Classic Cars

Behind Every Great Car is a Great Engine

By Bob Gelber

Behind, or most often, in front of every great car there has usually been a great engine. In fact, most of the great engines have also been visually appealing. The powerful engines of the lusty Duesenberg and delicate Bugattis of the '20s and '30s, besides being the current best of breed, were visual works of art with their chrome-plated and engine-turned details.

There are many other important engines that certainly deserve accolades. Not in the same price class as the above-mentioned mills, but perhaps in a league of its own, is the Ford flathead V-8. First introduced in 1932 and remaining in production until 1954, it was the first mass-produced V-8 engine for a low-priced car. It had the distinction of being used in more race cars than any other engine. The V-8s sold by the millions in Fords and Mercurys, from large trucks to little coupes, and virtually every hot rod of the period was powered by a Flathead V-8. Stock, they were available with 65 and 85 horsepower, but could be modified to develop upwards of 200 horsepower. With their valves buried inside their solid steel blocks, they were perhaps the quietest running engines ever built. In fact, when standing next to an idling flathead, with the hood open, all one can usually hear is the dual water pump belts spinning merrily around their allotted paths.

Although rather pedestrian looking, there were literally hundreds of aesthetic modifications that were available for this engine. A fully dressed flathead V-8 sported polished aluminum cylinder heads, a performance intake manifold with three duces (carburetors) mounted on it. Those three carbs sported chrome individual air cleaners. Headers and dual exhausts could be spotted poking out from the fresh painted cylinder block. A custom flathead was a delight for the car enthusiast's eye and, with the correct cherry bomb mufflers, had the right mellow V-8 rumble.

In the same vein as the Ford, Chevrolet introduced its small block V-8 engine in 1955. Although late to the party, this iconic engine is still in production. In its most potent form, it can be found in the current Corvette. With its short stroke design and modern overhead valves, the small block Chevy became the engine of choice for the hot rod crowd. You can literally purchase parts and build one in pieces from many after-market manufacturers advertising in any hot rod publication. It is a mass produced American wonder, and there is nothing else quite like this engine in the world. Affordable, dependable and powerful. There is also no other engine that has the serious sound of a performance tuned small block Chevy with high compression cylinder heads and a hot cam at idle. The exhaust spits uneven sounds and lopes between rather high and low rpms. Don't stand close, it sounds like its going to bite.

When discussing car motors, one cannot overlook the air-cooled motors of the Porsche 356 and 911 series. The original four-cylinder ones, which saw production from 1949 to 1969, were ground breaking if for no other reason than that they were air-cooled. Looking and sounding suspiciously like the same engines in a Volkswagen, it is a fact that they were stronger and beautifully built Volkswagen designs. Of course a Porsche, which then cost more than twice as much as a Volkswagen, happened to still be a bargain because it was a more advanced, high performance machine. These "Volkswagen" engines were highly modified by the Porsche factory to win many, many sporting events and those early Porsche racers had the reputation of being "giant killers," beating cars with much larger and more powerful engines. They were the start of the legend of Porsche.

However, it was the six-cylinder air-cooled engine that appeared in the Porsche 911 in 1964 that lit up Porsche like a bolt of lighting. They are still in production and these magnificent engines have been developed every year to be the most dependable, most powerful six-cylinder engines ever produced. They inherited from the Ford flathead the distinction of being the engine that has won more races than any other in the world. Whereas the old four-cylinder Porsches had the muted whooshing fan exhaust sound of a clothes drier, the six-cylinder 911, at high rpm, has the spine-tingling wailing sound of ripping paper. A high-revving Porsche race car also emits about two feet of flame from its exhaust. Fierce and beautiful, that's the 911. My only complaint about Porsches is that you can't see that magnificent flat six engine because there's always a large stupid cooling fan in the way.

For pure beauty and greatness, look to the Italians. There is simply no engine prettier than the little four cylinder 1300 to 2 liter aluminum engines in the little Alfa Romeos. Polish the cams covers and throw in a pair of 40DCOE with Weber carburetors, it's pure mechanical visual music. If the Alfa is singing a great tune, the Ferrari is playing a symphony with its V-12. Perhaps the greatest engine of all time is also the Carla Bruni of motors. At a car show, peek under the open hood of a Ferrari 1964 Lusso or a '67 Ferrari GTB-4. You will become a believer.

Bob Gelber, an automotive journalist living in the Hamptons, appears regularly on television as an automotive expert. You can email him at bobgelber@aol.com

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