Hemi

Chrysler Fire Power, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Some engines are known by their numbers-289, 350, 427, 3.8 litre (that's a Jaguar). Some by their name-Flathead, Commando, Twin-Spark (that's an Alfa Romeo). But one seems to always tower above all the rest-Hemi.

In the broadest terms, a "hemi engine" is just an internal combustion engine with hemispherical combustion chambers at the top. This puts the intake and exhaust valves on opposite sides, providing a direct path for the gases to flow across the combustion chamber. It's an old design, dating to the early twentieth century, and plenty of illustrious manufacturers used the design. Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Ford, BMW, Bristol, and the wonderful racing engines of Harry Miller all used this design. However, when you say the word "Hemi", one other word usually pops into your head-Chrysler (or maybe Dodge. Or Plymouth. Or DeSoto if you're weird).

Chrysler has been the largest, and arguably most famous, proponent of the hemi-head design. Best known in it's mid sixties 426 version, Chrysler's earliest hemis were introduced in 1951, to power the company's big luxury cruisers. Hot rodders and drag racers soon learned that these engines were quite a bit more powerful than the Ford flathead V-8, and they were easy to tune and able to take serious amounts of forced induction. In fact, these early engines were popular well into the sixties, after they ceased production-plenty of top flight drag racers were using them, running huge blowers and nitromethane on junkyard blocks.

This one's a Fire Power that I saw in a hot rod-I was told it came out of a '54 New Yorker.

Firedome

DeSoto, originally uploaded by William 74.

Quite possibly best known these days for being Howard Cunningham's favorite marque, DeSoto was formed to provide Chrysler with a mid-level brand to fight Studebaker, Willys, and General Motors. This plan was changed after the company took over Dodge Brothers, giving the company two players in this market-in fact, DeSoto was priced a bit less than Dodge. This was reversed in the early thirties, with DeSoto being a bit more expensive and better equipped than Dodge.

Postwar, DeSoto returned with clean, if somewhat dowdy, styling, and got some real performance in 1952 with the addition of the first of Chrysler's legendary Hemi engines. By the mid fifties the company featured Virgil Exener's "forward look" styling, which truly brought the Jet Age to automobiledom, with soaring tailfins and forward leaning grilles. The cars continued to sell well until late in the decade, when the recession of '58 hit mid priced cars particularly hard. The sales slide continued into 1959, and the next year Chrysler announced the end of DeSoto production. Production lingered on into 1961, mainly to use up the stockpile of DeSoto parts in corporate warehouses.

This particular car is a '59 Firedome Sportsman coupe. It's probably my favorite of all the late fifties Mopar "forward look" cars.

Space Age

'61 Imperial, originally uploaded by William 74.

A lot of people think that the idea of mass manufacturers introducing "luxury" brands started with Acura (Honda), Lexus (Toyota) and Infiniti (Nissan), but Chrysler was ahead of them when they spun the Imperial line off into it's own separate marque in 1955. Imperials were Mopar's top line, and between '57 and '66 had their own platforms separate from other Chrysler products. Styled by Virgil Exner, Imperials reflected his "Forward Look" style, featuring dramatic rooflines and aggressive long hood-short deck proportions. There was nothing quite like them.

This particular Imperial is a '61, probably the most iconic version. It features the biggest fins (the last year for fins on Imperials), complete with characteristic gunsight taillights. More strikingly, Exner added separate, podded headlights to the front end, giving a truly unique look to the car. This style lasted for only one season, before the fins were cut off and the headlights returned to a more normal position.