Mopar's Hellephant Is Already Sold Out
Remember when we told you you could purchase Fiat Chrysler’s beastly, 1,000-horsepower Hellephant crate engine last week? Well, you’ve missed the window. After just a few days of availability, Mopar’s mightiest engine is entirely sold out.
According to Allpar, FCA’s inventory was depleted within 48 hours of pre-orders opening for “Hemi Day” (April 26th) after third-party sources began saying the motor was no longer available. The outlet posited that the $29,995 hand-built unit was likely produced in extremely limited numbers and reached out to the manufacturer for verification about its availability.
“Given the high demand and the hand-built, time-intensive build process, we have closed preordering for the 426 Hellephant Supercharged HEMI crate engine. Based on preorders, the engine sold out in just two days,” the company responded. “Customers can visit www.cratehemi.com to receive future information and updates on the ‘Hellephant’ engine.”
From Allpar:
No sales volume was offered, but with these 1,000-horsepower engines being hand-built, we would guess that the production numbers will be fairly low. Industry insiders have told us that they believe that Mopar may be making around 100 examples of the Hellephant during this initial production run, but with the engine proving to be so popular — even with a list price higher than that of a base model 2019 Dodge Challenger — it would make sense for the company to figure out a way to make more examples of this 1,000-horsepower crate engine. Of course, we want to point out that the count of 100 engines is not an official figure from FCA.
FCA debuted the Hellephant at last year’s SEMA event, wedged inside a resto-modded 1968 Dodge Charger. For its $30k base price, customers receive the motor, flywheel, oil pan, water pump, injectors, ignition coils, 3.0-liter supercharger and throttle body. For an extra $2,265, Mopar provides an engine kit, which adds a powertrain control module (PCM), power distribution center, engine wiring harness, chassis harness, accelerator pedal, ground jumper, oxygen sensors, charge air temperature sensors, fuel pump control module, and CAN bus interface device.
If you’re interested in owning one of these monsters, you’ll have to wait for the company to build another batch. Fortunately, rumor has it that Mopar is considering a second Hellephant production run for 2020.
[Images: FCA]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Drag racers must be giggling. "1000HP from 10L? Ooo!"
Someone should put one in a Boss Hoss bike.