Ram Brought Back the Rumble Bee and Orders are Open With a Number That Beats the Original

Real Window Creative image via Shutterstock
Real Window Creative image via Shutterstock

Ram quietly killed the HEMI V8 for the 2025 model year without any warning to loyal buyers.

Now Ram is resurrecting a legendary muscle truck nameplate to finally make it right.

The 2027 Rumble Bee 5.7 is open for order with a spec sheet built to shut every doubter up.

The Original Rumble Bee Set the Bar in 2004

Dodge only built the first Rumble Bee for two model years, 2004 and 2005, and it became an instant cult classic.

That truck packed a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 making 345 horsepower and 375 lb-ft of torque, bolted to a five-speed automatic.

Buyers could only get it as a regular cab with a short bed, wearing a Solar Yellow or black paint scheme with a hood scoop and "Speed Bee" quarter-panel graphics lifted from the old Super Bee playbook.

Dodge built it to smuggle muscle car attitude into a work truck, and it worked well enough that the name stuck around in Mopar folklore for two decades.

Then Ram killed the nameplate, and swapped the HEMI itself for a turbocharged six-cylinder called the Hurricane.

Then-Ram brand chief Tim Kuniskis put it bluntly once the V8 came back: "Ram screwed up when we dropped the HEMI – we own it and we fixed it."

The 2027 Rumble Bee 5.7 Specs Are Locked In

Orders opened August 13, 2026, and the base Rumble Bee 5.7 starts at $59,995 before a $2,795 destination charge.

That naturally aspirated 5.7-liter HEMI V8 makes 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque with cylinder deactivation, no mild-hybrid nonsense attached.

It runs through a TorqueFlite 8HP75 eight-speed automatic and comes with full-time active 4×4 standard, plus a selectable rear-wheel-drive mode for burnouts.

Ram chopped the wheelbase down 13 inches from a standard Quad Cab, fattened the stance by nearly 7 inches of track per side, and squeezed it all onto a widebody frame with a stubby 5-foot-7 bed.

Bilstein monotube shocks are standard equipment, and Ram claims a 10 percent stiffer chassis than a regular 1500.

Buyers get six paint options at launch, headlined by a genuine Rumble Bee Yellow alongside Molten Red Pearl-Coat and Diamond Black Crystal Pearl-Coat.

The cabin throws a G/T-style shifter on the console, paddle shifters on a flat-bottom wheel, a Rumble Bee animation baked into the 12.3-inch gauge cluster, and Ram's 8.4-inch Uconnect 5 infotainment.

It still hauls a trailer too, rated to tow 8,890 pounds and carry 1,150 pounds in the bed.

Three More Rumble Bees Are Coming and One Hits Nearly 100 Grand

The 5.7 is just the entry point.

Ram will add a Rumble Bee 392 at $69,995 and a 392 Track Pack at $79,995, both arriving in the first half of 2027.

Sitting on top is the Rumble Bee SRT at $94,995, the most expensive Rumble Bee ever built.

Ram is also selling factory-backed Direct Connection upgrades for the base 5.7, including a supercharger kit priced at $10,995 that targets north of 600 horsepower.

A Ridetech suspension kit runs $4,950 and a Magnaflow exhaust system adds $1,599, though installation is not included and warranty coverage depends on the part.

Ram CEO Matt Van Dyke summed up the lineup this way: "The new Rumble Bee lineup is everything customers expect from a Ram truck: bold design, real capability and unmistakable attitude."

This Is Ram Admitting the HEMI Never Should Have Left

Ram did not bring the V8 back out of nostalgia alone.

The Ram 1500 fell to sixth place in overall U.S. vehicle sales in 2024 after spending years as the third best-selling vehicle in the country, and that slide started right around the time the HEMI disappeared.

Loosened federal fuel economy pressure under the current administration gave Ram the room to reverse course without a regulatory fight.

Funny enough, the Hurricane inline-six that replaced the HEMI actually outguns the base V8 on paper, at 420 horsepower to the 5.7-liter's 395, with identical 19 mpg combined fuel economy.

None of that matters to Mopar loyalists who want a V8 rumble in their driveway, not a turbocharged six no matter what the spec sheet says.

Ram figured that out the hard way, and the Rumble Bee is the company putting its money where its mouth is.

Sources:

  • Author Not Listed, "HEMI-Powered Ram Rumble Bee 5.7 Is Ready To Order," MoparInsiders, August 2026.
  • Author Not Listed, "The 2004 Ram Rumble Bee Was The OG Fast, Flashy, Hemi-Powered Mopar Muscle Truck," Jalopnik.
  • Author Not Listed, "That Thing's Still Got a HEMI: Ram Brings V8 Back," Kelley Blue Book.
  • Author Not Listed, "2026 Ram 1500 Sees the Return of the HEMI V8," MotorWeek.

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