The Mopar performance story in the 1960s pretty much starts here, with the mighty Max Wedge engines of 1962-64.

When we reflect on Chrysler’s leading role in the Motor City’s muscle era, naturally we immediately flash on the all-conquering 426 Hemi, the engine that became a legend in its own time. But the engine that laid the groundwork for the Chrysler performance program in the ’60s—and indeed, even provided the basic design architecture for the 426 Hemi— was the Max Wedge V8 of 1962-64.

To tell the Max Wedge story properly we need to back up a few years to the late ’50s, when the B/RB family of Chrysler engines was introduced. Designed in part to replace the various 1951-58 Chrysler corporate Hemis, the B/RB was lighter, smaller, and less expensive to produce. First manufactured in 1958 in 350 and 361 cubic inch versions, the B-series V8 soon spawned a tall-deck RB (“Raised Block”) variant that could support displacements from 383 CID to 413 CID and ultimately, 426 CID and 440 CID.

Unlike the Hemi with its high-domed combustion chambers, the B/RB series featured a more conventional chamber design (above.) that was compact, efficient, and incorporated generous squish/quench zones. Chrysler called its take on the popular configuration a “Modified Wedge.”

When Chrysler dove into the performance scene in earnest for 1962, the Modified Wedge gave birth to the Max Wedge. More formally known as the Maximum Performance package, the 413 CID V8 (above) was produced in two versions: a 410-hp model with 11:1 compression ratio, and an even more extreme 420-hp version with a 13.5:1 compression ratio—stupendous for a factory production car. Both engines were based on the 4.12-in x 3.75-in bore/stroke dimensions of the civilian passenger-car 413.

The cross-ram intake setup with two Carter AFB carburetors was a refinement of Chrysler’s earlier ram induction research (read our feature here) tuned for higher rpm, while the upswept, low-restriction exhaust manifolds were inspired in part by the NASCAR rulebook, which did not yet allow aftermarket-style tubular headers. However, the Max Wedge was far more than an intake/exhaust package, as nearly every internal component was optimized for extreme-duty performance use, from the cylinder heads and camshaft to the connecting rods.

From its introduction on May 1, 1962 through the 1964 model year, the Max Wedge was available in all Dodge and Plymouth B-Body (intermediate) body styles except station wagons. (The Plymouth version was marketed as the Super Stock engine, while Dodge used the name Ramcharger.) For 1963, the Max Wedge got a bump in displacement to 426 cubic inches (4.250-in bore x 3.75-in stroke) and in June, the 426 II (aka Stage II) version arrived with even more horsepower potential, but with the same 415/425 hp official ratings. In its ultimate 426 III/Stage III form for 1964, with still bigger and better cam, heads and intake, the Max Wedge was still rated at 415/425 hp, but was now capable of running the quarter mile in the mid-11 second range at more than 120 mph in NHRA Super Stock competition.

By 1963 the Max Wedge Dodges and Plymouths were at the top of their game in national drag racing competition, led by the Ramchargers, a car club made up of moonlighting Chrysler engineers. (Above, two Ramcharger Dodges square off at the ’63 Indy Nationals.) Like other participants in the ’60s Super Stock era, Chrysler offered special lightweight aluminum front body panels to reduce racing weight and improve front/rear weight distribution. Through most of the Max Wedge era, Chrysler did not offer a four-speed transmission that was suitable for drag racing, so the company’s racing engineers went to work and made lemonade, pioneering the trusty Torqueflite automatic for drag strip use.

Chrysler engineer Tom Hoover (below) was both a co-founder of the Ramchargers team and a driving force behind the corporation’s performance programs all through the ’60s. One of the sharper minds the Motor City has ever produced, many will say, Hoover passed away in 2015 at the age of 85. Hoover is invariably described as the father of the Chrysler 426 Hemi, but he was the father of the Max Wedge as well.  -Photos by Chrysler Corporation/FCA.