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It's Time to Play "WHO AM I"?

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Comments

  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    I agree that the 426 took performance to a whole new level compared with the 331 and its variants. I was just pointing out that the first generation hemi acquitted itself well in its day, even in competition. I addition, it served well as a daily driver too. Unlike the 426, you didn't have to be Rambo to drive it to the grocery store.

    I find it difficult to compare the first generation Chrysler V8 to the Chevy small block V8. I see the hemi as more of a premium engine than the Chevy V8. The hemi was Chrysler's response to the new-for-'49 short-stroke, high-compression V8s from Cadillac and Olds. As such, the first generation hemi was never a Plymouth option. By contrast, I see Chevy's smaller, lighter and cheaper-to-build small block as the spiritual successor to the Ford flathead V8. It delivered performance to the masses. Maybe that's just my interpretation of history, but the '55 Chevy V8 was what Ford's new-for-'54 OHV V8 should have been, but wasn't.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    Which was the easiest modern engine to work on? For all its shortcomings, my vote goes to the original Chrysler 2.2 and later 2.5 K-car engine. Everything was in plain sight and within easy reach.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I am the rarely seen product of a very famous, still-existing automaker. Despite the legendary nature of my name, it's doubtful many people would be able to identify me on the street. I've been out of production for decades.

    My biggest claim to fame is that I sport the smallest production V8 engine in history.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    Are you the Alfa Romeo Alfetta 2.6 V8?
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    1961-1963 Buick Special/ Skylark?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    BLAP! Sorry, those are not the right answers, but bene, bene, gentlemen, good try.

    Smaller than 2.6L. Also this is a genuine production car, not a one-off kind of thing.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Those first flatheads were pretty puny!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Very good guess since the first Ford flatheads were 136 cid, but still not correct. The V-8 I'm thinking of is smaller than that!!
  • oregonboyoregonboy Member Posts: 1,650
    I cheated:

    1970 Ferrari 208 GT4, which had a 2-liter V8 with 170 hp.

    wikipedia
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    There you go, cheating or not, that's right.

    1991 cc V-8, built as a less taxable version of the 308, strictly for the Italian market.

    1975 to 1979 I believe.

    So now you know how to win your next bar bet. :P
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,107
    5cc!! I had googled 'smallest v8', and came across an old (1999) carspace forum by that very name, that named the 1952-1954 Fiat 8V the winner, at 1996 cc. So close....
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Interesting story about the 8V. Fiat wanted to call it the V8 but for some reason thought that Ford had trademarked that designation!! Of course, this is not trademarkable, but they didn't know that.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Those early flatheads had a lot of meat around those tiny bores. I'll bet you could rebore one a dozen times.

    I knew an old house painter who, in 1930 bought a Model A Pickup. He actually used it on the job until the mid 70's when he finally hung up his paintbrush for the last time. I remember him telling me that it was on it's third or fourth rebore and could be rebored one more time.

    If he spotted some of us kids standing on a street corner, he would switch off his ignition and turn it back on when he was alongside of us.

    I have no idea how many mufflers he must have gone through?
  • m6vxm6vx Member Posts: 142
    Not a production vehicle or even a one off.... but still interesting.

    A few years ago at a Formula SAE competition where most schools were running 600cc motorcycle engines, Western Washington University showed up with a small V8 -- 554cc. http://dot.etec.wwu.edu/fsae/viking30.htm

    It was an advanced, thinking-out-of-the-box idea that they took a little too far -- they used an external starter. The starter would be held against the exposed crankshaft and turned. This kept the weight down.... but unfortunately it wasn't ruled legal, so they never got to compete.

    They did, however, draw big crowds when the started it up. :)
  • selenagomezselenagomez Member Posts: 5
    I think Mr_Shiftright is right... :blush:
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    From across the ocean I came
    Dodge had a model that's the same
    If you think I had pop up headlights
    You'd be absolutely right
    RWD was I...
    Who am I?

    There may seem to be more than one right answer but remember the clue in the title.
  • oregonboyoregonboy Member Posts: 1,650
    That has to be the Mitsubishi Starion, which was "the same" as the Dodge Conquest, and sported a 2.6 liter 4-banger with balance shafts. :)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That was quick, and absolutely right!

    That's a big, blown 4 banger. Imagine the stresses on that thing.

    image
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Honda built and raced a 1.5L V-12 way back in the 1960s. Won a Formula I race with it, too, as I recall.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    And with Ayrton Senna behind the wheel, how could they lose?

    I remember they kept weight so close to the minimum that he's drive over gravel to pick up rocks in the tires before he'd get weighed in.
  • hudsonthedoghudsonthedog Member Posts: 552
    Let me give this a try...

    I was the largest four-cylinder offered in a post-WWII American car.

    Name me and the car I powered.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think he drove a larger Honda V-12, but the same basic derivative. Awesome engines.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I want to say it was a Porsche of some sort. I'll guess 944.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    You are the '61-'63 Pontiac Tempest 195 c.i. 4.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,107
    Yeah, didn't Porsche have a 3.0l in the 968?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I was the first product of Harley Earl's new Art and Color section, and the general public hated my styling---absolutely hated it. Mr. Earl protested that it was the engineers who changed his design and made the car look grotesque.

    To modern eyes, one hardly notices the problem with my styling, but compared to cars of the time, it was quite noticeable to the buying public.

    What make and year am I?

    Bonus Points: Can you remember the derogatory name they gave me?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'm going to guess Oldsmobile but that's the best I can do.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Close but not close enough. Same price point.

    I know this Who Am I? seems obscure, but it's actually an oft-discussed piece of automotive history among automotive historians, since it is used as a "pre-Edsel" and "pre-Chrysler Air Flow" example of a styling disaster.

    There, I gave you a time period hint.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Must be GM, then, likely Buick. That would've been my 2nd guess.

    Help on the model, folks?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,415
    1929 Buick, with its gentle curved lines in some places, window frames especially, was nicknamed the "Pregnant Buick".
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That is correct. There was a bulge under the window sills, and people found it rather jarring, given the flat slab sides of cars of those times. The term "pregnant Buick" was coined by Walter Chrysler who would ironically get payback for his Air Flow a few short years later.

    The car is significant because after this fiasco, Earl realized he needed to integrate engineering help into the styling department---the first company to do so---with excellent results.
  • hudsonthedoghudsonthedog Member Posts: 552
    The Tempest is correct. The 3.2L Tempest four-banger was larger than even Porsche's 3.0L (not American, by the way).

    Now, I'm the only inline-six ever used in a production Lincoln product. I'm also the smallest engine ever offered in a Lincoln product. What am I?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,415
    I think that car also got the ball rolling on annual cosmetic design changes, which greatly increased profits.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    You are the BMW 2.4L Inline 6 diesel found in an 85 Mark vii. I believe that was the only year you were in a Lincoln.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • hudsonthedoghudsonthedog Member Posts: 552
    It was the 2.4L turbodiesel BMW engine found in the 1984-85 Lincoln Mark VII and Continental.

    Now for something completely different:

    I'm the last front-drive pickup sold in the US by a major manufacturer.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Hmm, the Subaru Baja automatic was 90/10 default split, so it's close, but still not FWD.
  • lemmerlemmer Member Posts: 2,689
    Rabbit?
  • m6vxm6vx Member Posts: 142
    Dodge Rampage?
  • hudsonthedoghudsonthedog Member Posts: 552
    The Baja was AWD, even if it had as little as 10% going to the rear (manual Bajas have much more). The Dodge Rampage/Plymouth Scamp and Volkswagen (Rabbit) Pickup are older than the front-drive pickup I am.
  • m6vxm6vx Member Posts: 142
    Honda Ridgeline?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    AWD is standard.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I was going to say a Subaru Brat but they were also AWD and were sold at the same time as the Rampage.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 265,533
    This is a stumper... Can't think of any FWD pickups since those mentioned...

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  • m6vxm6vx Member Posts: 142
    Time for a hint.
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,736
    well.... technically ... the Ridgeline is FWD only until slip is detected. :P

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,107
    yes, hint please...I thought I had it, went to cars.com, specified 'pickup' and 'fwd'...you'd be amazed how many Ford F150s are listed as 'fwd'... :surprise:

    And not ONE real fwd pickup :sick:
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    FWD means four wheel drive right? :)

    Not sure what "front-drive" really means.

    the last front-drive pickup

    Can you get a Ford Transit here in a pickup version? All I see are vans and wagons.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Also above something like 29mph or so. :D
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Well, that is how a CRV works but not a Ridgeline. Ridelines actually start out from a stop in 4WD and when slippage is NOT detected, they go into 2WD instantly.
  • hudsonthedoghudsonthedog Member Posts: 552
    The Ridgeline is also all-wheel drive (listed as 4WD on the vehicle), even though it's based on a front-drive powertrain.

    BIG HINT!

    The front-wheel drive pickup I am does NOT feature an internal combustion engine of any sort, although variations of my design did have gasoline engines. Although I was available from a major manufacturer, I'm so rare that you might never have seen me on the road.
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