Mopar Hellephant crate engine sells out in 48 hours

This happened so quickly that we’re only just catching up with it. Mopar opened

pre-orders on the 7.0-liter Hellephant

Hemi crate engine on April 26, which is Hemi Day.

According to Allpar

, hubbub on social media not long after that day claimed Mopar had gone through all of its Hellephant stock. When

Allpar

asked

Fiat

Chrysler for clarification, a spokesperson e-mailed, “Given the high demand and the hand-built, time-intensive build process, we have closed preordering for the 426 Hellephant Supercharged HEMI crate engine. Based on preorders, the engine sold out in just two days. Customers can visit www.cratehemi.com to receive future information and updates on the ‘Hellephant’ engine.”

No one is certain how many engines Mopar sold.

Allpar

wrote, “Industry insiders believe Mopar may be making around 100,” but reiterated that it’s a guess.

The engine and the ordering process have their peculiarities.

Mopar Insiders

explained that

Tool Engineering International helped create

the 426-cubic-inch block, and that the Hellephant engine “shares nothing except for displacement with the

rumored

upcoming 7.0-liter 426 Hemi V8.” On the

Hellcat.org

forum, a poster wrote that the

engines “can only be sold through a dealer

and that the

dealers

can only order 1 engine per week.”

The Hellephant doesn’t come with Mopar’s three-year, 100,000-mile

warranty

, either. During a press briefing last October,

FCA officials said they weren’t sure

about offering any warranty. Based on the motor being given a

part number starting with the letter P

, there is a bit of protection, but it’s a 90-day limited warranty covering “defects in materials or wokmanship,” and only applies to engines not used in competition.

For those who didn’t get the opportunity to drop $29,995 for 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet of torque, the best bet is to hope for the return of Apollyon’s pachyderm.

Motor1

wrote that “

Rumors hint at… another limited run

scheduled for next year due to overwhelming demand.” That’s thin thread to hang a Hellephant from, but it beats bupkis.