On Thu, 12 Jan 1995, Dick Harold wrote:
> During the war the Navy was testing a sheet metal engine. It was meant for
> use in PT boats as a generator unit. I think a guy by the name of Lloyd
> Taylor designed it. In any event, Crosley saw it, liked it and bought the
> patent(s) and began manufacturing the engine for the war effort. Crosley's
> engineer, Paul Klotsch, made many design changes to what eventually became
> the COBRA four cylinder single overhead cam 26 hp unit. This same engine
> went on to power Crosley cars after the war.
If I remember correctly, Lloyd Taylor was the "Taylor" half of the
"Tyce-Taylor" outfit that designed and made brazed sheetmetal engines as
replacements for clapped-out MGs, Triumphs, etc. in the early 1960s (or
was it late 1950s?). The project got quite a bit of coverage in Sports
Cars Illustrated (precursor of Car And Driver) and other mags at the time,
but it never got much beyond the prototype stage. The concept resurfaced
again when rights were sold to someone else a few years later, but again
it never got off the ground. To bad. As I recall, there were supposed
to be 1500 cc, 2000 cc, and 2500 cc versions, in SOHC and DOHC
configurations. I remember a road rest of an MGA with the 1500 cc
version, and it was described as quite a mover.
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Chip Old 1948 M.G. TC TC6710 NEMGTR #2271
Cub Hill, Maryland 1962 Triumph TR4 CT3154LO (daily driver)
fold@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us
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