What is the oldest American automotive OHV V8?

about 10 years ago i was in Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace car museum checkin out the Duesenberg(sp) display.. Walked around the corner and saw this freakin thing! 1918 Chevrolet OHV V8.. cross flow heads. Basic Fuel Injection looking set up.

IS this the oldest American OHV V8? or is there something even older?

 

I got this off the V8 Muscle Car blog.

Cadillac produced the first American V8 engine, the 1914 L-Head.A full decade after Britain's 1904 Rolls-Royce Legalimit, It was a complicated hand-built unit with cast iron paired closed-head cylinders bolted to an aluminum crankcase, and it used a flat-plane crankshaft. Peerless followed, introducing a V8 licensed from amusement park manufacturer, Herschell-Spillman, the next year. Chevrolet produced a crude overhead valve V8 in 1917, in which the valve gear was completely exposed. It only lasted through 1918 and then disappeared. They would not produce another V8 until the introduction of the famous small block in 1955

 

that would be fun to play with

 

Id like to see the Caddy engine! I was stoked when i saw this one, I thought it had to be a first for the US, in cars. I know there were lots of V series engines in aircraft around that time.. some folks put those engines in cars, kinda the begining of the hotrod i guess.

 

1918 Cadillac Type 57

Specifications:
70bhp, 314.5 cu. in. L-head V8 engine

 

Another 1918 Cadillac type 51 V8

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Man that is kick ass! good lookin ride too!

 

The first American V-8 was either the 1907 Buffum or the 1907 Hewitt, it's unclear as to whose hit the market first, neither I believe were overhead valve.

 

Thanks 32Auburn!
I have added a little more detail and intrigue to the Buffum and Hewitt V8. I did not include these as in my IMHO, and just as the saying goes everyone has one , these are believed to be of French origin Antoinette V-8 albeit in American vehicles. Great discussion.

Excerp From: FEATURE ARTICLE from Hemmings Classic Car

Hemmings Classic Car - APRIL 1, 2008 - BY JIM DONNELLY

Eight-cylinder engines, straight or bent, are nearly as old as the automobile itself. In 2008, it's still debatable which American firm was the first to produce an eight-cylinder engine. Hewitt, produced in New York City from 1906 to 1907, displayed at least two V-8 cars at a Madison Square Garden salon before the firm was gulped up into a consortium that later encompassed Mack Trucks. That engine may or may not have been spun off the French-built Antoinette V-8, which showed up in 7.2-liter form in a car at the 1906 Paris Motor Show before being adapted as a monoplane powerplant.
Other historians hold that the Buffum, built from 1901 to 1907 in Abington, Massachusetts, had an 80hp flat-eight in 1904 before introducing a V-8 that also may have come from Antoinette. Elsewhere in France, De Dion-Bouton introduced a production V-8 in 1910

 

The Scripps-Booth Bi-Auto-Go did have a V8 in 1913, making it Detroit's first, but it is arguable that the vehicle was indeed an automobile:

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=358193&highlight=scripps

 

1907 Buffum 8 Cylinder Runabout 40 hp See all Buffum models
Bore × stroke 101.60 mm × 101.60 mm
4 in × 4 in
Cylinders V-8 in 45.0° vee
Displacement 6.6 litre
6590 cc
(402.146 cu in)
.........................................................................................
1907 Hewitt 50-60 hp Touring Car See all Hewitt models
Bore × stroke 101.60 mm × 114.30 mm
4 in × 4.5 in
Cylinders V-8
Displacement 7.4 litre
7413 cc
(452.369 cu in)
Type
2 valves per cylinder
16 valves in total

 

Even bigger one...

1907 Marmon 70 hp See all Marmon models
Bore × stroke 127.00 mm × 114.30 mm
5 in × 4.5 in
Cylinders V-8 in 90.0° vee
Displacement 11.6 litre
11583 cc
(706.838 cu in)
Type OHV

 

Wow.. it that right? an OHV V8 in 1907? that would be very very early.

 

well, once i get my time machine up and running, im gonna take my 350 back with me and kick all their asses!

 

Good thread. I have to say I don't know much at all about the early days.

Keep the info. coming.

 

It was one experimental air-cooled V8.

Excerp from:


<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=15></TD><TD class=black9pt vAlign=top width=457><!-- Being adcompixel - add/ctxt=make,model after bins=1--><SCRIPT language=javascript><!-- document.write('<scr'+'ipt language="javascript1.1" src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5192/797969/0/277/ADTECH;loc=100;target=_blank;key=marmon+;grp=1;misc='+new Date().getTime()+'"></scri'+'pt>'); //--> </SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript1.1 src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/addyn/3.0/5192/797969/0/277/ADTECH;loc=100;target=_blank;key=marmon+;grp=1;misc=1258854232645"></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT> <!-- End adcompixel -->

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<TABLE class=black9pt width=465><TBODY><TR><TD>March 16, 2000 <TD align=right>
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<TD> <TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Motoring Memories: Marmon


by Bill Vance


Nordyke and Marmon was formed in Richmond, Indiana, in 1851, soon moving to Indianapolis where it became prominent manufacturing flour milling machinery.
Late in the 19th century a Marmon scion, Howard Marmon, graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of California in Berkeley. He was brilliant, and became Marmon’s chief engineer in 1902 at age 23. His older brother Walter, also an engineer, managed the business.
Although flour machinery was profitable, Howard was more interested in the emerging automobile. He built his first car in 1902 with an air-cooled V-twin engine, pressure lubrication and overhead valves. Howard’s second car in 1903 had an air-cooled V-4. By 1904 the company was in the automobile business, selling six cars, most of them to friends. Production increased to 25 cars in 1905, and Howard began trying different engine configurations. After an experimental V-6, and a V-8, he settled on conventional water cooled, inline designs.

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From what I have read over the last 45 years the 1918 Chevrolet was the first mass produced OHV V-8. Until then I wondered why Chevy was years behind most American manufacturers producing a V-8. It turns out they were way ahead.

 

King Motor Car Company from Wikipedia

In December 1914, a V8 was introduced in the King, a scant two months after Cadillac announced its own V8-powered car. Starting in 1916, all Kings were 8-cylinder models. Production declined from a peak of 3000 in 1916 to a company low of 240 in 1923. During the more healthy years, the company exported cars to Europe, Australia, South America, South Africa, and Russia.<SUP id=cite_ref-Kimes.2C_p.807_2-2 class=reference>[3]</SUP> Early 4-cylinder cars sold for $1350 in basic form, and for $1565 when fully equipped with windshield, hood, and gas lamps. By 1914, even the V8-powered car was only $1350, and was advertised as the "World's First Popular-Priced V8".<SUP id=cite_ref-4 class=reference>[5]</SUP> By 1923, prices were $1795&#8211;$2550.

 

Wow, im so glad i asked this question.. After seeing the 1917 Chevy engine in Vegas i have asked several people, and none of them had a good answer... I knew Rolls Royce had a V8 in 1915 for aircraft, Kelly and Lewis LTD had designs for an aircooled V8 in 1899.. but it didnt run until 1910 and Hispano Suiza had V8s for Sopwith T1 aircraft in 1916.. but i had always wanted to know about the car side.. Thanks guys!

 

Just to throw something else into the mix.

X-8 Engine built by Henry Ford in 1925







This engine is documented as the final design of the experimental air-cooled prototype radial X-8 engine conceived by Henry Ford in 1918. He built the first X-8 in 1919 and built a special car, named the X-Car, to road test it in. After many design changes, he then built the second and final X-8 engine in 1925, which is the one pictured here. It was secretly tested in an Oldsmobile and driven around Detroit. This X-8 had the greatest appeal to Mr. Ford of both his air-cooled and water-cooled designs which he considered in the 1920s to replace the four cylinder engine in his popular Model T. After test driving this exact X-8 engine in an Oldsmobile for nearly a year, Henry Ford decided his engine needed more power and eventually developed the flathead V-8 design. The first flathead V-8 experimantal engine was built in 1927 and had 25 head studs. That one-off engine is also in a private collection owned by "Speedy" Bill Smith of Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Nebraska. Henry Ford finalized the flathead V-8 in 1931 with 21 head studs and went into production with it in 1932. The flathead V-8 was such a success it was used through 1953 in both Ford automobiles and trucks. It is still a great racing engine even today in 2009.

Even after "shelving" the X-8 in 1926, the X-8 project continued to remain a secret while Ford engineers worked on the flathead V-8 design. Several years later, possibly after the flathead V-8 became public, Mr. Ford placed this experimental X-8 engine on display in his museum in Dearborn where it was to remain forever to be shared with the public. However, this engine was apparently miscataloged and many years later showed up in the museum inventory as a 1946 company project that was abandoned along the way. After Henry Ford's death on April 7, 1947, the significance of this piece of history was forgotten and during a redesign of the museum historical displays in the fifties or sixties the X-8 was removed from the museum and relegated to a spot on the concrete floor in the Sorghum Mill, an old building within Greenfield Village where several dozen old Ford prototype and experimental engines were stored. The result being it was among numerous engines designated for housecleaning and was put up for sale through an oversight at the 1982 Greenfield Village Dearborn Museum fundraiser auction

From: www.lutheransonline.com

 

So HJManiac, what was the first U.S. PRODUCTION OHV V-8 ? (Caddy, King, other?) Seeking clarification, since some motors were experimental, some foreign. Thanks! -- Jimi

 

First Production L-Head V-8 Cadillac

First Production OHV V-8 Chevrolet 1918-1919

 

THANKS, man! One problem I had was: I didn't know valve config on the King V-8. So, it must have been a flatty like the Caddy, then.

 

1918 Chevrolet V-8

http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/brochures/Chev/1918/index.htm

 

Not a V8, but the first engine with hemispherical combustion chamber, and also had ohv: The 1903 Welch, built by Chelsea Mfg. Co., Chelsea, Michigan had a 20-hp, two-cylinder engine with overhead valves and hemispherical combustion chambers. The company moved to Pontiac, Michigan in 1904 and began producing larger cars with 36-hp four cylinder engines, still with overhead valves and hemi-heads. The 1906 engine had a 4.5" stroke and 5" bore with a single overhead camshaft and had one of the first water pumps driven by the fan belt.

 

Good question! Reasearch the scripps booth engine. It was a overhead v-8 in 1913. Just last summer we toured a museum in Terre Haute Ind where there was two complete cars with engines 90 % restored and a couple spare engines sitting next to them.
Interesting fact that GM bought scripps booth in 1915 etc , and produced their first v8 in 1918! Exactly like the scripps booth orginal engine.
Google has tons of pics and info regarding this deal....

 

Totall digging the response to this question! Yall Rock! Thanks for all the imput!

 

HJmaniac...great post on the X-8 but Speedy Bill's Museum would be better catagorized as a Private collection, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Actually it's more like Mecca.

Anyone involved in this hobby should be required to tour before being allowed to participate.

Begin by googling "Smith Collection".

 

Nice Video

A RIDE IN A RARE 1918 CHEVROLET V-8 TOURING CAR
A Really Impressive Motor Car