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This 1966 Dodge Coronet claims to be one of just seventeen 426 Hemi cars ever built — a number worth digging into before you take it at face value. Mopar’s own Hemi Coronet production records are murkier than you’d expect. Here’s what the real numbers say, and why it barely matters once you hear it run.
An Army aircraft mechanic stationed overseas bought this rust-free 1971 Dodge Charger sight-unseen, with plans to drop in a 572-cubic-inch Hemi built for over 800 horsepower. Before the media blasting and undercoating are even finished, one question remains unresolved: stick with factory-correct yellow, or go full restomod with flat black and bold stripes? The build taps into a growing wave of big-block Charger restomods that trade numbers-matching originality for modern muscle and serious street presence.
Project Cool Blue’s ’65 Coronet hides an 825-horsepower Ray Barton Hemi under a deliberately unremarkable exterior, but the trickiest part of staying invisible isn’t the engine, it’s feeding it fuel without giving anything away. The team turned to a fuel system originally built to solve the same problem in modern Corvettes, adapted to fit inside a decades-old stock gas tank. No visible fuel cell, no whining pump, no giveaway hanging underneath. Read on to find out how a shallow foam baffle keeps an 800-horsepower secret completely silent.
Every 1969 Dodge Charger R/T came standard with a 375-horsepower 440 Magnum, and 18,344 buyers were perfectly happy with that. Only 432 checked the box for the 426 Hemi. Same body, same badge, two completely different cars — and the choice said everything about how serious the original owner really was. Here is what separated them, and why the 1969 Charger became the most recognizable shape of the entire muscle era.