, and settles in to wait patiently for the appearance of mdharrell.

  4. A Corvette that came stock with an LS. Turnabout is fair play.
    Or a big wheel. That was the winning idea when the LX cars got the Hemi.
    But I am not a big fan of the Charger above. It’s hard to “modernize” a Coke bottle Charger and improve the looks. This one is no exception. I would like to see a Hellephant in a Charger with a stock-appearing exterior.

      1. It is entirely unfathomable how NASCAR went from racing some of the most stylish coupés ever made on gravel, to one-size-fits-all-plastic shells chasing each other around circles.

        1. The early days of NASCAR were certainly different. https://stevemckelvie.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/a-jaguar-wins-a-nascar-race/
          Even as late as the mid-1990s the cars still ran stock trunk lids at least and the manufacturers took NASCAR into consideration with the aerodynamic design of their cars. We had some of the GM NASCAR guys come speak when I was in college. The was the era of the W-Body Grand Prix body shells on a race car chassis. The nose and tail of the car had to match the real one at least and mid-year refreshes were sometimes done to help the race teams.

        2. I don’t get it, and never have (my dad has always followed the sport). It’s not a test-ground for new technology, considering only a few years ago they were still using carburetors and probably still have solid rear axles. There’s more advanced technology in the lawn mower I push around my yard. Isn’t the “SC” in NASCAR for “stock car”? Time for a name change.
          I just don’t see the point. I’m not going to argue that it’s not a sport, it’s just deviated so far from what it was originally that, for me at least, it’s completely irrelevant now.

  5. Hermetically sealed and well preserved in the back of the shed . See what twenty years does for the value. Also , being able to say ” Got one in the shed ” .

      1. If you’re going with the MB connection, take just one tiny step further, and put it in one of these.

        An Isdera Imperator is just a very, very well built kitcar anyway.

    1. That came up when I googled “chrysler 300c imperial”. What a ridiculous blob. This should have a two stroke or an electric engine only to maximize the giggles.

  6. Two thoughts, a drag boat and an update of my favorite sleeper project. Get a 1980s Town & Country minivan, complete with fake wood, install the Hellephant behind the front seats so that you see the engine when you open the sliding door, drive the rear wheels via a transaxle and keep it as stock as possible with tubbed rear wheel wells a NACA duct in the roof for an air intake and privacy glass.

    1. I’ve seen an Imp with a 383 Chev in the front. It was automatic because there was only space for 2 pedals between the transmission and the door. It was a bit nuts…

    1. I own a ’60 Super wagon (grey with a black top) but haven’t gotten around to the restoration yet (kids, wife, life, etc., my excuses go on…). I absolutely love the design of those little Ramblers. Mine will likely get an inline six with 250hp, max. No Hellephants for me, thank you.

      1. Color me insanely jealous! I used to own a ’60 wagon, in factory coral pink. I knew within seconds of selling it that I’d made a big mistake, and have pined for one ever since. Flathead six and three on the tree. I miss it even more than my ’68 Barracuda, which is really saying something.

  7. Whatever it is, it would have to be a drag car. Don’t see the point of not being able to use full throttle otherwise.

    1. The Hellcat is basically a point-and-shoot vehicle, with little inclination to steer. I don’t see a Hellephant-equipped vehicle as anything but a drag car.

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