You would be hard pressed to find somebody who hasn’t heard of
Mopar. Mopar, meaning “MOtor PARts”, is genuinely associated with performance muscle cars made under the brands,
Chrysler,
Dodge, Plymouth , and Jeep. Today that is a totally
different story. Mopar provides quality replacement parts for Dodge, and Chrysler vehicles, as well as producing
aftermarket parts for performance on the strip and street legal models. When people think of Mopar, they think of
power, performance, and quality.
This all began in the early 1950’s when Mopar created the hemispherical engine. This was the beginning of an engineering
trend that would turn Mopar into a legacy. They started this trend with the Plymouth and Dodge vehicles, and in 1956,
Plymouth began to demand respect from race lovers all over. The 1956 Plymouth Fury had a polyspherical engine
in it that raced at
Daytona, and hit the 124
mph mark. The drivers of the Chevy and Ford cars took notice of the sheer power of this car, realizing they were looking at a
soon-to-be giant on the super-speedway.
Mopar started to gain respect for their brands, but it took until 1958 when Plymouth motor company developed the 350
cid class “B” motor. This motor became highly sought after with muscle car
enthusiasts. It came equipped with two 4-barreled carbs, making it one of the fastest engines during the era.
The history of Mopar is built around a new type of engine, the “Hemi”. In 1964 they reintroduced the “race hemi”, which
was a design that was an improvement of an earlier design produced for Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth vehicles of the
fifties. In a short amount of time it was associated with the highest powered engines of all time. In 1965 and 1968,
the Hemi came in the form of a 426 cid that was nothing but tire burning power. Over the years it had various
improvements that expanded the variety of the motor.
In the golden years of those old muscle cars Mopar was there to change the engineering of the internal combustion
engine. There are several engines and designs associated with Mopar, but the one word that people think of is
“Hemi”. Today the brand does more than just engines and parts.
Mopar parts and accessories offers a full line of aftermarket items
to choose from. Redesigns of the Dodge Challenger and Charger show people the success Mopar had on
the drag strips and race tracks. Mopar will remain a dominating force for years to come.