It may get annoying but this is Muscle Car Engine Month around here and we’re expecting you guys to keep us on our toes when it comes to celebrating all of the great mills that have graced the presence of the BangShift universe over the years. Today we’re taking a look at the good old Buick 401, perhaps the best known of the Nailhead family of engines that powered a modicum of different Buicks during the late 1950s right up into the middle 1960s. Known as low-revving, torque making, ground pounders, these engines cemented themselves into the hearts and minds of gearheads in America by making great plants for everything from T-buckets to dragsters.

So why were these engines called Nailheads? The term refers to the their tiny valves which are mounted in a strangely vertical position in the cylinder head. The small valves and commiserating tiny intake and exhaust ports meant that these engines were basically allergic to RPM but boy did they work down low. With the addition of superchargers and as much hot rodding as guys were willing to do, they made great power for their era and certainly had their place in the competition realm of drag racing and land speed racing. Yes, by the time the middle-ish 1960s rolled around the Nailhead was largely outclassed but it remains one of the coolest engines that someone can put into their Buick project to period correct hot rod.

As most of you know, one of the hallmarks of Nailhead powered cars was how their engines were called out on the air cleaners of the vehicles they were installed in. Rather than bragging on displacement or horsepower, it was decided that torque would be the major selling point and so that’s why these engines were known as the Wildcat 375, the Wildcat 410, and the Wildcat 445 because that’s what they were churning out for lb-ft. Pretty awesome if you ask us.

Factory horsepower ratings ranged from 265 on the low end to 325 on the high end for the dual quad models that had all the good factory parts.

Now, let’s watch and listen to some Buick 401 action putting in work through the videos below!