While Prestige Motorsports is famous for its Ford builds, it is equally adept at building any engine you can think of. How about a Prestige Motorsports Hemi?

If there’s a king of the muscle car engines, the name would be “Hemi.” Hemi engines are big, they look menacing, and performance is the sole reason for their existence. The nickname “Elephant” is well-deserved; the Hemi history is rich and still growing after more than 70 years. Recently, a Prestige Motorsports Hemi mades its way to a technical school in Virginia for 1969 Dodge Charger R/T project!

What’s cooler than a Hemi? Not much, especially when you have one making 700-plus horsepower on pump gas.

There are essentially three generations of Hemi, the original, called “Fire Power,” was offered from 1951 to 1958. Next came the Gen-II, an all-new version with 426 cubic inches designed for drag racing and NASCAR domination, and lastly, the modern Gen-III HEMI. Introduced in 2003, the Gen-III has powered the modern era of Mopar performance vehicles, but of the three, the classic 426 is what most people think of when the name Hemi is spoken.

The engine was built and dyno tested by Prestige Motorsports. Prestige specializes in building custom crate engines to meet the needs of its clients.

The 426 Hemi engine represents pure, American muscle. Introduced specifically as a race engine in 1964, it was utilized by Dodge and Plymouth to rule drag strips and take on Ford in NASCAR. Then came the 426 Street Hemi in 1966 to homologate the engine for racing. It was produced through 1971 in production cars, and that engine is still being utilized by street enthusiasts and racers alike.

In fact, the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge, which was recently contested, saw 20-plus 1968 ½ Darts and Cudas battling for the crown at the 71st NHRA U.S. Nationals. And furthermore, today’s nitro-burning Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars still use the Gen-II Hemi architecture to produce over 11,000 horsepower.

While the 426 Hemi is the elephant of muscle car engines, its cubic inch size is moderate by today’s street standards. Thankfully, with overbore and stroker crankshafts, increasing displacement is a breeze.

To bring the engine to modern street muscle standards, we connected with Prestige Motorsports, which supplied a 572-cubic-inch Hemi monster to students who are building a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T.

The Dodge is a ground-up build being handled by enthusiastic students attending Massanutten Vo-Tech in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It’s a project for 10th, 11th and 12th-grade kids being mentored by their teacher Terry Taylor. Taylor is a 64-year-old educator with the passion for performance.

“These are high school kids actually building this Dodge Charger as a mascot for our school,” said Taylor. “The modern engines are so efficient; we have a Dodge Dart project getting a new Gen-III HEMI, so I wanted to introduce the students to the old-school version. We drove this Charger into the shop. It had a 440 and it ran strong. We removed that engine because there’s nothing like a Hemi.”

The 572-inch Prestige Motorsports Hemi

Prestige Motorsports (Concord, N.C.) offers a few options with its 572 Hemi; this one is prepared with a traditional iron block and induction from Indy Cylinder Heads. It has 10.9:1 compression, a Comp Cams .660-inch lift solid roller camshaft and shaft-mounted roller rockers. It produces 700 horsepower and is ideal for street/strip builds that prioritize ruggedness, while preserving the Hemi heritage.

Prestige prepped the block with 4.50-inch bores and an Eagle Specialty Products 4340 Forged Steel 4.5-inch stroker crankshaft. It has forged H-beam rods and Racetec pistons. Induction is handled by Indy Cylinder Heads aluminum heads and intake manifold, and a Quick Fuel carburetor.

“Our 572 Mopar Big-Block Stroker crate engine is based on the granddaddy of the Muscle Car era: the 426 Hemi,” said Shawn Meekhof of Prestige Motorsports. “This Gen II Hemi features an iron block with aluminum cylinder heads, solid roller camshaft and makes 700 HP on pump gasoline. [We offer] everything available including short-blocks, long-blocks to turn-key carbureted or EFI and drop-in-ready engines with your pulley kit of choice. Turn-Key and drop-in ready engine packages come dyno tested, and every engine package is personalized for you and tailored to your ride.

Meekhof continued, “Working with Professor Terry on this Hemi has been very rewarding for me personally. The students were so excited to see photos of the engine being built, and now that they have it in their hands for the install, ee have been able to keep in touch as well. Being able to follow along with the build once it leaves our shop brings everything full circle. Sometimes engines get shipped out and we never hear from the client again, which can be a good thing, of course, [when there are] no issues. But we do love to see our engines in action. What an incredible project that these students get to be a part of.”

The students are seen in the process of fitting the powertrain, which also includes a TREMEC six-speed with a hydraulic clutch.

In addition to getting help from Prestige Motorsports, Taylor told us NAPA Auto Parts was very helpful.

“I try to teach the young kids to get quality parts. We tend to use NAPA, so I contacted them, and they treated me like they had known me forever. They went out of their way. They answered any questions, and they were upfront, and they, along with Shawn at PM, have called checking on me all the way through the build.”

Taylor continued, “You’ll get some kids here and they have a real strong hold on things. I have a kid in here this year, Josh Bailey, who wants to be a fireman, but he loves cars and he’s my heartbeat in here. They do everything on the car. They moved the leaf springs in so we can get wider wheels under it. My kids do all the welding, so they moved the frame rails in and with guidance handle all the fabrication.

“Next, we’re taking the windshield out and the back glass and then it goes over to our body shop. Our body shop has brand new fenders for the car, brand new doors and quarter-panels, too. They are absolutely going to do the complete body then they’ll paint it.”

Since talking to Taylor, we’ve learned the engine has been removed, and the Dodge is in paint. Once it receives color, final assembly will begin. It will be transformed into a Hemi Charger that the students will enjoy for years to come.