History Why is the flathead V8 so popular but the straight 8's not?

I won't repeat what others have said as to why few straight 8s wound up in hot rods. Straight 8 Hudsons certainly proved themselves in early '50s NASCAR racing. What surprises me is that few if any trucks I can think of ever used straight 8s. The straight 8s were generally long-stroke torque monsters and would have been great truck engines. Chevrolet and GMC trucks used engines from other GM divisions in the '50s. A lot of bigger Chevy trucks had nailhead Buick engines, and GMC got its V8s from the Pontiac division. I think a lot of it comes down to the length factor. The GM cars that had straight 8s often shared body shells with Chevrolet, but they had longer frames ahead of the firewall and longer front sheet metal to accomodate the length of the straight 8. I was acquainted in my younger days with an old straight 8 Packard engine that pulled a local sawmill and planing mill effortlessly. Big pulley mounted to the flywheel, a wide heavy leather belt around that pulley to a pulley on an overhead jackshaft, with belts from the jackshaft that powered everything in that sawmill and planing mill. That old Packard was so smooth and quiet, you had to look at the fan or the pulley on the flywheel to tell that it was running.

 

Postwar, Hudson only offered the 8 in the Commodore. The Hornet was the model that Hudson raced. It had a 308 c.i. six.
Before WWII, Lycoming sold straight eights to a few truck makers like Relay and Stewart.

 

Ford said it best!

 

A little OT, but isn’t there a guy on the HAMB that runs a Lincoln V12 in his hotrod? I seen a few videos of him driving it around. It sounded really nice. Were they used back in the day? I know that a lot of owners of Lincoln Continentals pulled the V12 in favor of an OHV V8 for reliability because the V12’s often overheated.

 

Straight 8's are very popular with the 40's - 50's Hudson, Chrysler and Buick guys

 

"Needs more cowbell!"

 

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/la-crescenta-34-cabriolet-all-ford-steel/7515037273.html

Not an 8, but you get the point.

 

41 Buick coupe, GM A body,looks like a Chevy..nothing like a 2nd gear start without slipping the clutch..

 

Hello,

At the drags and in the news from back then, straight 8s were not the most popular motor in any car. V8, yes, but not straight 8 motors. It could be the length of the motor and the fit in early ch***is compartments. The early hot rod builds were using the most convenient motor for an upgrade. The flathead ruled until the OHV V8 motors started showing up and the manufacturers started building new, faster speed products.

In looking at the Austin Bantam coupe with an extra long front nose section. It was listed as being in a B/Altered cl*** at the San Fernando Dragstrip.
November 1958
It was rare, but, as the years rolled on, Bantam Coupes were becoming popular in the Altered cl***es. But, not too many had lengthened ch***is set ups.
Harold Hungerford Bakersfield Smokers. 1960
The ones with the longer frames were the dragsters disguised as a Compe***ion Coupe and had bodies, like Bantams, on for the ride. The motors, being as far back as possible and not a heavy weight sitting in front of the coupe body.

Jnaki

So, size does matter as well as viable parts availability for everyday use or specialty use at the weekend drags. The hard core fanatic restorers of stock old cars with straight 8 motors are in a cl*** by themselves. The normal everyday hot rod builder would use a small v8 motor just for the fit and finish inside of most small engine compartments, but still have gobs of power, when modified. YRMV

 

Didn't see this one brought up. Old news here, and long ago I saw the car in Auburn, IN. There may have been others.

Oh yeah, forgot. Model J Duesy engine in a Ford roadster.

 

There was a guy a few years ago who took a strait 8 Buick and put 2 dodge , yes dodge turbos off there 80’s turbo 4 bangers with multi carbs and exhaust work , the thing made good reliable power .

just like the flat head ford ruled the roost in the early days of hot rodding , then the ford and Chevy small blocks ruled

now , well now other engines rule . Why ? Cost and ease of making power .

the SBC and SBF have a huge aftermarket following so that drives prices down on parts and makes the “ go fast” knowledge that much more accessible.

 

Straight 8’s don’t spin up well… smoothest low end torque you’ve ever felt, one drive and you will see why they weren’t raced.. they make a great Miss Daisy driver.

 

If they were efficient... made power/cu in, they would have made news, and everyone would be building them. Some engines are for eye candy, tinkering... GMC V6.. Remember in real drag racing back then ...you win cl*** or go home... not bracket racing where everyone gets in.

 

Is the point how incredible that car is? And how it is likely faster than it would be with a mecury flathead?

 

I'm keeping my straight 8. I had originally planned on doing a Buick V8, but now that I have the 248 tuned and running well, I want to keep it going. Car is about low and slow anyway.

 

It was a little different back then on the dirt ovals. When I was vintage racing, I knew a couple guys whose father had raced a '39 (I think) Buick coupe in the dirt modifieds back in the day. That car had a hopped-up 320 ci Roadmaster engine in it with 4 or 5 97's and was a consistent winner back then from what I heard. I never saw the car run, but I saw it when it was in storage then, and it appeared to be the real deal. All of the old-timers back then said this was the absolute truth.

Also, I used to run with a guy who had a couple of crude "track roadsters" with 320 Buick's in them. One was an original and the other was a pretty good reproduction. Those things were fast, water pipe roll bars, Model "T" frames, and all. They had 5 carbs (97's), high-lift rocker arms and I heard they were bored out 1/4" and used IH tractor pistons and were 356 ci. This was when the "BIG" motors were 331 Cads and Hemi's, 303 Olds Rockets and such. The story was that the original car had killed 3 drivers and had been put together again after each tragedy.

 

I remember this roadster as running the V12 Cadillac. Note the three carbs on each side and six exhaust pipes.

jack vines

 

I count 8 pipes, 3-2-3 arrangement.

Edit: just read the paragraph, says V16.

 

Let's not leave out some of the ******** circle trackers back in the day. MOPAR 6 was a pick, they made for excellent short oval racers.

 

With all the talk here about the weight and crank weakness of the straight 8 vs the flathead v8, I am surprised there
has been little mention of how many straight 6 gmc/chevys were running in that era. Most people running a hopped up car understood the weight of the car determined how much power you needed, so a smaller, light car made sense.
Cost was also a factor, most were fairly young. Yes there were individuals who experimented with non mainstream
motors with various levels of success, but a 22 year old with a wife and a kid would be looking for the most affordable
option, same thing that has made the small block chevy dominate today.

 

What are we looking at?

 

MOPAR flathead straight six was a popular motor.

I did some research awhile back, and this was what I found.
The most produced American made motors:
1) small block chevy estimate 55 million.
2) flathead MOPAR straight six estimate 30 million.
3) Ford straight six 240/300 estimate 17 million.
In my haste to post, I forgot the Ford flathead v8 which is probably actually number 3 before the Ford straight six.

 

Two Buicks end to end?

Ben

 

Straight 8 engines may have been a rare choice for rodders and racers, but Straight sixes certainly made it into lots of hot rods and race cars alike, especially 1955 and earlier.
Keep in mind, the 55 million SBC engines #Chessterd5 referenced were not all in existence by the end of the '50s, but nearly all of the 30 million Mopar 6s were.

 

That was my thought. Sure would like to see more of everything.

 

Built in Sweden by a guy called Glenn Billqvist: https://www.streamlinerc16.com/

 

Wow,

Wow, thanks for the reply! That's Great!

 

(Update - gone to Seattle!!)

If anyone wants to build a Buick straight 8 dual carbed monster PM me!!
I cheesed out and went to a v8 for these reasons…
- torque tube driveline vs open
-Buick rear notoriously weak (if driven hard anyway)
-weight
-hard to find parts if driven far. (Lazy)
-convenience - neighbor had a great deal…

this 1941 buick is a natural hot rod,
stock dual aerotype stromberg carbs and split exhaust.
Definitely cool for the time.

as I was swapping out,
I’ve been imagining a modified cut down 27 cowl,
long nosed TROG car…
It would be fun!
TP

 

A while back I dreamed up a 1930's Indy style jalopy racer with a T body and a multi carbed spaghetti headered '32 Buick straight eight (which by the way sounds like a big block V8) I got into the parts collecting stage and then discovered there is a dearth of info available...so I tested the waters on the HAMB...I got crickets...When I tried to promote it a bit I got so many "that'd be heavy slow and dumb" comments I wondered if I was on the right site