Possibly the only Ball Stud Hemi left in existence, pictured here between the fenders of a 1969 Barracuda.
Sure, there’s the six-cylinder crowd, but that is a much smaller, niche crowd with exotic speed parts from oddity-chasing companies such as Fenton and Offenhauser. When most of us think horsepower, we think of the V8, and for some, bigger is always better. Ford brought out the flathead back in the day and changed the game forever. It made good power for the time and made even better power as Ford improved it over the years.
In the middle fifties, the Chevy small block came onto the scene, and it was just as important. An overall economical, powerful, universal V8 that would power an incredible amount of automobiles for four decades. There’s a lot of people out there that have a particular affection for the Chevy small block, and there’s quite a few who date back further yet with a fondness for the flathead.
Let’s not forget the Ford 302, a great engine I’d hate to admit that I’m a fan of. If I were to pick a “King of the Hill,” however, I’d have to give it to the 426 Hemi. With absolutely no hands-on experience and a generous degree of certainty that I’ll never own one to get hands-on experience, that’s exactly why I like them so much. They’re rare, they’re powerful, and they come with a serious pedigree. The first muscle car to crack a million bucks was a 1971 Hemi’ Cuda convertible. They were an absolute monster on the tracks of NASCAR. Want one in a ‘Cuda? You got it. Roadrunner? No problem. Dart? You bet, but keep it on the down-low, it’s for track use only. That’s the best part, it was available as an option, so if it was offered in the car, it could be ordered in the car, not as a part of some glitzy package. A bench seat with a knuckle-busting four speed inside, dog-dish hubcaps covering up tiny drum brakes on the outside, and a Hemi under the hood. It was a thing. Had the performance world and Chrysler both not changed for the worst in the seventies, the Hemi was to be re-born, as a Chevy lookalike, and the biggest big block.
Weighing in at a healthy four-hundred and forty-four cubic inches, the “Ball Stud Hemi” would have been Chrysler’s biggest big block. What does ball stud mean? Basically, it’s a Chrysler B-series big block, which is the 383/400 block, with a set of incredibly Chevy-like heads installed on it. Rather than using the typical Chrysler big block arrangement of shaft-mounted rocker arms, they used a stud with a pivot ball like Chevy used. Also, the spark plugs were relocated to the conventional spot by the exhaust ports. To the naked eye, it resembles a Chevy, but they dressed it like a Dodge with the right air cleaner, paint, and exhaust manifolds. It weighed less, cost less, and was physically smaller than the 426 Hemi. Unfortunately, Chrysler had a rough run throughout the seventies, and this project was scrapped, as were all the parts. I believe one or two engines still exist today. One was on display in a museum, and it may or may not be the same one that’s installed in a Barracuda today. It runs, it drives, and apparently, it makes Hemi levels of power.
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