Chrysler’s history with hemispherical engines goes back to 1951 when the FirePower made its way into the New Yorker, Imperial, and Saratoga. The design remained in use until 1958 when Chrysler switched to a more conventional layout, but it returned in 1964. That’s when Mopar debuted the iconic 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI we all know and love.
Nicknamed the “elephant engine,” the 426 HEMI is mostly known for its presence in high-performance street cars, but Chrysler actually designed it with something different in mind. Its purpose was to power Mopars to victory in the NASCAR series, which it did in its first outing in the Plymouth Belvedere in 1964.
However, it couldn’t do the same in 1965, when NASCAR did not allow HEMI cars to compete due to the engine’s unavailability in production models sold to the general public.
The decision prompted Chrysler to create a few HEMI-powered factory dragsters in 1965 and to release the engine in regular-production Dodges and Plymouths for the 1966 model year.
The move gave us some of the coolest muscle cars from the golden era and a street-spec V8 good for a whopping (and underrated) 425 horsepower and 490 pound-feet (664 Nm) of torque.
Whether we’re talking about sleeper-like Belvederes and early Chargers to mean-looking ‘Cudas and Daytonas, they’re all rare and desirable come 2022.
The 1967 Coronet you see here is part of that lineage and it’s as awesome as restored muscle cars get. And since it’s finished in Scorch Red, it lands on these pages just in time for Christmas.
But exactly how rare is the HEMI-powered 1967 Coronet? Well, digging up precise numbers on a vehicle that’s several decades old is impossible, but most Mopar experts agree that Dodge put together 349 examples that year.
This figure also includes the W023 Super Stock factory dragster, built in 55 units, and a few impossible-to-find iterations of the midsize.
I’m talking about four R/T convertibles, four two-door sedans, and a couple of 440- and 500-badged examples in both hardtop and drop-top forms. This leaves us with only 283 Coronet R/T hardtops. But since the one we’re looking at is an automatic version, we can narrow it down to only 162 units made.
This figure could go even lower if we also factor in the Scorch Red paint, but it’s rare enough as it is. Especially since not all HEMI-powered 1967 Coronets soldiered on for so many years still in one piece and only a few of them were restored to Concours-ready specifications.
But that’s enough math and probability talk for today because I’m pretty sure you’re here for the HEMI Mopar goodness. And yes, there’s also idling, revving, and in-car driving footage to enjoy.
