This is an original 1953 Chrysler Hemi FirePower V8, it’s one of the most famous American engines of the time, and it came before the likes of the Chevrolet small block and long before the debut of the Ford 260/289/302 V8 engine family.
Interestingly, the Chrysler FirePower might be the first V8 that’s development started as a fighter aircraft engine. Chrysler engineers developed an experimental hemi engine for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft – 220 cubic inch (36.4 liter) inverted V16 capable of over 2,500 bhp, and named the Chrysler XIV-2220.
This is the Chrysler IV-2220 aeroengine, it was the first “Hemi” engine developed by the US automaker, and it was essentially two V8s with the power taken off the middle of the crankshaft.
The Chrysler XIV-2220 was a unique aeroengine in that it was designed from the outset as essentially two V8 engines joined at the middle. The power for the propeller and many of the accessories were driven of the center of the crankshaft via an extension shaft that ran below the crankshaft. This was due to the fact that running the propeller off one end of a V16 could overload the crankshaft and result in failures.
Unfortunately, by the time the Chrysler XIV-2220 V16 was ready, it was 1945 and WWII was over. As a result it never saw mass-production or use in the conflict, and only a small number of aircraft were fitted with them in an experimental capacity.
All was not lost however, as the expertise that Chrysler engineers had acquired on hemispherical combustion chamber design would appear a few years later in the first Chrysler FirePower V8 engines – which debuted in 1950.
For the uninitiated, the hemispherical combustion chamber is, as the name implies, a combustion chamber with a domed hemispherical shape. The purpose of the hemispherical shape is that it allow the use of large intake and exhaust valves and it also offers improved volumetric efficiency.
The most famous hemispherical engines are the Hemi V8s developed by Chrysler, however many other manufacturers used the design as well, including Lamborghini, Jaguar, Ford, BMW, Aston Martin, Lancia, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Porsche, Toyota, and others.
The Chrysler Hemi “FirePower” V8 Engine
The Chrysler Hemi “FirePower” V8 engine made its first appearance in a production car in 1950 for the 1951 model year. It initially came in a displacement of 331 cubic inches (5.4 liters) and produced 180 bhp – a high output for a car at the time.
As a result of their excellent power output the engines were quickly put to work in the world of motorsport. Briggs Cunningham fitted one to his Cunningham C-5R which finished 1st in class and 3rd overall at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Other Hemi engines would later find homes in the world of NASCAR, winning countless races and championships, and dominating the field for years in the 1950s and 1960s.
The 1953 Hemi “FirePower” V8 shown in this article is now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in mid-January. The listing is short on details, but what we do know is that it’s a 1953 model and it comes with an engine stand.
The Chrysler Hemi FirePower V8 was first offered to consumers in 1950, it produced 180 bhp which was a remarkable amount of power for the era, and it was quickly put to use in race cars including the Cunningham C-5R which finished 1st in class and 3rd overall at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans.
As you can see in the pictures it does look like it’s been rebuilt but we don’t know if this includes the internal components. It’s fitted with a single Carter carburetor, an intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, a starter motor, and a dynamo.
If you’d like to read more about this engine or place a bid you can visit the listing here. It’s being offered with no reserve price and the stand it’s on has wheels to make it relatively easy to move around.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
