When you think of tuners, there a certain few that will likely immediately spring to mind, Abarth, Shelby, AMG. One that may require a second pass at the ol’ memory banks is Gordini, the French tuner and often time Le Mans participant. That’s where this glorious straight eight competed for a brief time powering the Gordini Type 24S. The 2,982-cc engine produced a healthy 88.87 bhp per litre and pushed the 24S to a 6th place overall and 1st in the 3-litre class at the 1953 running of the venerated 24-heuers du Le Mans race.
Now that you know all that, Gordini may be the first tuner that, in the future, springs to mind.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image: Supercars.net
Last Call: Eight is Great Edition
About
-
Hey guys, here is my latest “Seen On The Street” find. I’ve seen it driving around town for quite sometime, but this is the first time I’ve been able to get some pictures of it. https://goo.gl/photos/CbYdusR1LWND37Rn6
-
Very nice!
-
-
I’ve taken my rear sway bar project to a whole new level. What was at first a simple fix of the two frame mounts has now turned into a full redo. The original powder coating was poorly applied and was starting to peel off and rust, so I’ve media blasted most of the pieces and hit them with some self-etching primer. I still need to blast two more pieces and then prime and paint them all. I used to be a big fan of powder coating, but I think I’m starting tolike paint better because it’s so much easier to touch up and fix. Also, I had to press out the bushings in the links before I media blasted them and I found out they’re made of some cheap, flimsy rubber and some crappy steel tubing, so I may end up redoing those now too. Is all of this worth it for a 3700 pound truck with a little four cylinder? Maybe not, but I’m getting quite a lot of satisfaction out of doing it and doing it right.
-
One of my offbeat favorites is the Simca Gordini 20S Berlinette: 135 HP from 1500cc …in a 1,025 lb car.
http://www.velocetoday.com/images/march%2007/p1.jpg
http://a398.idata.over-blog.com/500×329/2/93/02/41/GORDINI/Gordini-20s-berlinette.jpg -
I think the last road-going straight-eights were the Rolls Royce B80 and B81. They were petrol engines displacing 5.7 and 6.5 litres respectively, designed in the 1940s for military use. They continued in production for various armoured vehicles and fire engines at least into the late 1970s, as well as powering the legendary Rolls Royce Phantom IV.
This 1977 Dennis emergency tender:
http://www.dennisfire.co.uk/Merlin%20side%20view.jpg
is powered by the same B81 as this Phantom IV:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/1955_Rolls_Royce_Phantom_IV_%284787305432%29.jpg/1280px-1955_Rolls_Royce_Phantom_IV_%284787305432%29.jpg
Leave a Reply