The original car was actually a de-stroked Chrysler 331 hemi, not a Dodge (called a Super Red Ram). All three of the early hemis (Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge) had different completely architecture with almost no interchangeable parts between them. Even though the the A311 produced enough power at the lower 270" displacement, they were over-stressed at the necessary higher RPMs and wouldn't have held up at race distance. The car was also used by Firestone for tire testing.
