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One of the year’s hottest new engines almost never happened.

In early 2011, as Fiat was developing a strategy for Chrysler and deciding where to spend scarce product development funds, the 707-hp Hellcat Hemi V-8 debuting in the 2015 Dodge Challenger and Charger didn’t make the cut.

The project was shelved and engineers scattered to work on other projects, said Chris Cowland, Chrysler’s director of advanced and SRT powertrain.

Still, the idea for a new and superpowerful Hemi engine wouldn’t die among the SRT team, which continued to lobby for the engine. Four months later, Chrysler’s product development committee reversed its decision.



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BEHIND THE SCENES: Fiat Shelved Hellcat In 2011 But Engineers Would Not Let It Die

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