What is the Greatest Pre-’90 Eight-Cylinder Engine?

I think a crate engine introduced in ’55 by Chevy begins a great shift in the
High-performance industry. It ranges in size from 265–400 CI that provides good performance in every form of racing and in almost every type of car. You can find such earlier [url=”http://buyusedengine.com/used_engine.php?make=Chevrolet”]used engines[/url] on salvage yards or online shops and compare them with the latest designed engines. You will see that there are lots of changes carried out to increase the performance.

Euro engines; by far all Maserati V8’s, then with some distance the Mercedes V8 (380, 420, 500 and 560)
US; I am from Europe but worked and studied for A year in the States. I owned a Pontiac Parisienne with a small block, not a very exciting configuration. But I have to propose the small block V8 Chevy, because it is throughout the most utilized engine.

ford + chevrolet stand out as the big production + high profile makers of several great v8s.
with all due consideration, the best motor of each before 1990 were:
[b]ford 289[/b]
[b]chev 350[/b]
both small blocks, even though some big blocks such as the 429 or 427 respectively are mythic motors, they were heavy.
the 350 chev is a stand-out in the world of hot rodding, being a very adaptable + reliable engine.
in nz we call the flatheads [i]boat [/i][i]anchors[/i], because they ultimately were used as literally that! reliable engines but heavy.
as another reader commented, the alloy rover v8, based on the buick 215, was a much used + much adapted engine, probably finding it’s best version in the tvr griffiths of 1991 on, of which the 5.0l was also probably the best sounding v8s one could ever hear. being light they were also good as jet boat engines.
there have been many fantastic, fast, efficient + technically advanced european v8s built throughout the last century, amonst them the alfa romeo 90° quad-cam 16-valve v8 (type 00564) of the tipo 33 + montreal. generally the european motors were constantly evolved, so didn’t have large production runs as the big-selling american brands did.
the [b]cosworth dfv[/b] (double four valve) is a stand out with a long (1967-83 in f1) + hugely successful motor racing career in many different cars of different classes, including 2 le mans victories, 12 f1 driver’s titles, 10 f1 constructor’s titles.
so in summary, considering a certain popularity (rather than one-offs or small production runs), performance, reliability + success, i’d say:
first: [b]cosworth dfv[/b]
second: [b]ford 289[/b] (in a shelby cobra please!)
third: [b]chev 350[/b]

There’s obviously a lot of great 8 cylinder choices out there, but here’s one that I think is a contender that doesn’t appear to have been posted yet;
Rover aluminium V8. Produced from 60-63 as the Buick 215ci, they then ceased production due to reliability concerns. Rover got hold of it, strengthened the block, and put it in some great cars and it was in production until 2006. As a Rover engine it saw use in the Morgan +8, TVR’s, TR8, MG B V8, Land Rovers, Rover P6 and SD1. Due to it’s light weight and high output it was also put into a lot of other uses and was the go-to hot rod engine of the UK (as the 350 Chev is in the US). When put in the MG B, the V8 version actually weighed LESS than the standard iron 4 cylinder.

Some other contenders would be;
Small-block 350 Chev
Flat head Ford V8
Ford 429 Big Block
Duesenberg straight 8
Alfa Romeo DOHC V8 from the Stratadale and Montreal

Straight eights and V8.
In my opinion the top straight eights are.
The Miller 91
The Duesenberg J
Mercedes W125 engine
8c Alfa.

V8. The Chevy Big Block.
Chrysler Hemi
Ford 427
Ferrari 3.0 V8
Cosworth DSV
Rolls Royce 6.75 Litre

Duesenberg SJ. It was producing 320 horsepower at a time when the next most powerful engines were less than 200. The Pierce Arrow V-12 was only 175, the Mercedes 770K had only 150.

Another tough question to settle on just one answer . Honestly … it kind of depends ;

Best pre 90’s V8 .. street or track ? – Ford Cosworth V8 .. hands down

Best muscle car V8 ? A toss up between the Dodge 426 Hemi and the Ford Boss 429 … with my preference being the 429

Best exotic V8 ? Hmmn … I’m not a fan of Ferrari’s V8’s .. the Maserati V8’s were quite good but way too fragile and finicky . Lamborghini’s V8’s were a disaster . Oh wait …. I know ! THE best pre 90’s Exotic V8 by a long shot .

The Aston Martin V8 of old . Oh baby ! Muscle and refinement all in one package

But .. if I have to pick just one .. and a race engine is eligible …

The Ford Cosworth DOHC V8 .. in both its F1 , Indy and Sports Prototype guises …. as well as that brilliant freaking Martini Mustang Resto Mod’s Ford Cosworth V8 built recently

The only thing wrong with the motor ? That Ford never had the sense/cojones TO make a street version of the little beast

I have been throwing around this question in my mind for a bit now and its a damn good one. Im going to go a different route then the usual Ford, Chevy, Chrysler engines for my answer. Im going to say the Buick/Olds 215 v8 was a mighty fine engine for its time. Its all aluminum construction made it lighter then most four bangers of the day. It was one of the first production engines with a turbocharger well before most “Turboheads” were even born. The Olds version of the block was used as the basis for for the Repco v8 that Brabham used to win a F1 championship. All and all it may not be the greatest engine per se but its looking good from where im sitting.

Ferrari F40 is the best 😀