As the country was plunging into the Great Depression, automakers were still clinging to the idea that there was plenty of money floating around to buy ever bigger and more powerful cars. The fact that there was a small contingent of really wealthy people around meant that a few V16 Cadillacs and V16 Marmons made it into production and when we say a few, we mean a few. On eBay right now is a V16 Marmon engine that is mostly complete but missing an exhaust manifold, a starter, and some other bits.
Howard Marmon wanted to be the first guy to get a V16 engine into production in America. His quest started in 1927 and finally came to fruition in 1931. The engine was in production for two years and it was an amazingly expensive piece in an amazingly expensive car that very few of were ever made. One of the things that had to have haunted Marmon until his death is that Cadillac was able to get their V16 out on the market (which was designed by a guy who jumped ship from Marmon!). It isn’t like Cadillac sold millions of their V16 cars either but he was competing against a massive entity in GM and simple didn’t have the means to do so.
This is an advanced engine for its day with all Alloy construction and it still somehow manages a curb weight of over 900bs! It was rated at 200hp and we bet it was as smooth running as silk with all those pistons to offset the vibrations of the others. An aluminum block and heads with steel liners for the cylinders, this thing had lots of cool modern features. As you can tell it was laid out in a 45-degree configuration as to not be too wide and to allow his Marmon cars to maintain a sleek look for the period. Only 400 of these engines were ever made.
While the missing exhaust manifold is not a huge deal because a set of headers could be made, the starter and other bits could be big trouble unless there’s a secret stash of V16 replacement parts out there somewhere. Jay Leno needs to pony up the $27,500 for this beast and then stick it in a t-bucket or something. We know that 200hp is weak sauce but it would sound awesome with open pipes, right?!
CHECK OUT PHOTOS OF THIS MONDO ENGINE THAN HIT THE EBAY LINK –
A stonking great pair of turbos would boost the power and look stunning too!
Is this the new motor for Buford we’ve been hearing about?
It’s only 27 grand, that’s affordable in human monies, right?
I’d love to see the Blastolene guy design something around this.
I saw one of these cars in the mid 70’s up here in Canada, was in a guys quonset with some other stuff. Only one I have ever seen and the car was monstrous!