Hemi

No one has ever accused the Jeep Wrangler of being cheap, particularly in higher-level trims like the Rubicon. It sounds as if the price premium for the heavily anticipated Rubicon 392 with its 470 horsepower V8 engine will be steep.

Packing a 707 hp Hellcat HEMI V8 straight from the factory, we already know that the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a monster. But the guys at Hennessey Performance are never satisfied with stock, and cranked theirs up to make an extra 500 horses or so.

On the surface, the idea of putting a 707 horsepower engine into a Jeep Grand Cherokee is insane. Like the folks who shoehorned the 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI into the truck need to be put in straight jackets and locked up for good.

When the “Flame Red” Ram 1500 pickup arrived on my doorstep, I immediately knew that she needed a name, and with the help of my 4-year-old, we gave this lumbering lady the title “Hemi,” which at the time seemed quite appropriate.

Rebuilding engines can be quite time-consuming, especially if you’re working on multiple projects in your shop like the guys at Thirlby Automotive, CSR Motorsports, and Traverse Body and Paint Center. Ultimately, their rebuild of an old Chrysler Hemi FirePower V8 took them about 10 months to complete, but it’s been digested down to just 5 minutes, courtesy of the folks at Hagerty, purveyors of insurance for classic and collectible cars.