The 426 Hemi did not just make the 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T fast, it marked the final year Dodge would offer this engine before it disappeared from showrooms for decades. Every Hemi Challenger from this model year is effectively a time capsule of a chapter about to close. Here is what the performance numbers actually looked like while the elephant motor was still available to order.
The 426 Hemi is one of the most celebrated Muscle Car engines, and this triple-black 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T is an instant party at the turn of the key.
What most people do not realize about this particular engine option is that 1971 was its last stand — after this year, the 426 Hemi vanished from Dodge showrooms for decades. That makes every surviving Challenger R/T with the elephant motor between the shock towers a snapshot of an ending nobody saw coming at the time. Buyers who checked that option box in 1971 were not just picking raw output; they were choosing one of the last truly unfiltered muscle car engines Detroit would build without compromise. The numbers on paper only tell part of the story — the real story is how quickly this era slammed shut. So how does a 426 Hemi Challenger actually perform once you get past the reputation?
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The Last of Its Kind
The 426 Hemi was rated at 425 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 490 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm — and 1971 marked the final year Dodge offered it before rising insurance costs and tightening emissions rules pushed it out of the lineup entirely.
What the Numbers Actually Mean on the Street
Period performance figures put a 426 Hemi Challenger R/T at roughly 5.8 seconds to 60 mph, a quarter-mile in the low 14s at around 103 mph, and an estimated top speed near 146 mph. The shaker hood fresh-air package, R/T-exclusive, came standard whenever the 426 Hemi was ordered, so every Hemi Challenger got that functional scoop poking through the hood by default.
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