With the all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona arriving first, the reimagined Charger nameplate initially asked enthusiasts to assume muscle without gasoline. Now, because the Sixpack models begin reaching owners powered by Stellantis’ twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-6, the conversation shifts. For a lot of enthusiasts, this gas-powered version appears like the Charger they were waiting for. Within the spirit of this recent Charger and its power train, it’s value remembering that Mopar has a slightly interesting past with six-cylinder power — just not in the USA.
Over five many years ago, long before the Hurricane assumed Dodge’s muscle-car torch, Chrysler Australia had already built a straight-6 that punched well above its weight. Australia’s Valiant Charger R/T E-49 (quite the mouthful of a reputation) packed what was called a “Hemi Six Pack.”
Despite the name, it wasn’t a V8, and it actually wasn’t the hemispherical V8 many Americans related to the Hemi badge. Slightly, it was a triple-carbureted 265-cubic-inch inline-6 that remodeled 300 horsepower in an era when U.S. muscle cars were starting to struggle for power under tightening emissions rules. While Detroit was watching performance fall across the board, Australians had just begun.
Before the Hurricane, there was the Hemi Sixpack
Designed at the side of its American team, Chrysler Australia’s Hemi Sixpack used a canted-valve combustion chamber design as an alternative of a real hemispherical-head engine as present in lots of the American V8s.
With this motor, the top-of-the-line Charger R/T E-49 produced a hearty 302 hp and 320 pound-feet of torque — good for a quarter-mile time just north of 14 seconds. Given numbers that placed the Charger R/T E-49 squarely in V8 performance territory, it was easy for Australians to crown it a homegrown muscle automotive despite having two less cylinders. Though the Ford Barra from many years later has grown a global cult following, it was Chrysler’s Hemi Sixpack that first proved a straight-6 might be a legitimate muscle engine. The 265-powered Charger and its many variants would proceed to be sold until Chrysler stopped production of the Valiant Charger in 1978.
Today’s Dodge Charger Sixpack, powered by a twin-turbocharged inline-6, appears like a contemporary reinvention of the Hemi Sixpack from many years past. Each produce competitive in-class performance while substituting for the V8 of years past — although with loosening Americans emissions regulations, we would soon see the return of the Hemi V8 to the brand new Charger. But in the event you’re certainly one of the ambitious folks taking delivery of a brand new Hurricane-powered Dodge Charger, take a second to tip your hat to its Aussie forefather.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
