Hemi Muscle Cars [Hardcover]

Darwin Holmstrom (Author), David Newhardt (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Since the early years of the internal combustion engine, engineers recognized that the hemispherical head design, which utilized dome-shaped combustion chambers, generated phenomenal horsepower. During World War II, Chrysler developed this extremely powerful engine design for tanks and other military vehicles.  After the war the company applied this technology to a 330-cubic-inch V-8 destined for its 1951 production cars.  This engine became so dominant on America's racetracks and boulevards that its nickname--Hemi--came to symbolize the ultimate in American performance.

 

Hemi Muscle Cars tells the story of the magnificent Hemi-powered performance cars and explains why the Hemi has blown away the competition for six decades--and still does so today.  More importantly, the book shows how this potent engine became a cultural icon, how it came to define American performance cars.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“There is page after page of terrific photography of restored cars and race cars and the stories of how this infamous engine came to be.” – Mark Maynard, San Diego Union Tribune

 “…setting the book apart from others currently on your coffee table is the stunning artwork by photographer David Newhardt. His images enticingly capture the entire vehicle.” – Greg Williams, Calgary Herald

 “While Motorbooks has published several Mopar-focused titles, Hemi Muscle Cars, which covers everything from the earliest Hemi cars to the latest Challenger, now ranks as the authoritative volume, a glorious, oversized book filled with spectacular photography.” – Richard Truesdell, Musclecar Enthusiast 

“Author David Holmstrom and photographer David Newhardt have assembled a primer on the Hemi.” - Larry Printz, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

 

“You can all but hear the engine on full-chat as you leaf though its pages. Well laid-out and a perfect coffee-table discussion piece, it is worth every penny.” - Lincolnshire Echo

 

“The pictures are excellent and are not just of road cars either, there’s some cool hot rods and awesome drag car shots in there as well.” – Custom Car

 

“This massive coffee table-style book spans the entire history of Chrysler’s most famous engine, from pre-Hemi cars like the Airflow to the Challenger SRT8 on the cover.” - Muscle Car Review

 

“There is page after page of terrific photography of restored cars and race cars and the stories of how there infamous engine came to be.” – Mark Maynard, San Diego Union-Tribune

“It’s easy to underestimate the impact Chrysler’s revolutionary hemispherical-head V8 engine - or Hemi – has had on the world. It’s legendary, and this huge 340-page book does it full justice.” - Auto Express

“If it’s bangs for the bucks you look for in a book, you won’t do better than this.” - Classic and Sports Car

Review

"While Motorbooks has published several Mopar-focused titles, Hemi Muscle Cars, which covers everything from the earliest Hemi cars to the latest Challenger, now ranks as the authoritative volume, a glorious, oversized book filled with spectacular photography."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 1st edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760331723
• ISBN-13: 978-0760331729
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 10.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Hemi Book Yet, October 29, 2008

By 

Rider Boy (Regina, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hemi Muscle Cars (Hardcover)

I love all muscle cars, but I've been a Mopar guy since I was a kid. This is the best book on Chrysler muscle cars that I have ever read. All the other Hemi books focus on the technology; this one covers the technology better than the rest, but the focus is on the people and culture that made the Hemi one of the world's top automotive icons. And the photography is some of the best I have ever seen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a beautiful book, October 30, 2008

By 

P. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hemi Muscle Cars (Hardcover)

I bought this book as a gift for my husband, but ended up reading it myself. I bought the book because he loves Hemis and the photography was beautiful, but I ended up reading it because it was a great story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great pictures, factually incorrect., April 12, 2011

By 

Collin J. Ebalo (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hemi Muscle Cars (Hardcover)

As a multiple HEMI car owner and long time fan/enthousiast, this book was a must have for me.

From a visual prospective, the book is stunning. The book has a wide variety of different types of Hemi cars and rare Hemi cars. The book features the whole timeline from the concept and creation all the way to the current SRT8 models. The pictures are bright, bold, and make you want to stare at them for hours.

On the negative, I was stunned when I began reading about the current Hemi cars. On page 313, the author discusses the modern Dodge Charger SRT-8. The author states, "The huge hood scoop on the Charger SRT-8 is non-functional, but it gives the 4-door muscle sedan plenty of visual drama. The gunsight grille is a styling cue seen on all Dodge vehicles; it gives Charger an aggressive front end." How could he? The author is incorrect on three parts in this quote alone. First and most importantly; the hood scoop is functional! The functional hood scoop increases horsepower by helping add cooler air into the engine bay. Secondly, Dodge does not call their grille, "Gunsight". Dodge's term for the grille is "Cross Point Grille." Finally, as seen on the front cover, not all Dodge's have the Cross Point Grille. The Dodge Challenger has a unique grille that does not feature the Cross Point.

After reading the information on the beloved Dodge Charger SRT-8, I was heart broken. There is nothing worse an author could do than to put out incorrect information. Part of my purchase was to gain knowledge on the HEMI legend. Since the author clearly got these simple points wrong, what else could they have gotten incorrectly?