Here’s a land speed racing video that has no salt, no Ohio mile, no Texas mile, and frankly no forward motion. This is a video made by the Landry crew who run a car at the Ohio Mile and at Bonneville called Scrap Iron 2. The car is an early Fox bodied Mustang that is powered by a supercharged Flathead V8 engine. It has run in several different classes over the years at the Ohio Mile and at Bonneville and we think it is pretty fun. People who do not spend a lot of time around land speed racing have their minds blown when they look under the hood and see the old engine sitting under there.
Now, because we’re talking about a blown Flathead, horsepower numbers are not huge but put into perspective we think that they are damned respectable. You’ll see Phil Landry get in the car on the dyno, fire it up, and rip the thing through all the gears. The video says that the car made about 250hp to the tires which means about 300hp at the flywheel. That’s serious stuff on a couple of main bearings, ancient technology, and a block that if it is the newest possible, was cast during the Eisenhower administration.
One thing that cannot be denied when it comes to the realm of the blown flathead V8 engine is the fact that they sound awesome. Obviously low RPMs are the order of the day but they have a bellow all their own and you’ll hear it when Landry laces the gas pedal in this thing.
It would be newer than Eisenhower administration. I thought they were still casting those blocks for the French army up until the 90s. (not a French joke)
If LeCreuset is any indication, French cast iron is the best