On a related note, there used to be a collection of old flathead and "T" engines in the lobby of Ford's Dyno Building at the Dearborn R & D Center. Among them was Henry's "X" motor flathead in which four cylinders were oriented in the conventional V4 manner and four were mounted "upside down" forming an "X" instead of a "V". Oiling issues reportedly sidelined the project.
They ran middle of the pack, that doesn't seem too successful to me. But I guess anyone who can get an engine to run upside down has a bit of success.
top 5 isn't middle pack. especially when the guys in front of you are running Offy's besides, they were running at a time when it wasn't uncommon to have 100 cars show up for an event
prolly was really fast since the pistons were going down and up instead of up and down so gravity helped the pistons move faster.
I guess since they didn't win any races that makes them a failure. But it doesn't really matter since I'd still find these guys and others like them a lot more interesting than somebody who won nearly every race they entered but seldom turned a wrench on the car. Wouldn't be surprised if this car never hit the track, but I'm still impressed that these guys had the brass to try something different.
I remember reading about a supermodified that was setup with 3 wheels on the right side and one on the left. got as far as track testing before it was outlawed. broke 200mph on the track also read about this in an issue of open wheel mag.
Question; Why did they put 3 wheels on the right side and one on the left? Answer; They couldn't figure out how to put all 4 on the right side. Frank
Really interesting creations all but, it seems to me race cars that are really successful are also beautiful to the eye, (no doubt somewhat because they are successful we accommodate their appearance). The one that Tim Richmond tested - as I remember he would drive about anything fast. Great fun.
If a upsidedown V8-60 is a good idea for a midget, a fwd Offy, mounted in the nose, should be even a better idea.
That is wild. It made me think of the inverted V engines in aircraft. The most infamous being the inverted V-12, Daimler-Benz in the German's Messerschmidt BF-109. Of course, these were designed from the start to be inverted.
To fix the oiling problem with the Crankshaft, they worked with a oil sump, very common for tanks, off-road cars and bikes and - planes! Maybe they used some oil nozzles for the oiling of the crankshaft, very common for bearings in jet engines in the last decades....... Ryan, excellent article, would be funny to built a rod with that type of engine mounting today..... Thanks for sharing.....
The middle tire on the right side was there due to rules, stating that all cars had to have 4 wheels. This rule was implemented when the officials at Sandusky heard about this strange creation. It was supposed to be a 3 wheel car. Richmond took the car out and found it squirrelly for a few laps but got the handle on it. Then he found something interesting-- No matter how hard he drove into the corners, the car just would not push/understeer. Since most cars of the day did in the ealry stages of developement, this car showed a lot of promise. I think they got somewhere within .30 of the track record that day. But then the officials said all cars had to have a wheel and tire at each of the four corners, ending the journey.
Ryan, you need to do a search, this has already been brought up: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181757&highlight=upside+down+flathead
I'd like to see the bodywork for this one. The radiator is tipped forward...kind of like an AC Cobra.
Anyone else start thinking "I wonder if I can build one of those?" and what kind of car could would I build to run it in? Ryan's right, it's a sickness, a good kind, plant the idea then stay up all night thinking and wondering. If I had a buck for every car I've built in my tiny brain.
the combined knowledge of this place... amazing. thanks Rootie Kazoootie for the additional info on the inverted mill, and the supermod that never was!
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