Hemi Engine | Muscle Car Fan

Craig Jackson’s 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda: Jay Leno Meets the Quintessential Muscle Car

Craig Jackson has watched more Hemi ‘Cudas cross the auction block than almost anyone alive as Chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson — and out of all of them, this 1970 example is the one he kept for himself, calling it ‘the quintessential muscle car.’ Jay Leno joins him for a drive through the canyons and hears the full story behind how Jackson acquired it. When the industry’s top authority on muscle car values picks a favorite, it’s worth paying attention. Watch to hear why this one made the cut.

Classic 1970 Dodge Challenger in sleek black with iconic muscle car design.

1970 Dodge Challenger R/T RT SE in Black & 426 Hemi Engine

by Wes

For years, Detroit street racers only knew the Black Ghost by reputation, a black 1970 Challenger R/T SE with a 426 Hemi that beat them and vanished before anyone learned who was driving. Gregory Qualls knows exactly who, because it was his father, an off-duty Detroit police officer. After decades in storage, the car resurfaced, earned a spot on the National Historic Vehicle Register, and inspired a full documentary. Hear the son tell the story only he can tell.

Classic gold Dodge Charger parked outside a house on a sunny day.

1968 Dodge Charger R/T in Medium Gold & 426 Hemi Engine

by Kiril

Jeff Fleming’s 1968 Dodge Charger R/T wears a Medium Gold paint job over a genuine 426 Hemi, restored to a standard that reads as showroom-new nearly sixty years later. Mopar fans in the comments zeroed in on a detail only true Charger obsessives notice: 1968 was the only year Dodge used round side marker and taillights on this body style. One viewer admitted the restoration was so clean it made them nervous just watching. See what sets this Charger apart.

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner with its hood open revealing the engine.

1970 Plymouth Superbird in Vitamin C & 426 Hemi Engine Sound

by Wes

Tom Lembeck has owned this 1970 Plymouth Superbird — one of roughly 135 built with the 426 Hemi — since 2007, and Lou Costabile catches up with him in Chicago for ‘My Car Story.’ Finished in Plymouth’s High Impact Vitamin C orange, the car draws no shortage of comments calling it the most memorable muscle car of the 1970s. Watch to hear Lembeck’s decade-plus history with one of Mopar’s rarest homologation specials.

A restored 1970 Plymouth Cuda Custom Restored car in bright orange.

805 HP 1970 Plymouth Cuda Custom Restomod & Engine Sound

by Wes

Jeff Schwartz of Schwartz Performance Inc. spent two years turning a 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda into something far more than a restoration: a Pearl Orange Metallic restomod packing 805 horsepower from a 426 Hemi, built on a modern chassis and engineered to handle like a road-ready race car. The shape is instantly familiar. Almost everything underneath it isn’t.

1971 Dodge Charger Daytona in a showroom, showcasing its sleek white design and iconic nose cone.

1971 Dodge Charger Daytona with a Sunroof & Hemi Engine Sound

by Wes

Dodge never actually built a 1971 Charger Daytona — the aero-warrior program ended after 1970. Gary and Pam Beineke built one anyway, using documentation of an actual Chrysler prototype, then added a 472 Six Pack, a Bi-wing spoiler, a pistol-grip five-speed, and, improbably, a sunroof. Completed in 2001 and shown at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, it’s a recreation detailed enough to make Mopar loyalists stop and ask questions. Watch to see how close two people got to building the car Chrysler almost made.

A classic blue muscle car displayed indoors under bright lights.

1968 Plymouth Road Runner in Blue Paint & 426 Hemi Engine

by Kiril

Plymouth expected to sell about 20,000 Road Runners in 1968 and moved more than twice that, building a muscle car around the radical idea of removing everything a buyer did not need. Fewer than one in forty buyers paid the $714 premium for the 426 Hemi, which cost roughly a quarter of the car’s base price. This restored blue example carries that exact rare combination. Read on for why the cheapest Mopar got the most expensive engine.

Classic 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T in blue with white stripes parked in driveway.

1971 Dodge Challenger R/T RT in B5 Blue & 426 Hemi Engine

by Wes

Tom Lembeck’s 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T packs a numbers-matching 426 Hemi, a factory Pistol Grip 4-speed, and fewer than 12,000 original miles, plus an interior option, a factory Dictaphone, that most Mopar fans have never actually seen in person. Lou Costabile sat down with Tom to walk through what makes this all-original survivor so rare. Watch to see the details that left even viewers stunned.

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