5 Of The Rarest HEMI-Powered Muscle Cars Ever BuiltIn the muscle car arena, few words carry quite as much weight as Hemi. That word is, of course, short for "hemispherical," and in the context of engines, it denotes an engine with a hemispherical combustion chamber. Though the engine's origins can be traced back to the early 1900s, the Hemi, as modern drivers have come to know it, resulted from the work of Chrysler's engineering team, who debuted their own hemispherical engine in 1951.Known as much for their durability and reliability as their outstanding performance and power output, Hemis would become a staple of the American muscle car era in the 1960s and 1970s. Given the modern Hemi's Chrysler roots, it should hardly come as a surprise that the engines could be found powering some of the most legit muscle cars of the era, particularly vehicles made by brands associated with the American auto manufacturer, such as Dodge and Plymouth.Indeed, at the height of the muscle car madness, Hemis could be found powering some legit classics from the era like the Dodge Charger and the Plymouth Barracuda (aka the 'Cuda). Those engines were not standard, however, with the manufacturers typically offering them only as an under-the-hood upgrade for horsepower-hungry drivers. Given that fact, certain builds from those brands with Hemi engines can actually be pretty hard to find on the resale market. Here's a look at some of the rarest Hemi-powered vehicles ever built.
