These full sized V8 American cars were amazing. We'll never see anything like this ever again.

It's a shame that the 440 wasn't produced through the 90s as a truck engine like the 454 and 460.

I'm very fond of that Chrysler starter motor whine.

Thanks for letting us hear the ol' "Highland Park Hummingbird" at the end of the video! To me, it's what makes a MOPAR a MOPAR! 😆🤣☺😎❣

Our family only had one MOPAR vehicle. My dad ordered a 1968 Chrysler Town & Country station wagon and I think he checked off every option available. It had the 440, rear air conditioning and even power wind vents.

ya I'm 56 and remember so many tv shows where the damn starter sound was from a Chrysler even if it was a gm or ford car

Thank again Adam for another great video. I was lucky enough to have a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T with the 440 375hp for a short period of time.

My dad was a mechanic in the 60s and 70s and he put Champion plugs in everything. He liked them. He owned mostly GM cars. This was the era of the 12000 mile tune up. He had cars lined up in the driveway every weekend when I was a kid.

I'm 73 years old from Detroit I remember when Chrysler's wouldn't start every time it rained

Chrysler starters always reminded me of WWII aircraft . Kinda goofy sounding, but not as anemic as Fords(I love Fords, don't get mad). I love that you could tell the make of a car just from hearing them start. Maybe we've lost something...

Had 1969 New Yorker with 440 when I was 20, nice engine👍

Chrysler 440, Ford 390, and Ford Flathead are probably my favorite sounding engines of all time.

Oh, yyyes! I had an electric blue '68 Sport Fury with a 440, little bit tricked out 😄I was (just barely) able to change the sparkplugs from above (after the exhaust manifolds cooled, of course) bcs I've got small hands and thin arms (also why the dealership where I worked gave me all the underdash jobs -- also the Corvette engine belt jobs! Ever tried that?!) I put chrome sidepipes on the Fury, lol, and replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electric one with a hidden switch to foil thieves. Thanks for the memories, Adam! Awesome level of research for these vids, I've really been enjoying them. Never knew there was a historian of CARS. Dude, that is so awesome. As to that glorious starter melody, everyone in my fam owned Mopars, so that sound was my norm. Other starters sounded -- well, ineffective 😄

My 1987 Dodge pickup has that same starter. I always laughed when the movie soundtrack would use it on a Ford or General Motors vehicle I always thought WTF 🤣

My uncle ordered a '74 Charger with a 440. In the '70's, Florida had Toll roads with collection stations every ten miles. My aunt would accelerate to 120 mph and then coast to the next station. We did that ten times between Orlando and JAX. A superior engine. One I have eaten a number of Mustangs with over the years.

We loved our 440 in our 1970 Town & Country. There were two things we didn't like: fuel usage and getting to the spark plugs.

An all around great engine indeed. Power potential pretty much limited only be your budget and also tough and durable in stock form. Properly maintained, they'd run forever.

Those old AC compressors were HUGE!

Your starter noise demo brought back my memories as a kid in the early '60s. My best friend's family always had Chrysler vehicles and I remember hearing that distinctive starter gear noise and wondering why it sounded so different than my family's GM vehicles. And Chrysler pushbutton shifting was also memorable...

I believe Chrysler continued to use higher HP 440's in Police cars right up until 1978.

Thanks for touching on the Lean Burn system. I learned so much and fortunately there was a fix that allowed the vacuum to bleed out. The gear reduction starter was rebuilt many times and the valve cover gaskets burned up. Great memories.

In the mid 70's my best buddy had a 73 Charger 440 Magnum. And yes it was less than it used to be(pre 71). It was still a power house to be certain.👊🏼 And oh the torque! ❤

My moms 65 plymouth wagon had a 383 I believe. Loved it when Dad would sometimes burn rubber on purpose.

Adam all your cars Run so well they are a credit to you 👍

I had a Buick with a 455, a 460 in a Lincoln, but the 440 in my Plymouth Grand Fury wagon was my favorite. Loved all these massive big blocks. Adam, how about a video on the Buick 455 Stage 1 engine.

Always love hearing the Highland Park Hummingbird!

My parents had a mid 70s Dodge camper van with a 360 V8 and it sure had that starter sound ...

Always love the Chrysler starter sound!! Beautiful car, great video!!

Any 440 I ever drove had massive torque. In a Dodge 4x4 with full time 4wd, the launches off the line in traffic were amazing, with no burnouts, just pinning me into the seat. We once borrowed a New Yorker with a 440 and stuffed ten guys into it and went cruising. Even with all of us in there, it world roast the tires easily.

My first car was a ‘68 Roadrunner with the 383 and of course a 4-speed. I whipped that car unmercifully and it could take it, with the exception of breaking the 3-4 bronze shifting forks until the dealer got in forged steel pieces. Today, fifty years later, I have a 1973 Roadrunner with a 440 and the 4-speed. You mentioned the Carter TQ carb, well I have rebuilt mine and when they are set up properly they are more than adequate and yet so many people hate on them. Chrysler used them on 318s to 440s.

My first experience with the Chrysler starter was when my dad bought a new 1964 Newport w/361 engine. I used to sneak out to the car and just start the thing to hear that sound. I was about 10 then.

❤Loved the two-tap before start segment. Took me back to the good old days! Can’t sufficiently remember all of the Morpars we owned back in those years, but there were quite a few. The sound of this 440 cranking and the reduction gear singing definitely brings back memories! Thanks for sharing that!

When I worked at a equipment dealer years ago, we had so much trouble with Champion plugs, that we made a policy of changing all new equipment over to NGK plugs.

You are right, can't really think of a bad Chrysler engine from back in the day. Love that crazy starter whine, can't mistake it for anything else

Fantastic engines

We had mostly B block 383s but had a 440 in a 75 New Yorker and a 76 Dodge Power Wagon. Both were tuned and very strong for the time.

That Mopar starter is even more recognizable from outside the vehicle. Honda used to have their own unique starter sound which I always thought sounded “toy-like”.

My buddy in high school had a 67 300 2 door hardtop. It had the single exhaust 440. On the freeway it just pulled and pulled. I have no idea what the top end was. It was a wonderful engine.

In 1972 my mother bought a Plymouth . When she loaded my brothers and myself into the car I used to duck my head down in shame when she started the engine because I HATED that noise. Now days on the very rare occasion that I hear a mopar engine cranking I smile and remember how silly I was as a kid.

I've had a lot of cars. But most of them were 4 cylinders. A few were V6s, one was a 250 straight 6 in my 78 Camaro. And the others, of course, were V8s. But they were all small blocks. 305, 307, 350, and a 360 in my 77 Dodge Adventurer pick-up. I've never owned, or even driven, a big block car. I would love to drive something with a 440, 454, 455, or any other big block engine. One day, it will happen. Hopefully, it will be something I own. A 455 Buick is my dream engine. But right now, any big block will suffice

The elderly maintenance man for the apartment building I lived in just out of college, Rocky, always said, "Chrysler is the onlyest car you can depend on!"

Great engines for sure. We were never fans of that whiny starter sound, but there it is. 👍

Love your work Adam!

My parents' 64 Newport came with the standard engine and transmission, the 361 B-Block and the venerable 3-speed floor shift. Torqueflite-equipped Newports had the gear reduction drive starters; however, our 3-speed manual transmission and 361 sported a direct drive starter.

12:15-That looks like the Sparkomatic I had in my 78 Monte Carlo in High school.

I had a68 New Yorker 2 door that had a 440 tnt motor,also had a 70 imperial with a 440

I am a Chrysler man but, You hit the nail on the head. I use AC plugs in all my Mopars!

I had a 1972 Plymouth Duster with the factory 3-speed floor shift manual behind the 198cid slant six. It came with breaker point ignition and mechanical lifters, and I drove it 11 years and 157K miles until Maine road salt killed it. My co-worker bought a 1973 Duster with the 225 and electronic ignition, and had fits with it. That '72 Duster was the best car I ever bought, and it cost me $2471...

I always did the plugs on a lift from the bottom , and not when the engine was hot . Great Video .

If there was anything missing Chryslers big blocks was the availability of different head and cam combinations. Chevy had a bunch of different horsepower ratings for their big blocks because of RPO options. LS4, LS5, LS6 etc. Max wedge heads should have been an option to buyers along with performance intake and cams options.

Thank you!! It's truly music to my ears! 🙂

I had a 440-powered GTX (1967), with 4 - speed, Dana 3.54, and it was a strong performer. For a while, Chrysler offered the RB in a crate motor that displaced 500 cubes. I don't know if it is still offered, but it was a torque monster.

I remember an episode of Hot Rod's Roadkill where Finnegan and Freiburger wanted to build a Dodge Charger and needed an engine. They wanted a 440 and was having trouble finding them until they decided to buy a used motorhome as the 440 was a popular engine choice on the Dodge based truck chassis used for the larger motorhomes. My favorite part of the video was the commentary on the Thermoquad as they were attempting to accelerate...the only carburetor that punishes for going faster.

Totally agree with you on the spark plug issue, ACDelco or NGK are the most consistently good plugs currently available. High quality parts, in general, are becoming very difficult to find these days. Very hit or miss......

Funny, I never had any issues with Champion Spark Plugs. Autolite in my 74 Mustang II were going out in less than 8000 miles, when Champion came out with plugs to fit the 2.3L I switched and didn't have to change the plugs until I traded in on my 75 Scout II. Ran Champions in the IHC until I wrecked it in 1999.

Thanks Adam. I love the 440 in my '77 New Yorker Brougham. Still running with Lean Burn. I never get tired of the Chrysler starter sound. 🙂

That was a great engine

It is impossible to not have 70s and 80s memories of Chryslers starting in cold weather. That sound is as iconic as the roaring horns on Model-Ts. Another thing that most remember but may have forgotten of the 70s and 80s, are the grocery store or mall parking lots. Every parking spot had big soiled oil stains since cars seemed to leak oil in those days. Something you don't see now..

Thank you Adam.

When I was a Bible college in 1981-82, it was on the shore of a lake, with one of their camps on an island. They owned a couple of speed boats, and I vaguely remember that the speed boats had Chrysler 440s in them. Apparently they were great speed boat engines. On a different note, back in the day we had a `75 Town and Country. Instead of the standard 440 it had the optional 400, and it had terrible carburetion problems almost from day 1. It would buck and hesitate when pulling out of our driveway (sometimes even stalling out). My dad would take it to the mechanic and get it adjusted, and then the problem would come back later. To my knowledge this was not a lean burn engine. I never saw "lean burn" decals on the air cleaner. But anyway I still thought it was a beautiful car and would love to have it today.

A fun and informative video, Adam. It was great to hear the "Highland Park Hummingbird" -- reminded my of my parent's '67 Monaco.

Amazed you have all of this knowledge that can be discussed off the top of your head!

Great car ! I remember these starters , time was when walking across a large parking lot and you heard that starter, I'd say someone just started a Chrysler, even in the dark you knew it was Chrysler with that sound. This really is a good example of what we eventually called a land yacht, a big comfortable vehicle with surprising pep for it's size.

You’re correct about spark plug installation drivers side back was easier from underneath but it was my job to do tune ups so I dealt with it

The 440 came out in the 1966 model year as a smooth running luxury car engine, to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln. All 1966 and 1967 440's were factory "hand balanced" and from 1968 the 440's got regular production line balancing. The original purpose of the Lean Burn system was to pass emissions without a converter and to be able to use leaded gas. They may have added a converter after the first year. Electronic ignition became standard on some high performance engines later in the 1972 model year and was optional on the standard performance 1972 440 engines. I don't think any other non-high performance engines had that option for 1972, just the 440. The early 1972 440 high performance engine with manual transmission had dual points, but switched to electronic ignition later in the 1972 model year. There was a quality control problem with the dual point distributor supplier, Prestolite. The high performance dual points also had higher spring pressure, for high RPM's, but the newer, higher temperature water thermostat, for emissions, ran the grease for the points, out of the distributor too.

beautiful car!!

I used to spray the distributor cap with hair spray to keep the internals dry.

I’m 63. I have owned a lot of makes and models. I would rather have that car today than any new car. I drove my parents Plymouth Valiant with the slant six, no ac in the NC. I was sixteen. That 440, that car is great. I remember them well.

Always wanted a 440. Had a 383 that wasn’t no slouch.

There were some non-Lean Burn Thermoquads that worked quite well. Much like a Quadrajet, if jetted correctly they can perform alright and also get good fuel economy when driven conservativly.

I put Motorcraft plugs in them and they would run great. A Quadrajet for a 455 Stg1 Buick was the best carb and a 440 was a great low compression engine that would haul ass.

No engine shake either!

Picking one up today from an rv for $200, includes a 727. I used to race Mopars in the seventies and I just might do so again. The ballast resister is by passed only when starting (providing fulll 12 volts to coil) hence motor dies when not cranking. Awesome motor to hot rod!

Oh, Chrysler and their INFAMOUS ballast resistor failures. Absolutely. And yes, we all kept a spare in the glovebox, like he said. This was an obnoxiously common problem back then.

I love that car

Amen about the lousy Champion spark plugs. I remember replacing all 8 plugs on a Mopar big block back in the eighties and two of the new Champion plugs were duds and didn't work at all. Never bought them again. Easiest way to change plugs on one of those cars was to remove the front wheels and inner fenders and everything was right there in front of you otherwise you're kinda just doing it by feel which isn't exactly ideal when trying to put the new plugs in.

Beautiful!

440 was introduced in 66 not 65, which was the last year of the 413 in Chryslers. I suppose you could say the 440 was produced in 1965 for the earliest 66 models released.

the Trenton 440 , made in Michigan

It sure looks like one of the spark plug wires is about 2' longer than it needs to be. It's above the right side valve cover and it comes out of the distributor, goes back about a foot, and then loops back to the front of the engine, never to be seen again. Speaking of plug wires, they were harder to change than the spark plugs! I tried to never work on a Mopar B or RB engine unless it was COLD. Definitely one of Chrysler's best engines, tho.

The starter is considerably louder than the engine!

Thanks for the video. Listening to that 440, looking at the interior... I think I'm in love.

I built a 1970 440 from a Jenson intercepter and a 383 cuda great project approx 8 mpg with the six pack on so changed to a 4 barrel holly to get about 11 mpg . It’s car in my header picture By the way Adam 👍

I loved the sound of those starters!

It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It was a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new bluesmobile or what? Fix the cigarette lighter

All of the big three made some great engines and the 440s in everything were so nice. A woods de Station Wagon in a sorted tune like the Thermoquad would kick you back in your seat.

What about the 400? Those were underrated and packed a punch and very durable 😁

Looks like a Sparkomatic aftermarket in the dash?

Just lovely.

Good treat Adam, thanks!

Many people don't realize the current Gen III Eagle 5.7L (345 ci) motor actually produces more power, torque, is much cleaner and gets much better fuel mileage than the pre smogged RB motors. I own a 2020 300S with this motor - very pleased.

Very well done; thank you!

We had a 1973 Chrysler New Yorker 440 hard top 4 door growing up from 1973 until 1993. One thing I remember is how the Air Conditioning compressor would fail on long Summer trips and leak oil into the refrigerant.

You forgot the best part about the 440, the police cars that these engines in them. The ‘69 Polara with the 440 was clocked officially at 147 MPH. With a 3 speed automatic, a non Suregrip differential and it was Nimitz sized and weighed as such. It took a LT1 powered Caprice to reach that kind of speed for a police sedan. Not even the 5.0 Mustangs could hit that speed. Also let’s not forget about the ‘74 Monaco that had an epic “Mission” in 1980, worthy mention.

Champion plugs work well in Briggs& Stratton lawn mowers.

I'm surprised that you haven't ripped that door buzzer out by the wires!

Chrysler should have stroked the 440 for Imperial , maybe to 4 inch. Then, used a different axle for lower cruising rpm.

Oh man, I've heard some stories. Guys would give it an Italian tune up, hand it back, and tell the customer to come back whenever they had any concerns.

IHad a 76 and a 77 New Yorker always kept a ballast resistor in the glove box. No big deal super easy change out back on the road in 5 minutes. They were like 8.00 at the time. Yes I did spark plug changes from the top and you are right it was not fun. Huge exhaust manifold and shield.

I never worked on a Thermoquad. They all had the plastic body to help keep fuel temperatures down. My ‘70 Charger and ‘70 ‘Cuda have Holley carbs. Three 2300’s.