I previously mentioned the Ferrari/Fiat Dino. The motor was designed as a
Formula 2 motor, but they had to put it in a street car to qualify by the
FIA rules. The only reason Fiat became involved was because Ferrari didn't
have the capacity to build 500 body shells a year. Did you forget this one?
I think this is the purest example, because there was no reason for the
street car to exist other than to qualify the motor for Formula 2. All the
other cars Ferrari was building at the time (1967) were V-12's.
WSpohn4@aol.com wrote:
>
> You may recall the question I raised about engines originally designed from
> scratch (i.e., not based on some previous design) for racing purposes that
> found their way into street models.
>
> The score so far:
>
> Lamborghini (designed by Bizzarini from plans for a Ferrari Formula 1
> design).
>
> Alfa Montreal - derived from the T-33 Alfa race engine.
>
> Porsche 4 cam - originally in the racing 550s, later installed in Carreras
>
> Close but no cigar:
>
> Chrysler Hemi - derived from the 413 wedge motor, although it raced before it
> hit the street cars.
>
> Lotus engine used in Jensen Healey etc. - built on stock block Vauxhall 2
> litre block.
> (there is still some life in this one as it has been argued that the original
> was tested using the cast iron block and soon after went alloy, but I have to
> wonder if the alloy block was virtually the same if this one doesn't fall
> just over the line)
>
> Coventry Climax - originally designed as a lightweight firepump engine, able
> to be carried to fires. I remain unconvinced that Chapman et al were waiting
> in the wings, having tricked them into designing an engine that just happened
> to be easily convertible to race use, although more evidence could tip the
> balance, I suppose.
>
> A new contender!
>
> A friend who is a trivia buff like me commented that many Bugatti engines
> would qualify, which I think is correct, but he also told me about one that I
> hadn't known about.
>
> He said the racing engine used in the Maserati 450S was an oddball design
> with the cam drive for the timing gear running in the middle of the block
> instead of at one end or the other (I am not familiar with this motor, so
> can't comment). He told me that when Maserati designed the V6 engine for the
> Citroen conglomerate (later used in the SM, one of my favourite oddball cars
> - you don't mash the brake pedal, vous manipulez le champignon), which was
> also used in the Maserati Merak, they more or less just chopped off the end 2
> cylinders, and that you can tell, because it is a 90 degree V6 with the cam
> drive running between cylinders, as in the V-8 version.
>
> So I think we have another winner.
>
> And I thought of another one that would marginally qualify, when I was
> thinking about the Maserati cam gear. The racing prewar Alfa 8C 2900 race car
> engine was a straight 8 with central cam drive to the valves. It was copied
> almost bolt for bolt, I believe by Donald Healey, for use in the Triumph
> Dolomite (the old neat one, not the boxy newer one).
>
> Anyone else?
>
> Bill
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