I love the Flathead Ford V-8 (and if your on the HAMB most likely you appreciate it too.). It is with little doubt the most iconic traditional hot rod V motor of all time, and for many it's the only choice for an early style Ford roadster or coupe. A... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I like Marmons too and have a straight eight motor around, but didn't this post ask about flatheads? I know Lycoming made a flathead V8, but who else (besides FoMoCo) did? The Glenn Curtiss motorcycle/aircraft motor was an IOE, right?
Good list. The Marmon v16 is a beautiful engine though I would replace it with the Cord Lycoming v8 because the Marmon v16 is an OHV engine. I am a fan of the earlier 355D series Cadillac v8 like used in Wright/Berg roadster
Cadillac Flathead V-8 1939 to 1948; and Lincoln (337cid) Flathead V-8 1949 to 1951 (the last picture shows a fairly rare 1924 Lincoln flathead V-8
Cadillac produced the FIRST mass-produced flathead V-8 engine in 1914. Years and displacements: 1914 - 314 cu in - 70 HP 1928 - 341 cu in 1930-35 -353 cu in 1936 - 322 cu in 1936-1948 - 346 cu in There was also a version of his flathead V-8 in the LaSalle from '37-'40 @ 322 cu in. There was also the Cord/Lycoming flathead V-8 (pictured with the Cord front wheel drive transmission attached)
My vote would be for the Cadillac flathead v-8, those things were so smooth. I have walked up on many and not realized they were running until I saw the fan moving.
I'll second the Cadillac 346 (and LaSalle 322). That OHV Marmon V-16 needs to be scratched off the list, as Jimmy pointed out.
Pound for pound, run of the mill hot rod V8 engine besides the Ford flathead would have to be the Lasalle/Cadillac 322/346 engine which currently is enjoying a revival of sorts going by my own interest in these engines as well as others here on the forum. Sad to say from my point of view that these Cadillac flathead engine owners are a little gun shy at times and seem to be happier viewing and reading rather than posting and showing us what they have project wise. I know it is still early days yet with these engines, but I live in hope that a lot of these guys will step upto the plate soon and start posting stuff albiet on their own thread or say into the existing Cadillac Flathead Chroniles thread that is already running on here. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=674729 Obviously, there are also other note worthy flathead engine out there (some absolutely spectacular to look at) that have hot rodding links, but probably not quite used as much and possibly a little more difficult to source these days. In my book, I see the Cadillac flathead engine as arguably (due to its wide use in WWII machinery) the first real crate engine of this era.
There were other V8s besides Cadillac introduced in 1914 for the 1915 model year. Some of them Cadillac beat to the market by a couple of weeks only. Peerless, Cole 8, Cunningham, there were 22 makes of V8 cars made in America between 1915 and 1922. Peerless was one of the finest cars made in America, in a class with Packard and Pierce Arrow. They used Herschell-Spillman V8s, which were also used in Daniels, Ross, Pan American, Pilot and Kurtz cars and fairground rides. Herschell - Spillman was a leading maker of carousels, park trains and other attractions. The Cunningham was a real monster with a 442 cu in engine. The 1930 Viking by Oldsmobile deserves mention for being the first monoblock V8, before the Ford. It also had a flat, 4 cylinder type crankshaft and an unusual vibration damper.
Great info, thanks for the history lesson, its a damn shame some of these other engines you listed have not managed to survive the test of time. Probably because of the small production numbers and how early they were manufactured plus the fact that some of these engines/vehicles must be quite collectible would help prevent us from seeing them used in hot rods...
No surprise to read, but I'm a fan of the Packard 12. I have little to no input on their 1st version, the Twin 6 of the teens/twenties, but the 32-39 was whisper quiet and delivered silky smooth power. Fine tuning is a pleasure, never a job. With 2 coils and 2 sets of points you set each side from it's own mark on the dampener. Once done they get my own personal test. A nickel has to stand on it's side on the intake manifold while it's running, and it'll do it. All you hear the air from the fan and maybe the sound of the belts going through the pulleys. Not hard to look at either, and yes, all the "dress up" seen is exactly how it was when new.
The HISSO V8 first manufactured in 1914 has to be on this list. Hispano-Suiza built them along with other factories under license during World War one, and powered all the best airplanes, my favorite being the SPAD. They were cheap Army Surplus items after the war, many were cut in half to make 4Bangers for dirt car use. Bob
The Hisso engine reminded me of the Wills St Claire SOHC V8 I don't know if a Wills St Claire V8 ever powered a hot rod but Doug Shaw used a Wills St Claire cam tower on a 3-port topped Chev banger.
I did a little checking and the Cunningham was quite a car. In the twenties, when a Ford cost $500, a Cadillac $2500 and a Rolls Royce $5000, a Cunningham cost $9000. They were best known for their limousines, ambulances, and hearses but you could get any style car you wanted, as they were all hand made to order. When you put their big 90HP V8 in a roadster or touring, you really had some performance. One of their cars was clocked at 98 MPH which was real dynamite stuff in 1920. Jay Leno and his unrestored 1920 roadster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv1-0O2RvQE A 1925 touring http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-2F76DSG7U
As has already been pointed out, the Marmon doesn't belong in a list of Flathead V-type engines, but there are a couple more from GM that haven't been mentioned yet: Olds made a flathead V8 in 1917, and Cadillac built a redesigned flathead V16 in 1938. The flathead 16 couldn't have been a good idea from a business perspective, as they only built something like 200 of them in total, but it was apparently a torque monster.