The only good that ever came from Peugeot in America was the inspiration for what came to be known as the Offenhauser racing engine. The original layout of the engine was conceived by American automotive genius Harry Miller in 1913 after he was tasked with fixing a Peugeot Grand Prix car. Looking at the engine, Miller saw potential in the basic design and set about to improve it with employees Leo Goosen and Fred Offenhauser.
Eventually Offenhauser bought Miller out, tinkered with the design some more and then sold to Louis Meyer and his chief mechanic Dale Drake. Hence the reason the engine is known as the Drake-Offy.
These little bastards made amazing power for their day and still stand the test of time as fantastic engines. The head and block are one piece, there are four-valves per cylinder and dual overhead cams. The engines dominated Indy racing in the 1950s and 1960s and were competitive all the way into the 1970s and were run into the 1980s! Massive power was made with turbos and superchargers but naturally aspirated they are still amazingly efficient.
Take this 159ci engine as an example. It makes 260hp on 91 octane pump gas!
They also make incredible noise. Listen to this thing scream at 9,000rpm. There are engines and then there are engines. This one qualifies as the latter.
Where can i find one?