The march of progress means that things do not stay the same for very long, especially in the automotive realm. Something that is the hot ticket one day is relegated to the scrap heap the next. Yesterday’s high tech is today’s door stop and the cycle repeats over and over again. Being the hot roddy guys that we are around here, we still like lots of old stuff that is no longer competitive, especially engines. From the big straight eight engines of the 1920s to the Ford and Cadillac flathead V8s of the 1930s as well as the flathead inliner engines of Hudson and AMC among others, old mills may not be the most efficient, but they certainly are cool.
This question was brought on when a commenter on a blog item a while back remarked that the 440ci engine and single carb in his car made more horsepower than a blown, Ardun headed flathead Ford. A couple responders were quick to point out that while he was probably correct on the power numbers, the blown Ardun was cooler. We’re never ones to turn down horsepower but if we wanted to make 450 of them and had the option and budget to do it however we wanted? Yeah, we’d pick the Ardun 11 out of 10 times.
This isn’t about V8s or OHV engines or whatever, it is about all old engines. We want to know what the coolest obsolete, ancient, old timey car engine is. You tell us!
Question: What is the coolest obsolete engine?
1915 4 cyl. 16 valve Duesenburg “walking beam” engine. Looks like a Mississippi riverboat engine laid on its side.
Millers,Novis,Offys
Ford 427 SOHC “cammer”
I agree with Kenneth Meek for race engines.
But for street engines, either the Buick Nailhead or a Chrysler flathead six. The Flattie is nearly bulletproof, and the Nailhead looks awesome even if they don’t make killer power.
Cadillac V16
First gen. Hemi’s ,Nail heads , any flat head And all straight 8’s
Leaning Tower of Power – Dodge slant six
The Nailhead for beauty,
The Hudson six for legacy,
And all the Miller motors because the man was a genius.
Nail heads look good placed into anything.
Cummins 4bT
can run for half a million miles, pull a freight train, mechanical drive, one wire for the starter. The obsolete engine that should have been factory installed in Jeeps, F150’s, etc. ( ok maybe they are a little noisy )
It’s a coin toss for me. Nailheads are a favorite (I have one in the shop) but the Packard V8 was way cool, too. It was a pretty engine and can be modified to make good power when we apply today’s tech. And you won’t see another one at the cruise-in.
Just exactly what makes an engine “obsolete”? Just the fact that it’s not made any more? Because it uses technology that is absent from its modern counterparts?
I vote Jaguar 9.0 V8. Obsolete? Oh, yeah. Cool as all getout? Oh, yeah! If that’s too esoteric for you, I vote Chrysler 392 hemi.
Ford/Lotus Twin Cam – an awesome little motor that put Ford UK on the map in Britain for producing reasonably priced and quick small performance sedans for the masses.
always thought the early scalloped-head mopar units were neat.
The “poor mans hemi” as it was called.
SCREAMIN JIMMYS!!!!! I will always have a soft spot for the sound of 6-71/8V-71T/8V-92’s being wailed on relentlessly.
Jeeps “tornado six” was ahead of its time, and sadly all but forgotten.
studebaker 289/304s, especially the mculloch supercharged units.
Those Jeep Tornados were so cool. Overhead cam, big Holley & factory cast headers. Built by Kaiser, I think. My old man had one in an early sixties Wagoneer.
The 28.4L 4 banger that powered the \”Beast of Turin.\”
Im fond of the obscure, so I’d say the CzechoslovakIan made Tatra 603 – This was a 2.5 Liter air-cooled, pushrod V8 with Hemispherical heads. It didn’t make much soup, but looks very cool and sounds great!
Oldsmobile all aluminum turbocharged 215 CI Turbo-Rocket V8. . . with Fluid Injection!
Methanol!!!
Chrysler Slant Six, you can’t kill those engines!
I am going to have to go with the Cadillac V8’s. The ’50’s 365 were rated at 310 hp while Chevy complicated and expensive fuelie 283 only weezed out 283. The Caddy was also suffering from lack of air flow from the tiny 465cfm WCFB carbs. Instant 20 horsepower increase with a bigger carb. A better intake and a 750 would push these over 350 hp doing nothing else. These same tiny carbs were used all the way into the mid-60’s on even bigger engines. A 465 carb on a 390 or 429? Really?
I replaced carbs on 4 of these Caddy engines with a Edelbrock 600 because they fit on the original intake, and the power increase was significant. The last was a 1963 Cad Convert 429 that couldn’t get out of its own way. Even though the 600 was too small for real power, that Cad went to tire shredding instantly.
The dual carbed versions of the 365 and 390’s were so much better but to find one is liking finding a Snow Leopard.
Buick Nailhead
Buick straight 8
Pontiac OHC straight 6
Olds W43 DOCH 455 and Ford\’s Cammer.
Ford FE….and I’m a Chevy guy!
I\’ll be a contrarian here:
Toyota\’s 2F motor. It\’ll never go fast, ever, but it\’s sturdy, reliable, and torquey. They\’ll run on practically mud and not ping, and even handle off-camber reasonably well for an engine that was taller than most economy cars.
Chrysler 413 crossram
I like the Merlin/Allison 12 cyl engine used in the P51 and Mosquito.
1957 Ford 312 Y block with the supercharger, used in T-Bird & also the “business coupe” 2 door. Slant 6. Fordallac: 1950 Ford with an early 50’s Caddy engine. 1948 Merc flathead. Chrysler 392 Hemi – engine of choice for years in nitro drag racing. Buick straight 8. 421 Pontiac.
I’m with BigDogSS. Ford FE. Huge cast iron lump of awesomeness. pushrods go thru the intake manifold. From A 352 police interceptor to a 428 CJ. Not to forget 427 side oiler.
I always thought the GM 305 v6 wss kinda cool. Maybe not a powerhouse, but enough torque to pull a tree stump out of the ground.
Nearly every one of the cool (doesn’t mean good) engines on my list are listed already. I have 4 to add that are not out of the USA
E49/E38 Hemi 6’s mmm Webber’s.
Commer Knocker 2 stroke Diesels,
Alfa Romeo 2.5 liter V8 with mechanical injection as fitted to a Montreal (as long as you never had to do a water pump lol)
And finally my personal all time coolest engine a Napier Deltic 2 stroke diesel. Not a perfect animation but gives you the general idea https://goo.gl/dSzzGH
Cheers
packard v8
hudson 6’s
studebaker v8’s
351 clevelands
348/409/427
nailheads
early hemi’s
1st gen OLDS rockets
early caddy v8’s
cosworth twin cam vega engine
I like them all. Even the misfit’s of creation are admired for their lack of success where others had found glory. Engines are great because they turn fuel into noise and go-power.
Ford 427 SOHC
Boss 429. Ford’s hemi
The Cox .049, the first internal combustion engine I ever owned.
*Like*
Good choice’s so far dipsticks !
4Bt Cummins turbo diesel….
If it weren’t for our stupid idiot so called govt,
we could have a 40 mpg engines with $.99 gal fuel.
Chevy “W” motors, 348, 409.
Chrysler poly-head motors.
YESS!
I like Y-Blocks and Flatheads and have several cars powered by both. Great sound and lots of power. That being said I also have a soft spot for the Nailhead (Dad was a Buick man) and other early GM V8s (Olds, Cadillac) I just like older engines and they are fun to build. Simple but yet need a bit of obsolete \”know how\” to build them right. I can appreciate the sbc, and it is very obsolete, but the popularity cancels out any \”cool\” factor. They are just everywhere.
Daimler 2.5 litre V8, the really baby Hemi.
Buick/Rover V8 All aluminium and super lightweight.
Jaguar XK
All great motors and in one way or another ahead of their time.
12 cyl flatties in Lincoln.
Cross Ram 413 Mopar.
Knight Sleeve Valve engine. The more miles put on it the more power it made because the valves sealed tighter. Fastest of the day.