We’ll save the jokes about the turbochargers spinning in the opposite direction for another day because this little small block is a meanie! Build in New Zealand and packing a set of turbochargers mounted back towards the rear of the engine, the little 434ci piece makes some 1,440hp on the dyno before tailing off. That’s big time and the torque number is a monster as well. We are not 100% sure what this engine will end up in but we’re going to guess that it’s not a car. Why? The placement of the turbos would be really hard to make work in anything with a normal or tube frame in our eyes. Those Kiwis race all kinds of crazy boats so that’s our guess on this one.

The weird thing is that it’s not exactly front page news to have a 1,443hp small block anymore but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate and love the thing, right? We dig the tall plumbing (also an indicator that this sucker is not going in a car) which feeds the massive single throttle body and the port fuel injection handles that end of the business.

We have bene digging on traditional small blocks again lately and this engine which makes peak power at under 6,500 RPM is one of the reasons why. All of this power at 6,400rpm means that the the heads, the turbos and the fuel system are all working in the kind of mechanical harmony that we all dream about. This is not some zillion RPM engine or some mill with huge turbos that take a month to spool. Nope. This thing is ready to part and we love that.

Press play below to see this mean little small block make 1,440hp with twins –