Waking up cars from the dead will always be a challenge, but for the past sixty years or so, give or take, the designs of the engine are pretty much the same: inline four, inline six, V8 and up. Outside of that realm, and the world of Volkswagen and Subaru boxer engines, you’re in a forgotten time. The straight-eight is one of those designs…extinct by 1960 at the latest, there are two likelihoods for ever seeing one in person anymore: in a restored or cared-for car, or sitting in a junker that was left somewhere for decades on end. Cold War Motors’ competition involves the second options, utilizing a 1953 Packard with a 327ci unit and a 1950 Buick Super with a 263ci mill. Both cars have been parked for about fifty years, both engines were seized from the word “go”, and the competition was two-fold: who got their engine to run first (itself being a goal) and then whose car can drive to “the end of the yard”, as they put it, and back.

The last time we checked in, valves were being worked and rotating assemblies were getting the once-over. Today, we find parts being bolted back onto engines. We also see spark plugs and wires. Nothing against old technology, but engines from the early 1950s with almost no support from the aftermarket? We aren’t saying impossible, just a reach. But mechanics are mechanics…it’s just metal parts and fire. As long as things move, there is hope!