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You Can Still Buy a Brand New 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant Crate Engine

Mopar first unveiled the 1,000 horsepower Hellephant at SEMA in 2018 and made it available to customers in April 2019. The 100-unit batch sold out in two days, but the mighty HEMI crate engine continued its life among the collectors. Now we found one of these listed for the Houston Mecum auction in April and tracked its whereabouts.
You can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engine 8 photos
Photo: Mecum
You can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engineYou can still buy a brand new 1,000-HP Dodge Hellephant crate engine
The 426 cu-in (7.0-liter) HEMI V8 dubbed the Hellephant had a price tag of $29,995 when sales started back in April 2019. Those who wanted to use it for a custom project would also need to buy a $2,265 conversion kit that includes the wiring harness, a PCM, and a throttle-by-wire pedal.

It’s not cheap, as you can see, but for a factory engine able to deliver 1,000 horsepower without a fuss and still be street-legal it’s a steal. This explains why all 100 units were sold out two days after sales started.

If you were wondering, the Hellephant comes by combining HEMI with Elephant and it’s a nod to the old Chrysler HEMI Elephant 426 engine from 1964. That, in turn, got its name from the sheer size and heft that made it almost impossible to fit under most of the hoods at the time. The modern Hellephant is a lot lighter though, thanks to using an aluminum block, as well as alloy heads and pistons.

The crate engine features a 3.0-liter supercharger producing 15 PSI of boost (around 1.0-bar) to help it get to that nice power figure. The rest is fairly standard with two pushrod-actuated valves per cylinder, electronic fuel injection, and digital ignition.

Although sold out years ago, collectors still shuffle these babies around in the same state they were when they left the factory. One of them is heading to a Mecum auction in April and we found out the same unit changed hands a year ago. The unit is #80 from the 100 produced and was acquired for a crazy $62,700.

Now, the same Hellephant is listed at Mecum for an auction that will take place on April 2 in Houston. Interestingly, this Hellephant is offered with no reserve, which is a common tactic to boost interest in live auctions.

If you’re interested in getting the mighty crate engine please consider using it like Mopar intended to, under the hood of a custom car. It would be a shame to be treated like a museum exhibit for the rest of its life. If you need inspiration, look no further than this 1968 Super Charger that Dodge built to demonstrate the engine at SEMA back in 2018.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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