Just when you think you have seen everything, we bring you this HEMI powered generator. It was spotted by Jalopnik when they were covering the Fairfield County Concourse d ‘Elegance that took place in Wesport, CN. this past weekend. Though there were a few HEMI cars there, some weren’t quite ready for this display.
It was a 1954 331 cubic inch HEMI and it was connected to a large generator. See back in the day Chrysler’s Industrial Division used HEMIs for more than just automobiles, they had early HEMIs powering large water pumps, huge sirens, basically anything that required an engine to run it. The generator you see here in the picture was meticulously restored to concourse condition and makes 180 horsepower.
I bet your thinking, “Wow, I would love to have one of these when the lights go out, and there are the die hard car guys that are probably saying, “What a waste of a good HEMI.” That should be between the rails of my ’32 Ford Coupe or a nostalgic dragster. The fact is guys, it wasn’t uncommon to see one of these early Chrysler HEMIs put to work on farms and out in the industrial world earning their keep.
Being as rare if not rarer than Old Henry’s flat head, it’s hard on the eyes for one to see such an iconic engine as this one go to waste, well at least that’s the opinion of most street rodders, but to the man that owns and restored this beauty, it’s considered a work of art to him. It also marks a time in history when many car manufacturers built more than just cars. We can say this about Chrysler’s trump card, the Hemi made them famous and they promoted it well.
