# Largest general production American car engine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870 "2017-04-06T05:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/1 "2017-04-06T05:42:35Z")
I was just listening to Little GTO where they mention the 385. But I remember the Beach Boys had a hit with 409. So what was the biggest general production engine made in America? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/2 "2017-04-06T06:07:19Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I was just listening to Little GTO where they mention the 385. But I remember the Beach Boys had a hit with 409. So what was the biggest general production engine made in America? back then it would have been the Cadillac 500 cubic inch (8.2 liter) V8. Later, the Dodge Viper’s 8.4 liter (513 cubic inch) V10 would take the crown. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/3 "2017-04-06T06:37:00Z")
The current Viper is the largest I could find, too. There were some big engines back in the '30s, like V-16 Cadillacs and such; I wouldn’t be too surprised if one of those turned out to be the biggest. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/4 "2017-04-06T09:58:25Z")
By the way, the GTO was a 389. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/5 "2017-04-06T13:39:34Z")
:o Maybe this should go in the misheard lyrics thread, ha ha. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The current Viper is the largest I could find, too. There were some big engines back in the '30s, like V-16 Cadillacs and such; I wouldn’t be too surprised if one of those turned out to be the biggest. Hmm, I did not realize the caddy ever sported a V-16! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/6 "2017-04-06T14:24:38Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Hmm, I did not realize the caddy ever sported a V-16! Thanks. Pretty much the only successful production V-16 ever built, and they produced it for ten years before the war. (Some European makers had V-16s, but in much smaller production quantities and at a much higher price point, not that the Caddy was cheap. I don’t think any of them were produced by the 100s, much less Cadillac’s 4,000 or so.) ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/7 "2017-04-06T14:46:40Z")
Well if the French could make a 779 cu. in. (12.7L) engine in the late 1920’s (Bugatti) then I’m sure an American manufacturer could match it 😛 Of course this was not a production car (unless you count 6 cars as production) but nearly 200 of the engines were made in total to be used in a special series of trains. Seems the Cadillac v16 was “only” 452 cu. in. (7.4 L) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/8 "2017-04-06T15:13:02Z")
> [@Steven\_G](#): > > Of course this was not a production car (unless you count 6 cars as production) but nearly 200 of the engines were made in total to be used in a special series of trains. Heck, if we go that route there were 2 Fiats made with a 28.3 liter 4-cylinder engine, nicknamed the Beast of Turin. [http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/videos/a32996/taming-the-283-liter-beast-of-turin-year-after-year/](http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/videos/a32996/taming-the-283-liter-beast-of-turin-year-after-year/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/9 "2017-04-06T15:24:03Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > …Hmm, I did not realize the caddy ever sported a V-16! Thanks. I can easily imagine Gatsby in one: [Cadillac V-16 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V-16). And see: [Cadillac Sixteen - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Sixteen) ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/10 "2017-04-06T15:26:47Z")
So a special mention must go the the Trans Am Firebird SD 455. If only because it features in a song by one of Australia’s pivotal bands. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBJY-YE3IdY) (even if they did take a liberty with the year in the lyrics.) It is remarkable how utterly unremarkable a car with that beast’s performance is now. Any modern car with half its displacement would leave the Firebird in its dust. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/11 "2017-04-06T15:27:33Z")
> [@Steven\_G](#): > > Well if the French could make a 779 cu. in. (12.7L) engine in the late 1920’s (Bugatti) then I’m sure an American manufacturer could match it 😛 > > Of course this was not a production car (unless you count 6 cars as production) but nearly 200 of the engines were made in total to be used in a special series of trains. > > Seems the Cadillac v16 was “only” 452 cu. in. (7.4 L) [Cadillac Sixteen Concept V-16 Engine](http://www.caranddriver.com/features/cadillac-sixteen-concept-v-16-engine-feature) > [@](#): > > By October 30, an actual—not virtual—13.6-liter, 32-valve XV16 was assembled and brought to life on a dynamometer. Fully dressed, the all-aluminum engine weighs just 695 pounds—64 pounds less than GM’s 8.1-liter production V-8, and its dry-sump lubrication system with eight scavenging pumps makes it compact enough to limbo under the Sixteen’s long, ultra-low hood. After a couple weeks of real-world bench tuning, that hapless dyno was groaning under the full onslaught of the 1000 horses and 1000 pound-feet of torque that the computer had prophesied. [1,000 HP Cadillac Sixteen Startup, V16 engine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtPNUVaIBVs) [Top Gear Cadillac Sixteen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmpkELLyrO8) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/12 "2017-04-07T20:08:01Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Pretty much the only successful production V-16 ever built, and they produced it for ten years before the war. (Some European makers had V-16s, but in much smaller production quantities and at a much higher price point, not that the Caddy was cheap. I don’t think any of them were produced by the 100s, much less Cadillac’s 4,000 or so.) For the record, there have been much more recent European V16-engined vehicles such as the [Cizeta Moroder V16T](https://www.supercars.net/blog/1995-cizeta-moroder-v16t/) and [Bugatti Veyron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyron) (okay, technically it’s a W16). But they’re also tiny-volume high-priced cars. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/13 "2017-04-07T20:23:01Z")
Chevy produced many “[Big Block](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_engine)” V8s, in the 1950s through 1970s (though, in reading this Wikipedia article, it sounds like the Big Block evolved into the Vortec). While it also sounds like the biggest / most recent versions were largely placed in trucks and powerboats, the 454 was extensively used in their cars in the 1970s; when I was in high school, the family of a friend of mine had a mid-70s Suburban which had the 454 in it. The vehicle itself was a mobile barn, but with that engine, it had a huge top end – my friend was kind of nuts, and there were several times I was with him when he got that Suburban up to around 115 mph. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/14 "2017-04-07T23:07:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Chevy produced many “[Big Block](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Big-Block_engine)” V8s, in the 1950s through 1970s (though, in reading this Wikipedia article, it sounds like the Big Block evolved into the Vortec). While it also sounds like the biggest / most recent versions were largely placed in trucks and powerboats, the 454 was extensively used in their cars in the 1970s; when I was in high school, the family of a friend of mine had a mid-70s Suburban which had the 454 in it. The vehicle itself was a mobile barn, but with that engine, it had a huge top end – my friend was kind of nuts, and there were several times I was with him when he got that Suburban up to around 115 mph. the 396/427/454 family eventually morphed into the 496 cubic inch Vortec 8100. Just slightly smaller than the 500 cubic inch Cadillac V8 of the '70s. 502 cubic inch and larger versions of the big block are available but none as regular production engines in a car or truck. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/15 "2017-04-08T02:28:33Z")
The Thomas Flyer that won the 1908-1909 road race from New York to Paris (going west) was a regular production car, as production cars went back then. It had a 573 cubic inch four cylinder engine, boasting 60 HP. Some pre-WWI era cars had seriously large displacements, such as previously mentioned. Marmon, one of the Indiana-built classics (others being Deusenberg, Cord, Stutz, Studebaker, and Auburn), also built V-16s from’31-'33. The engines were all-aluminum and displaced 491 cubic inches. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/16 "2017-04-08T14:14:14Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > The Thomas Flyer that won the 1908-1909 road race from New York to Paris (going west) was a regular production car, as production cars went back then. It had a 573 cubic inch four cylinder engine, boasting 60 HP. Some pre-WWI era cars had seriously large displacements, such as previously mentioned. Because, as some will know, gas was very low octane and cylinder compression could only be about 4:1. High compression, 8 to 10:1, is key to higher power output. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/17 "2017-04-08T15:52:48Z")
Wow! That’s 145 cubic inches per cylinder! And in 1908 it had to be hand-cranked to start. I’ve kick-started single-cylinder motorcycles with 27 cubic inch cylinders (albeit with 1960s compression ratios) and that sure wasn’t easy. Hand-cranking a multi- with each cylinder 5x as big sounds impossible for anyone other than Charles Atlas or maybe Superman. I wonder if they had an inertia flywheel starter or some other mechanical assist? Wiki was uninformative and I didn’t follow up further. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/18 "2017-04-08T16:36:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **Wow! That’s 145 cubic inches per cylinder! And in 1908 it had to be hand-cranked to start.** > > I’ve kick-started single-cylinder motorcycles with 27 cubic inch cylinders (albeit with 1960s compression ratios) and that sure wasn’t easy. Hand-cranking a multi- with each cylinder 5x as big sounds impossible for anyone other than Charles Atlas or maybe Superman. > > I wonder if they had an inertia flywheel starter or some other mechanical assist? Wiki was uninformative and I didn’t follow up further. Given the cost of the car, you would no doubt have a servant to handle such duties. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/19 "2017-04-08T17:26:01Z")
Or maybe three servants working with a 4-foot extension on the crank handle. Just how much does Superman charge to be a chauffeur? Reminds me of that old joke where the punch line goes “I don’t know, Sarge, but he’s got the Pope driving for him!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870/20 "2017-04-08T20:58:23Z")
From old films I’ve seen, it looks like there might be some sort of reduction gear on the hand crank. I have heard somewhere that the biggest problem was when the crank kicked back. It could break an arm. What was the displacement and compression ratio on the old radial airplane engines in WWI? Those were started by hand, too; I don’t think there was any gearing but you did have greater leverage with the length of the prop. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-general-production-american-car-engine/783870.md?page=2)