Mopar Drops More 426 Hemi Hints, Redline Charger Returns?

Charger smoking the tires has an elephant behind it in the smoke, along with a suggestive debut time.

Earlier today, the Mopar YouTube channel rolled out another teaser video for what could be a new Hemi engine debut at next week’s SEMA Show. This new teaser answers some questions while introducing some new ones, making sure to keep our hopes high as the Mopar community dreams of a new 426-cubic inch Hemi engine.

Again, we still don’t know for sure what will debut next Tuesday in Mopar’s sprawling SEMA Show display, but the odds seem good that it is a big Hemi engine.

Teaser #2

The newest teaser video from Mopar seems to pick up where the last video left off, offering us an overhead view of a second generation Dodge Charger doing a monster burnout. After a few seconds of overhead burnout footage, the view switches to the front end, where we get a full look at the classic Charger, along with the massive elephant walking up behind it.

The Dodge Charger Redline 426, a 590-horsepower beast that everyone lusted for, made a splash back at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Unfortunately, it never saw the light of day because it was was too illegal.

As the burnout footage ends, the roar of what we expect to be a monster Hemi V8 blends together with the roar of the gigantic elephant standing in its smoke. Some people on social media insist that the roar of the elephant is masking the real sound of this Charger’s engine, but it could just be wishful thinking as we all work to decipher the hidden message in this short clip.

Once again, the video ends with the promise of something big coming and the details of this video offer the following key instruction:

“Visit cratehemi.com on October 30th at 4:26 p.m. PT/7:26 p.m. ET for a live Mopar announcement you don’t want to miss.”

426 Hints

When we saw the first teaser for this Mopar news, we speculated that the video showed Hellcat footprints being mashed into the ground by an elephant. With the 426 Hemi being called the elephant engine, we speculated that the elephant footprints were a hint to the return of a 426 Hemi. However, some people argued that those were bear prints, but this new teaser video secures the fact that those are elephant feet smashing the Hellcat prints.

Also, the news is being announced at “4:26 pm local time in Las Vegas,” which serves as the ultimate hint for some people. We should point out that every year, Mopar’s SEMA press conference is held on Tuesday at 4:26 pm, so while this news could be a new elephant engine, there has been plenty of non-426 Hemi news announced by Mopar at 4:26 pm at SEMA each year.

What We Know

So far, we know that this big announcement pertains to a Hemi crate engine that could measure the same 426-cubic inches as the original elephant engine. If it doesn’t, the elephant teaser really doesn’t make any sense. It would seem reasonable that the owner of a second generation Dodge Charger who goes drag racing would want to pack a 426 Hemi, but Mopar already offers a 426 Hemi.

We have to wonder if the elephant feet crushing the Hellcat feet isn’t a hint to the output of this new engine. The teasers suggest that this new engine could crush the Hellcat and with that supercharged Hemi delivering 707 horsepower, this new 426 could offer more than that. The problem with that idea is that the current Mopar 426 Hemi crate engines don’t offer anywhere near 700 horsepower.

Mopar offers a 426-cubic inch crate Hemi that is based on the Gen 3 architecture and it is rated at 600 horsepower. There is also a Gen 2 426 Hemi that offers 465 horsepower, so based on what Mopar offers now, it seems hard to imagine a 426 Hemi that will crush the Hellcat.

Fortunately, we won’t have to keep guessing for long and when the announcement is made, we are sure that it will prove to be well worth the wait.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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