So every Mopar nut worth their salt knows that the last Hemi cars were produced for model year 1971. That knowledge may beg the question of what was the last Hemi car produced. Was it a swoopy E-body or a “large and in charge” B-body? Querying Google will provide you with what may seem to be an ironclad answer: a certain white 1971 Charger R/T, which has been touted as “The Last Hemi Car” for a few years now. Reading the stories that surround the car it would seem the VIN on this particular Charger puts it at the last days of production for 1971.

Now those of you with a skeptical mind and a thirst for the truth may want to look past all the hype that surrounds this car that was found in less than perfect condition and brought back to life in a very public and extensive restoration. One such “seeker” put his money where his mouth was and set about to prove or disprove the claims around this car.

You can read the rest of the article at Directly Connected Magazine HERE!

Has every 1971 Chrysler that received a Hemi been accounted for. One word answer *NO*. Did this Private Investigator ever look into all of the other Chargers, Super Bees, Road Runners, GTXs, Cudas and Challengers built in 1971 that received a HEMI, NO. Did this same PI also know all the Hemi Production Numbers for 1971 from USA,CAN, and Export, no, because no one has all the figures. Did this PI look into the last known 1971 E Bodies produced. I do not believe the PI has, because he has not contacted the owner of the last known 1971 Hemi E Body. All this just makes for reading on a winter night and it really does not mean anything except to state this in an E Bay Ad when someone decides to sell the car or when someone displays the car at a Show stating it is the Last one built.

All very good points. Obviously, this is a hotly contested issue and many are jockeying to claim to own "the last Hemi car" and it'll be interesting to know the real answer.

I work in the Automotive Production Industry. All this paper work might mean zippo. The definition of when a car is considered built is a question that has never been answered. Likely none of the last Hemi Cars build with a SPD in June were built on the date on the Fender Tag. I know this 100 percent, I own a June built Hemi Car. From what I understand for a lot of these builds is parts were hard to find, delaying the build. The Hemi motors that were put in June built Hemi cars have likely casting dates in 1968 at the end of the year usually 11-11-68. My 1971 Hemi Car was delayed quite a while after its SPD. I know the last Hemi E Body built the owner told me he almost did not even get the car do to the late build of his car. He was also told that his car was the last Hemi E Body built by Chrysler. Some times cars sit and sit and sit outside waiting for repairs and parts and then go back through the Care Line and the shipping papers are made then making the end build date or shipping date much later than the SPD on the fender tag and much later that the first day the body started at the plant. So you have to off been at every plant to see exactly what happened with the last Hemi Cars build at each factory. Maybe there were 1972 Hemi Cars built, never seen one, I have heard of two E Bodies, but I still find if had to believe because why then was there no 440-6 built in an ebody knowing there were 1972 B Bodies with 440 six packs built. Could we all be looking at the wrong year for the last hemi car built and it was put into a 1972 B Body.

Nothing like an article being timely - Tim Wellborn sold both the Motor Trend HEMI Super Bee & his "LAST built" HEMI Charger R/T at a MECUM auction in January.

FWIW Production of the '72 model year at Lynch Rd. Detroit, MI started 7/19, did they continue to build/finish '71s alongside '72 model year cars?

& if there were any 1972 model year HEMI cars assembled, they'd likely be pre-production & built months before the end of the '71 model year.

I had forgot that at that time Holidays were sched. for the last two weeks of July. Today most plants the Holidays are the first two weeks of July. I said that it would of been a thing to put the Last Hemi Car on an Ebay ad or on a Show Car Poster. Looks like both were done putting the Car up for sale a Mecum. I guess it is all about the money in this hobby anymore. Is this the car the last Hemi Car Built at the plant. If you consider a car coming off the end of an assembly line the place it is considered built then you would have to be there watching every car go off the line. If you consider the car being driven over to the car carrier or rail yard being released to the shipper as the assembly time then you would have to be at that spot watching all the car being driven away. No one will know if these SPD are close,unless you were there.

Wow! Fantastic points, Hemicar1971. But your notion that the last Hemi car could actually be a 1972 model would upset quite a bit of previously-held doctrine, and I'm sure a whole lot of self-proclaimed "experts." Is there any record or mention of a '72 B-body with an elephant? You mention "hearing" of a pair of '72 E-bodies, but there's (again), no record. Right? This is a very interesting question.

Dan is more than likely correct that for a Hemi Cars to be built in a 1972 Model Vehicle would likely be prebuild or pre August build and would likely be a pilot vehicle. The 1972 Six Pack cars, I have never looked at any of the casting dates or any build dates on these cars and do not know the exact or close to exact date these 1972 were built before or after August 1st 1971. Since I was into all these E Bodies since day one, when 1972 Cudas came out and the big motors were dropped no one really looked at these car for Hemis or Six Packs and if one had a big motor you thought it was swapped in the body or was a race car that was altered in someway. Back in 1970-71-72 no one looked at a VIN on the dash or a fender tag or even cared if it was an original Hemi or Six pack car, the car just had to be fast with these motors. They were new cars. In around 1975,76 things started to change with the beginning of the National Hemi Owners Association. People started to understand what the 5th digit in a serial number was and the cat was let out of the bag soon after that.

Getting back to 1971 last Hemi Cars. Dan states that no production in the last two week of July and that is do to Shut Down, holidays. So there was no production in the last two week of July for Hemi Cars and likely there was no production at all in July for these Hemi Cars. It is stated the Charger has a June 11, 1971 SPD on the fender tag. I know the last Hemi E Body built SPD is later than this date of July 11, 1971 and Production for this type of E Body was running around 10 days late making its build maybe around July 1st or later.

I'm sure I can't afford you, but would you like to write for us?

There are much better writers than I am that study mopars and have bigger and better collections of interesting facts on all Vehicles Chrysler produced. There are a few that have worked at the Chrysler Assembly Line factories that built these vehicles that we all love and enjoy and there information and stories are cool to read. There are others on here that have started to really study the builds of the cars and have amassed information that many that worked at the plant just take for granted and these people seem to see outside the box and that is a good thing. My interest has been 1971 Hemi E Body Hardtops. Gave all my information I have amassed on the Hemi E Body Convertibles to Ola Nilsson, Cudaized on moparts and he does a great job in his registry. I gave a lot of information to Barry Washingtons registry on 1970 Hamtramck build and this registry is over the top, his is the King when it comes to a web site and a registry. There are many others 6bblgt has amassed tons of information that is real nice to have but it takes a lot of work for him to do it and there are many others on moparts that have amassed information and do not mind sharing the information to benefit the hobby. I would say it would be better to deal with all these people. We all live all across North America and have seen a lot of cars that others like myself would never get a chance to see, so dealing with all is a good thing. Diego on moparts has amassed a lot and is a writer and has outside the box collection of information that is very cool like strips and color combinations.

Kevin & Dan

The article I wrote was written as an alternative to the internet hype that has crowned the RK car as the last Hemi. It wasn't written to say that Wellborn's car definitely is - the article simply iterates that it is MORE LIKELY the last car versus the White car. That's it. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE LAST HEMI CAR WAS. NOR WILL WE EVER KNOW.

Would you prefer nobody said anything and let RK's Public relations machine mow down the truth?

From what I have read of everything about these two Chargers and the Pi$$ing match that has gone on for a very long time about who wears the Crown of the Last Hemi Car Built, is that none of the information has definite proof whos car was built before the other when it comes to the Chargers. One thing you need is absolute information on every Hemi B Body Charger Super Bee built at the same plant that these two were built at. If not all information is known then there is no proof of who gets the Crown, just a bunch of guess work going on unless Chrysler has the production build list for every day in June and July. There could be other Hemi Chargers sitting in garages that were build after these two if not all Hemi Chargers are known. Now with E Bodies I have studied these late built cars for at least 35 years maybe more. It all started when I got the National Hemi Owners Association new letters way back in the 1970s with a lot of serial numbers on it and my Hemi E Bodies had a higher serial number than all the rest of the E Bodies in 1971. I also noticed that my Hemi E body had plenty of 1972 style parts on it. So that made me look into my car leading to other 1971 E Bodies. Then I came across at the first Chrysler Car Council Meet in Ann Arbour (The First Mopar Nationals) a 1971 Hemi E Body with a much much later build date and a lot higher serial number than my June 1971 Hemi E Body. I looked at this car to compare the body build of 1972 parts on a 1971 E Body. I found out that there was information saying this was the last 1971 Hemi E Body Built. The owner has never said that the car is the last Hemi Car Built but it is the Last 1971 Hemi E Body Built. What I am saying is if someone RM, or who ever is going to state something all information needs to add up and be known before anyone can put on the CROWN AS THE LAST HEMI CAR BUILT.

i don't think anything is solved..
the issue is just more cloudy then ever!
all you really have is people making claims they cannot prove
to use as a tool to add perceived value to a car.

i wish i had a dollar everytime i have seen it happen in the mopar world.
it gets so old you start to ignore it.