1971 Dodge Demon Supercharged Hemi V-8

Car Front

Back in 1971, you could go to the local Dodge dealer, and pick up a Demon coupe for an advertised price of just $1,995. This gave you a small 145 horsepower slanted six-cylinder engine, a three-speed manual shift transmission, drum brakes (good for one panic stop, unless they were wet), manual steering (great for building arm muscles), and a hard bench seat. It was a great car for grandma to take to church, but hardly a status symbol on the street.

For those who wanted more, a visit to the options sheet was a pen stroke away. How about a 340 cubic inch V-8 cranking 240 horsepower, and 340 lbs./ft. of torque? Add a four-speed manual gearbox, or three-speed TorqueFlite automatic. To get it all moving, a 3.23-to-1 rear end was standard, or the optional 3.55 or 3:91 setup could be ordered. Toss in power steering, disc brakes, and dual exhaust and we got a nice little street racer than could reach the quarter-mile in 14.7 seconds with a good tune. That might not sound like much today, but it was brisk enough back then. Loaded up with these options, and adding bucket seats brought the total tab to about $3,500. That doesn't sound like much, but adjusting for inflation, that computes to about $31,000 today. 

Text and photos by Chad Haire

Car Rear

The main advantage with the V-8 Demon was it had the same outside appearance of grandma's six-cylinder eco-ride version. This helped keep it under the radar so it didn't attract the attention of traffic police. But for those who did want attention from onlookers at the local burger hangout, more visual options came to the rescue. For a few hundred bucks, pair of hood scoops were available, along with a set of pins to hold the hood own on those 100 mph runs. Sharp looking rally wheels added to the mix. There were some wild paint colors as well (the most popular being "Plum Crazy"). On the outside, the 1971 Demon seen here looks pretty much restored to stock condition except for the wheels. But a closer look reveals some changes and all for the better. 

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Shifter

First, a peek in the cabin reveals that old three and four-speed gearboxes are nowhere to be seen. In their place is a modern five-speed automatic taken from a Dodge Challenger SRT. 

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Gauges

Second, on the dash, there are three non-stock gauges; a water temperature, air/fuel ratio, and boost gauge. 

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Hood Scoop

Third, the original factory hood scoops are on the hood, but a new emblem has been added. 

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Wheels

Forth, the stock 14-inch wheels have been replaced by aftermarket 17-inch units. They are needed to get traction for what is under the hood.  

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Engine

Last, but certainly, not the least is the biggest change of them all. The original 340 has been replaced with a modern V-8. This started out as a 6.1-liter cranking 425 horsepower. It was later rebuilt to 6.4-liters and modified to crank 550 horsepower. So equipped, this car ran a quarter-mile in just 12.9 seconds. It could have gone quicker, but even with a beefed rear suspension and larger than stock tires/wheels; traction (or lack thereof) is still an issue. Still, the need for speed will always be there, so what was the next step? Bolting on a supercharger of course! This Magnacharger in stock form adds about 120 extra horsepower with its six pounds of boost, for a total of 670. Since installation, this was increased to 12 pounds of boost, for an estimated 750 hp. 

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Hood

So the question everyone asks is how quick is it in the quarter-mile now? We will never know because there are no plans to use this on the drag strip. The car’s owner has a newer Dodge SRT for that. Instead, this Demon is intended to be a "brisk" back road cruiser. On the back county two-lane Arizona highways, there are too many slowpoke tourists in their motor homes jamming traffic up, so he wanted a vehicle that could pass them all, and going from 30 mph to 70 mph in about four seconds, it can do just that. Yet at the same time, this is a nice show car that gets plenty of attention on the street, and local car shows. Even if this Demon was put on the drag strip, doing so would not work very well in its current form. The rear tires just don't have the traction needed to put all this power to the pavement and would require plenty of modifications to do so. There is also the concern of transmission durability if used on quarter-mile runs. But it does a great job of impressing everyone at the local Friday night hangout, where massive tire burnouts in the parking lot are tradition. 

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Emblem

Today,  these Dodge cars with the little cartoon Demon emblem are becoming prized collector items. Approximately 80K Demons were sold in 1971 with around only 10K packing the 340 engine. From 1972 on, the V8 Demon carried on in different forms, but with strict emissions standards, the ’71 year is the pick of the litter. While ones in nice original condition are no longer cheap to buy, they are inexpensive to repair and easy to work on. Their value can only go up! 

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