If you’ve been following the saga of Stellantis, the parent company of brands like Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram, you’ll know it’s in the midst of a turnaround with its North American subsidiaries. Under previous leadership, the conglomerate focused on downsizing and electrifying powertrains, but that push flopped so badly that the CEO, Carlos Tavares, resigned from the company.
In an effort to claw back buyers and take advantage of the current administration’s incredibly lax emissions stance, Stellantis is pivoting back to V8 power for some of its vehicles that, previously, everyone assumed would never get an eight-cylinder powerplant again.
That journey up the cylinder count ladder has already begun, with the reintroduction of the Hemi V8 back to the engine lineup of the Ram 1500 pickup truck last year. While Stellantis has yet to confirm whether any other vehicles in its lineup will receive V8s in the near future, the whole industry is expecting more eight-cylinder availability from the brand soon.
As for which cars are most likely to get V8 power, well, all you have to do is look into the automaker’s not-so-distant past.
The “Duh” Category
First up are the cars that seem pretty likely to get a V8 if Stellantis continues down this path of offering bigger engines to attract customers. If the Ram 1500 hadn’t already gotten a Hemi, it’d be at the top of this section. But since it did, the next most likely candidates are those from Stellantis’s SUV brand, Jeep. Specifically, the Grand Wagoneer and the Grand Cherokee (in that order).
Currently, the Wrangler is the only vehicle in Jeep’s lineup that offers a V8 option, which feels pretty ironic considering it hadn’t had a factory V8 option until the Rubicon 392 came out in 2021. The Grand Cherokee, meanwhile, hasn’t offered a Hemi powertrain since 2024. You have to go even further back, to 2023, to get a Grand Wagoneer with eight cylinders, despite it being the brand’s largest vehicle.
If anything in Stellantis’s current lineup is getting a V8, it’s these two SUVs. But the company itself has yet to confirm anything. The Drive recently spoke with Joe Aljajawi, the guy in charge of the engineering for the current Grand Cherokee, who, when asked about a possible return of the Hemi, told the publication to keep an eye out for updates.
“I would say for the Grand Cherokee customers that we are listening to you, and then stay tuned for more,” Aljajawi said.
Then there’s the current-generation Dodge Charger coupe and sedan. Originally, Dodge intended for the top-spec, quickest Charger variant to be the all-electric Daytona model, but a sales slump and massive outcry from buyers reportedly pushed the company to accelerate the introduction of the straight-six-powered model, the Sixpack. The Sixpack is now on sale, and while it seems nice, people really still just want a Hemi under the hood of their muscle car, even if it’s less powerful.
While Dodge has yet to confirm a V8 return for the Charger, it feels like there’s a new rumor or interview every other week suggesting the Hemi could return, in some capacity, to the company’s iconic muscle car. The most recent, from last month, comes from the head of Stellantis North America himself, Tim Kuniskis, who told MotorTrend that if the Charger were to get a V8, it would be a supercharged Hellcat engine, not a naturally aspirated unit.
Putting the 5.7-liter Hemi in a Charger gives it 395 horsepower, far less than the 550 hp that the smaller and lighter high-output Hurricane 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six engine already provides. In terms of performance, the 5.7-liter engine is not even in the ballpark, Kuniskis said in an interview.
The supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat engine gets closer. “If you were to put a V-8 in the car you would probably go to Hellcat instead of 5.7,” he says, stressing that he was careful to use the word “probably.”
Everyone knows that a Hemi fits under the hood. I think it’s only a matter of time, in this case.
The “If They Were Cool” Category
The cars in this section can probably accept a V8 with some engineering, but ultimately, they’re here because of my wishful thinking. Another name for this category could be “The Cars I Think Should Get Hemis But Probably Won’t.” All I ask is that you hear me out.
First up: The Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. These cars are currently 10 years old, with their replacements currently being engineered (and reengineered) to accept gas powertrains so they can be sold more widely in Europe, after originally being designed to operate as pure EVs. These cars are set to ride on Stellantis’s STLA platform—the same platform used by the current Charger.
Because they’re going to ride on the same platform as the Charger, that means they should be able to accept a V8, right? While a Hemi probably isn’t the best fit for either of these cars’ personalities, it might be exactly the type of powertrain Alfa needs in the option list to revitalize the brand in America. An Alfa Romeo with a Hemi also just sounds like it’d be awesome. All the great styling and handling prowess from an Alfa, but with the rumble of a pushrod V8 under the hood? Sign me up.
The next car down the list in this category is whatever the hell Chrysler is planning. This is actually a more plausible idea than it seems, going by statements made about SRT, Stellantis’s performance subbrand, by Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell back in November (shown in the video above, emphasis mine):
I am so excited to bring back SRT and I can tell you that I’ve been meeting with my counterparts Tim Kuniskis and Matt McAlear and we’ve got a really awesome plan for SRT. It’s a great opportunity for us to bring back the performance brands and products that have been so iconic in the past as we look forward to the future. To Cut to the chase, I think you can expect to see some SRT models under the Chrysler brand.
As for which Chrysler might receive the SRT treatment, it’s hard to know for sure right now. As much as I’d love for the brand to go all-out and build the V8-powered Pacifica of my fantasies, I don’t think that’s in the cards. The longstanding minivan is currently the only product in Chrysler’s lineup right now, but Feuell hinted in that same video above plans to introduce an affordable, $30,000 model to the lineup. And an SRT version of that car probably wouldn’t get a Hemi.
The only way I could see the Hemi return to Chrysler is if the brand introduced a new 300, based on the current Charger, and offered it with V8 power. But there’s nothing out there right now that would suggest Chrysler is even thinking about doing that. A man can dream, can’t he?
Finally, in the realm of “this will absolutely never happen unless a crazed exec demands it and writes a blank check,” is a Hemi-powered Fiat 500. This is obviously a ridiculous concept, but there’s actually some precedent here. Aston Martin built a very similar car back in 2018, when it ripped out the 1.3-liter four-cylinder from its Toyota iQ-based Cygnet city car, and replaced it with a mid-mounted 4.7-liter V8 pulled from a Vantage S.
The odds of a Fiat 500 like this going into production are essentially zero, but so long as Stellantis keeps building Hemis and Fiat 500s, they’re not totally zero. Even if it’s a one-off like the Aston, I’d be incredibly happy.
Top graphic images: Stellantis
I ordered a Ram 1500 specifically without the V8.
I live up at high altitude, so forced induction is a necessity unless you want to take a serious hit to power.
Hurricane 3.0L Inline 6 is the way I went.
Speaking of which, would it be possible to cheaply develop a new 300 out of the new Charger – maybe by reworking it into a notchback and changing the lights and plastic fascia? That would give Chrysler and Dodge distinct body styles, and the 300 could be given some plusher interior treatments – leather trimmed cloth seats as standard instead of just cloth, maybe an analog clock in the dash, bit of carpet on the bottom of the door cards, faux woodgrain trim instead of black plastic, cheap, simple changes to make a more upscale ambiance. A sketchy aftermarket shop would take off the hatch and glue in a fiberglass piece with a new rear bulkhead and opening trunk lid, but the factory could do something more elegant
Great idea. Or they just rename the Pacifica as the Dodge Voyager (my favorite name of the choices) and mothball Chrysler.
Hemi in the Charger would be good but I’d rather they cut 2000lbs from it.
While you mention the Wrangler, I am surprised you left out the Gladiator (modern that is). They have never offered a V8 in one and I would think that could easily be a nice seller. While your claim that the Wrangler didn’t have a factory V8 option before 2021 is technically true, that is quite the technicality considering the Wrangler’s predecessor had factory V8 options (you could get both a CJ-5 and CJ-7 with a 304 V8).
It should work, as my ’79 CJ5 has the 360 from the old pickup…