OK, we're not going to lie, we're a little biased when it comes to our favorite classic racing, NASCAR and salt flats racers. But when we peruse the archives there's little doubt the Chrysler's HEMI rightfully took its place at the top of the heap. Sure, those other guys had some pretty impressive stuff, but arguably, no other engine platform carried a better - and longer - streak of success than that iconic semi-hemispherical V8.
This YouTube video is a great short montage of open rails, door-slammers, dirt track drifting, NASCAR ass haulin', and modified wheel-base racers, intercut with drag racing history's original "Swamp Rat" himself, Don Garlits. Today, Garlits uses Mopar's 392 HEMI crate motor in a front-engine dragster and makes quite a show of displaying the late-model HEMI doing what it does best, beating the competition.
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Video: Don Garlits Celebrating the HEMI
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