Instead, they watched the big engine's sales languish to the point where it wasn't really worth opening the doors in the morning to build it. After all, the purpose of winning everything in sight was based on the old slogan "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." Unfortunately for Chrysler, they won on Sunday but sold no hemis on Monday. Nobody wanted the detuned street hemi when it was available. Oh sure, a bunch of gray haired, pony tailed idiots with too much money have elevated the engine to cult status today, but what do they know? The same thing they knew from 1966 to 1971....nothing. 

Chrysler knew they had to do something, and quick. Chevrolet was creeping up with the RPO L88, (below) introduced in 1967. It was radical and rarely ordered, but it would decimate the street hemi. Even the 375 hp 396 SS Chevelle would beat the hemi. Ford's killer R code 427 cars were also faster, although radical as well. But who cared? Guys who wanted all out, 12 second street machines didn't really care if the cars idled well. The 440 Magnum was holding up well, but the engine had been around for 3 years and in Detroit speak, that's old age. The MoPar muscle cars needed more punch. 

The audience was not what people thought it was.....the demographic for these cars was quite different from common historical opinion. As I stated above, the average consumer for a 13 flat or better street car was not a 19 year old draft dodger with a letterman sweater and a rich father. He was more likely a 30 year old guy who shaved when he felt like it and had a Lucky hanging out of his mouth. Like as not he was a combat veteran from Vietnam. He gave you that dead, faraway stare  when you asked him if he wanted to run. "How much," was about the only response you'd get. $500 was the average amount back then, anything less wasn't worth risking a driver's license for. 

I knew plenty of these guys, and they wanted mind altering acceleration machines. L88 Chevelles, 427 R code Fairlanes, (below) 421 Super Duty GTOs, and variations on the wedge Mopar theme were their favorite choices. They wanted out of the box machines; they didn't want to have to spend a lot of money converting a factory engine into what it should have been in the first place. 

In mid 1969, Chrysler decided that building a more potent 440 was the way to go. They had virtually abandoned the hemi, knowing that there wasn't anything they could do to it that would make a difference in the sales chart. It's street reputation was dead meat and nothing could revive it. The 440, however, was a different story. Enter the six pack. 

Pontiac had made "Tri Power" famous in 1964 with the GTO, but the concept had been around since 1957. Chrysler had dominated 1957 with the 300C, so the 3 x 2 barrel carburetor equipped J2 Oldsmobiles (below) and the late year Bonnevilles got little press. The concept was quite good; you cruised on the center carburetor, giving good mileage, but when power was wanted you simply squashed the gas pedal and activated the two outer carburetors. Atomization was better than with dual quads or a big four barrel, and trips looked good, too.

Vic Edelbrock Jr (below) provided a high rise aluminum manifold, and Chrysler tricked up the 440 block with higher compression and a few other improvements detailed in the Mopar muscle car section. The result was astounding.......dyno reports of the day showed that the big engine produced a solid 450 horsepower. Chrysler, however, to avoid confrontations with insurance companies, (it didn't work) proclaimed a mere 15 more horsepower than the Magnum and rated the monster at 390 horses. Six Pack cars have a V or M code in their serial number.....the fifth digit. H coded Road Runners and Super Bees are 383 cars despite whatever you may find under the hood.

The Dodge Super Bee was chosen as the first model to be available with the killer motor. Its 1968 sales had been quite dismal, and the car needed a push. Dodge had been squealing like a pig over Plymouth's theft of the Road Runner name, which Dodge had used in 1967, so they got the new engine before anybody else. To emphasize the all out performance nature of the engine, they added a fiberglass pinned hood with a functional scoop, a 4.10 Dana 60 rear end with Sure Grip, and plain black steel wheels with G70 x 15 tires and chrome lug nuts. Six pack cars were not available with air conditioning or disc brakes.

The cars immediately sent a message to the competition as they notched some of the fastest quarter mile times ever recorded by a stock factory car. 13.5 @ 105 was about average with street tires and closed exhaust. When Plymouth got the engine, drag racer Ronnie Sox turned a 12.98 @111 with a stock 4 speed Road Runner. This showed what the cars could really do; the lesser times were common with car magazines, who didn't want to return the cars to the manufacturers with rods sticking out the side of the block. 

Dodge called the option the 440 six pack, while Plymouth called it the 440-6 or 440-six barrel. Whatever the name, the new engine became the most feared on the street. Air cleaners proclaimed various themes, including the Coyote Duster decal. For 1969, only the Super Bee and Road Runner had the six pack engine option. 

In 1970, Chrysler extended the availability of its new engine by making the motor an option for the Cuda, GTX, Challenger R/T, Charger R/T, Plymouth Superbird, and even the big C body Sport Fury. More internal modifications were made, and records continued to fall. On the street, the ultimate proving grounds, the six pack ruled. 

1971, which was the last official year for the option, saw a slight change for the six pack setup. The engine was detuned somewhat; the advance curve was changed to satisfy new government emissions requirements. This adjustment cost only 5 horsepower, not enough to notice and certainly easily reversible. The six pack, along with the hemi and high performance 340, were 1971's only remaining Detroit engines with 10:1 or better compression. Three 1972 models supposedly exist with the six pack, and a dozen Chargers were built with it according to several sources. 

The Edelbrock aluminum manifold is still available, and so are the Holley carburetors although they are jetted a bit differently for emissions. Linkage, six pack decals, 440 and hemi mufflers, air filters, etc. are available from   Jim's Auto Parts. Original air cleaner assemblies in reproduction and lots of other stuff including carburetors are available from The Moparts Connection  here: http://www.mopartsracing.com/parts/fuel.html . 

The cars bring huge money, so if you have one get out there and restore it! Good examples are hard to find, and as usual, thousands of clones and non original home made six pack cars are out there. A lot of these cars didn't survive the heavy hands of street racers and do not have the original engines. Pictures are mixed in with the muscle car gallery. Take the production numbers for what they are worth, they may not be 100 percent accurate, but I'm sure they're close enough for government work.