Chrysler’s HEMI engine commands enormous respect in the muscle car community, especially the second-gen Street HEMI that powered various muscle cars throughout the mid-to-late ’60s and early ’70s. The engine was a variation of the Race Hemi used in NASCAR, one of the common forms of the “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” thinking prevalent during this timeframe. Chrysler was quite adept at this approach, birthing legends such as the AAR pony cars, the Superbird and Daytona nameplates, and, of course, the 426 Street HEMI.

Unfortunately, being such a prestigious engine means that it also came with a steep price tag. The 426 HEMI was an extremely expensive option, costing nearly $900 on the 1966 Charger. That was just about a quarter of the value of the car itself; think of it like buying a $50,000 car today and getting a $15,000 engine option.

So what made the 426 HEMI so desirable, then? In short, it’s because these engines were powerful — 425 hp officially, and likely between 450 and 500 horsepower in reality — and they were fast. Incredibly fast, in some cases, with HEMI-equipped cars easily ripping up drag strips nationwide. And, as you might expect, these cars haven’t gotten any cheaper over the years. But if you have deep pockets and a need for classic speed, here are your options if you’re shopping for Mopar HEMI cars — with the caveat that one shouldn’t use this as a buying guide, since classic car pricing fluctuates rapidly.

It’s quite telling when the “cheap” option is something that still averages an eye-watering $99,904 on Classic.com, and that’s before we filter out everything that doesn’t have the J-code serial number that designates a factory HEMI. The Plymouth GTX was something of a sleeper car of its day. It was one of three cars built on the Chrysler B-body chassis, all of which used the Belvedere nameplate in 1967. You had the Belvedere itself, the Satellite, and the sportier GTX, which retained the general intermediate-style body in a 2-door coupe or convertible format. 

Squint and you’ll miss the “HEMI” badge on the side, though; these looked more like salesmen’s cars than actual sports cars, at least to begin with. By the late ’60s, the GTX assumed the mantle of Plymouth’s premier luxury-oriented supercar, sharing a platform with the Charger. And like the charger, it underwent three major facelifts, the last of which was in 1971 when it inherited those sweeping lines we all know the GTX for; it’s one of several cars of its era that still look cool today.

These were among the most expensive muscle cars of their day; in fact, a fully-kitted out GTX is considered the most expensive pre-Oil Crisis Mopar ever made, costing more than $6,000 — or about $50,000 in 2026. To put that into context, the average yearly salary for 1971 was a shade under $6,500. Even a standard ’71 GTX cost some $3,707, and they’ve certainly not gone down in price since then. Today, all Hemi-equipped models command six-figure prices in the mid-$100,000s or much more.

What Mopar HEMI list would be complete without a Charger? These are among the most iconic muscle cars ever designed, and not just for the second-gen Charger’s starring role in the “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series. The Charger had a Street HEMI since the first gen from 1966, alongside the Coronet. The original Charger was far less sporty-looking by comparison — in fact, it was positively unassuming by muscle car standards, especially with that utterly massive rear end. But it had that iconic, slab-like front grille and fastback rear quarter, cementing the design for years to come.

It’s this design, coupled with that potent 426 growling under the hood, that captivated audiences from day one. Alongside other Mopar B-bodies like the Roadrunner and GTX, the Charger unquestionably remains one of the most recognizable muscle cars in the world, and its price tag reflects that.

These days, good luck finding any rust-free second-gen Charger, Hemi or not, for under $40,000. It’s the same story with the rarer first-gen Charger as well, naturally. And if you want a HEMI, you’re easily in for over $100,000, with the most expensive J-code sold in 2026 being an automatic ’68 sold at Mecum Indy for $302,500. Like the GTX, the last 426 Hemi-powered Charger left the factory in 1971, with auction prices for that generation soaring even higher; a 1971 example sold for a stout $425,000 at Mecum Kissimmee 2024. Hagerty claims an average of “just” $191,000, making these easily the most valuable standard-issue Chargers on the market.

Chrysler’s entry into the Pony Car gave the world yet another couple of iconic nameplates: the HEMI ‘Cuda and Challenger R/T. The former needs no introduction, even among non-car enthusiasts; it practically put the name “HEMI” on the map. The latter’s claim to fame arrived with the 1971 film “Vanishing Point,” which was basically a series of epic car chases loosely held together by a “plot” of some description (although the movie’s car had a 440 Magnum).

Nevertheless, these cars, built to compete with the likes of the Ford Boss 429 Mustang, were among the fastest and most famous of their era. And rightfully so, too: a giant engine in a little car is a timeless recipe that never goes out of style, and neither did the styling. Both cars more closely resemble full-size toys, with their bright, flashy colors, aggressive stance, snarling lines, and seemingly endless options lists lending incredible levels of personality to every model. It also makes them among the most desirable muscle cars in general, much less Mopars specifically.

Both the Challenger and HEMI ‘Cuda share platforms and fame, which means they also have astronomical price tags. Be prepared to leave the auction floor about $200,000 lighter if you plan on buying one of these cars in decent condition with a 426 under the hood. Bonus money if you’re looking to splurge for a convertible, especially a well-optioned one.

If you’re interested in going as fast as humanly possible down a quarter-mile drag strip, to the exclusion of literally everything else, these are the cars for you. You know how some cars were homologation specials, like many of the fastest rally cars of all time? These were like those, just for the drag strip. 

Take the LO23 Dart, for example. You’ll notice the car has no wing mirrors. The windows also don’t roll down, because it has no mechanism in the doors. There are no side turn signals because the front fenders are just raw fiberglass. The seats were taken from a van because they’re lighter. Its sister car mirrors these same characteristics; these were, without question, serious vehicles built with a singular purpose in mind. They didn’t even have paintwork; you got them in gray primer with black fiberglass fenders.

Each of these vehicles was a re-engineered production car, hand-fitted with a HEMI engine and superlight parts, then sold to race teams. The results speak for themselves; these cars easily ran low-10-second quarter-miles at a time when most performance cars ran 13s or 14s. They were, quite simply, in a class of their own. Given their rarity — only 80 Darts and 72 Barracudas were produced — it’s difficult to determine an average price for either. Virtually every car has racing provenance, and the price increases with originality and a winning history. Mecum sold an example of what they claim is the “most original LO23” in existence at a cool $302,500, if that’s any indication of its ceiling.

Now we come to Chrysler’s infamous “Winged Warriors”: the Daytona and Superbird. Much like the Super Stock drag specials, these were vehicles engineered for one purpose only: to be the fastest cars on a racetrack. Just replace the drag strip with Talladega Super Speedway.

It’s difficult to appreciate just how massive these cars are until you see them in person. For context, a Charger Daytona is 226.5 inches long, just a half-inch shorter than a Cadillac Escalade ESV. They were huge, even by muscle car standards, yet their HEMI power and amazing drag coefficient pushed them beyond 200 mph. The Daytona was actually the first production car to exceed 200 mph on a closed circuit, doing so on March 24, 1970. This made the Winged Wonders among the fastest cars by top speed, production or not, and certainly the fastest cars of the 1970s.

Both Superbirds and Daytonas were available with four- and six-barrel 440s or the 426 HEMI, married to a three- or four-speed manual or a TorqueFlite automatic. The HEMI was the most expensive and rarest option — only 70 Daytonas and 135 Superbirds were so-equipped. They are, unsurprisingly, not cheap; even in a weaker market, they still hammer at eye-watering prices north of $200,000. An original 1970 Superbird sold at Mecum Indy 2025 went for over double that, fetching $418,000. That price, believe it or not, was a huge loss — that particular car cost $1.65 million in 2022.

We established general pricing for these models based on several sources, including Hagerty valuation tools, Classic.com, and auction sites like Mecum. We made sure to base our numbers on original, numbers-matching examples, checking the serial numbers for originality, i.e., “J-Code” for B-bodies. For rarer vehicles like the homologation specials, we focused primarily on auction results, since there isn’t sufficient data to determine a typical price based on current market conditions. Those vehicles are purchased at the price people will pay, and that price fluctuates with the overall market trend.

The vehicles themselves were selected for their cultural and historical significance, as well as their prominence within the HEMI community. The 426 HEMI powered over a dozen models, so we wanted to be as broad as possible, encompassing every distinct style of car from intermediate luxury muscle cars to race cars in production-car clothing.