According to The Standard Catalog of American Motors 1902-1987, the AMC V8 was introduced on March 5 (1956) in a new model called the Hornet Special. It displaced 250 cu. in. The 2 V8 engines were sold side-by-side until October 25, when the 1957 models were introduced. The 1957 cars, all of which were called "Hornets", came _only_ with the 327 cu. in. AMC V8 (the Hudson and Nash 6 cylinder engines were no longer available).
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Quote Originally Posted by misterc9 View Post
AMC bought V8 engines and automatic transmissions from Packard. They installed them in Nash and Hudson cars in 55 and 56. Their own AMC V8 was ready for 57 so I think they only used their own engines from 57 on.
I need to finish this one up so here are the V8 offerings for the 1956 Hudson.
Interesting enough one was called the Packard Eight and the other was the Hornet Special Eight.
The Hornet Special Eight was a V8 with overhead valves. It was a cast iron block that displaced 250 cubic inches. The bore and stroke were 3.50″ x 3.25″ and a compression ratio of 8.0:1 helped produce about 190 hp. This was topped by a Carter WGD two barrel carb (Model 235S).
The Packard Eight, was it the really a Packard engine?
What I do know is that the Hudson engine was a V8 with overhead valves and cast iron block. It sported a bore and stroke of 4″ x 3.50 (which means the bore was half an inch larger than the Special and the stroke was quarter of an inch larger. This upped the compression ratio to 9.5:1 and displacement up to 352 cid. Topped with a Carter carb WGD two barrel (Model 2231SA it produced 220 hp.
But was it a Packard engine?
It may have been. In 1955 Packard powered some of its models with what they called the Clipper Custom or the Packard Line V8 (up until that date any Packard 8 cylinder was an L head). This engine had the same bore and stroke, compression and displacement (352). It had more horse power but that was more likely attributed to the 4 barrel Carter carbs that were used (models 2232S or 2284S). Packard also used Rochester Type 4GC four barrel carbs on some of the models. So I can’t conclude for certain that it was the same engine, but I believe it was. I’ll see if I can find the answer with more research.
Here is another row. I’ve never seen this many Avanti. One of the owners heard me say to my wife, “I don’t know there were this many Avanti left!” He tossed me a disapproving look and then laughed.
Back by popular demand (Ok, not really, I just like doing them.)
But I’m going to add a give-away on the end of each one.
On Aug 14 in 1877, Nicholas Otto gets a patented for his 4 cycle combustion engine.
From the ZweiRad Museum Otto’s 4 cycle engine.
On the same day Paris, France creates the first every license plate in 1893. Or was it? Sources agree that it in fact Paris, France but the date isn’t clear as some sources say it was Leon Serpollet of Paris, France, who obtained the first license plate in 1889.
A sad note on the very next day (Aug 15) in 1956 an early car manufacture ceased production. Packard closed its doors.
It was a Packard Caribbean
In 1984 on Aug 16, John DeLorean was acquitted of cocaine charges stemming from an alleged deal to help raise funds for the car company. He worked at Chrysler, Packard, GM (responsible for the GTO) and then his company producing the now famous Delorean DMC-12.
Back to the Future.The company still exist – original parts were purchased and now lives in Humble, Tx. Find them here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/deloreanmotorcompany
Finally, in 1905 on Aug 18, Cadillac got it’s crest trademarked.
Caddy Crest Chart from http://www.cartype.com/pages/1051/cadillac
GIVE-AWAY:
Add a relevant comment to this Auto Factoid and you be entered in the monthly Auto Factoid Give Away.
This month:
1/32 scale 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee (new in the box)
Fresh out of WWII the America car industry was facing the challenge of converting back to peace time auto production. This as a huge task and the pressure was on, because if the average American owned a car there was a good change (50%) that it was 9 years old or older and needed replacing. Materials were still in short supply, money wasn’t and to ensure that stayed the case most of the car company merely refreshed their 1942 cars. Toss in labor issue and you can understand how tough the situations was.
Ford lead the 17 manufacturers that year with 468,022 units produced. Chevy followed second with 398,028 cars. The others followed as such:
Well I wasn’t present for the 1956 year but it was an interesting year. Lincoln and Continental were separate makes and interestingly enough the Clipper (a model of Packard) tried ‘independence’ on for size. Oh…and there were some very cool show cars.
The finished out with Chevy and Ford way out in front with 1,567,117 and 1,408,487 – respectively. They were followed over 500,oo behind, were Buick with 573,024, Plymouth with 571,634 and Oldsmobile with 485,458. The rest of the field looked like this:
I got this idea from our friend Joe in Florida. Thanks, Joe, for the pictures and the reminder of some these great iconic cars.
I’ve always admired the workmanship that went in to the older cars that had wood components and have always disliked the simulating wood on cars with plastic molding and contact paper stuck on the horrible quality 1970’s and 1980’s station wagons was supposed to be a retro look (but only at 15 feet away) and cool (well as cool a station wagon was back then). I recall working in my father’s body shop and how much “fun” it was to put that contact paper back on Ford station wagon. In this mini series “Gorgeous “Wood Vehicles” I’m going to pick a year and toss you a few facts about the cars that came ‘in wood’.
Wood was used a lot in the auto industry, from all wood wheels to just the spokes to entire frames and interiors (like dash boards and steering wheels). Some of the best uses known uses were on the outside and truck beds. They were often referred to as ‘Woodies” either correctly or incorrectly, be most of us know that the term relates to cars with real wood on the outside. These are the cars I’m going to look in this series. For no particular reason, other than this was the first picture Joe sent, I’m starting with the year 1948.
A major reason for using wood was the shortage of raw materials and labor issues for producing steel/sheet metal. This was the case in 1948, just a few years after the end of World War II.
Nearly all of the major producer had models that had external wood components. This 1948 Chevy was one.
1948 Chevy.
This is the two door Fleetwood Aerosedan, but Chevy also made an 8 passenger station wagon the Model 2109 Fleetmaster. This year’s model set the record for Chevrolet woody production with 10,171 wagons built. Both Cantrell and Iona built bodies to fill the demand for the last Chevrolet wagon with structural wood. The 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Station Wagon was the last true woody (structured wood) from Chevrolet. What type of wood was used? Ash the wood used for the structural base, while mahogany was used for the panels. Leatherette was stretched over a wood frame to provide the roof. Approximately 10,171 were built between February 1948 and January 1949.
Most of these cars were powered by the Chevy Straight 6, 216 CID engine.
The 1948 Straight 6 216 engine (The 235 was very similar).
Engine specs:
Bore and stoke 3.5 x 3.75 (in); Displacement 216.5 (CID); Compression 6.50:1; Max Brake Horsepower 90 @ 3300 RPM; Max Torque 174 Lbs.ft. @ 1200 RPM
Packard was another manufacturer that produced woodies. They released their Twenty-Second Series cars. They were Packard’s first totally new models were since before World War II. The wood used was northern birch for the frame and maple panels. This was purely for looks, because the overall structure was braced by the metal body shell which actually was modified from the Standard Sedan Body, only the upper rear quarters which were removed from the sedan body used the wood as actual bracing. On the door sides and window frames the regular sheet metal was cut away in order to allow the wood to be inlaid, rather than just bolted on top. These were powered by the Packard’s L-head straight 8.
Some engine specs:
Bore x stroke 3.50 x 3.75 (in.); Displacement 288.64(cid); Horsepower 130 @ 3,600 rpm; Torque 226(lb-ft) @ 2,000 rpm; Compression ratio 7.0:1; Main bearings 5; Lubrication full-pressure; Carburetor Carter 2-bbl
automatic Choke; mechanical Fuel pump
We have Chrysler’s, and Pontiac’s 1948 woodies as well as a Bentley woody and Willys coming up next in this series.
Oh the cars of the 1950’s were great. So how did they start out that iconic decade?
Some fantastic car and shapes came out in 1950.
Leading the numbers game was Chevy and Ford with over a million each, Chevy with 1,498,590 and Ford with 1,208,912, not bad.
Plymouth was third with nearly 800,000 out of first place with 610,954, Buick with 588,439 and Pontiac finished up the top 5 with 446,429.
Here’s the rest of the 19 makers:
Oldsmobile – 408,060
Dodge – 341,797
Studebaker – 320,884
Mercury – 293,585
Chrysler – 179,299
Nash – 171,782 (produced it’s 2,000,000th car)
DeSoto – 136,203
Hudson – 121,408
Cadillac – 103,857
Packard – 42,627
Lincoln – 28,190
Kaiser – 15,228
Crosley – 6,792
Frazer – 3,700
Do you have a favorite? I have a couple. My first would be the Hudson, followed closely by the Studebaker with its bullet nose.
I don't know why but I love the shape of these cars. Here is the 1950 Hudson Commodore.
There is nothing more interesting than the Bullet Nose Studebaker. Here is the 1950 Land Cruisera.
What else went on in 1950?
Micro Cars!!! Say WHAT??? Yeah!!! The IMP – hailed as “The Little Car with the Big Future”. With an MPG of 10 miles per gallon and all fiber glass body, the hopes were high. But the car didn’t sell and disappeared in the same year.
10/12/1950 Kaiser-Frazer Built their 500, oooth car.
There ya go...the 500, 000 th
On 10/13/ in 1902 Packard Motor Car Co. was formed from the Ohio Automobile Co. Of interest: In September, 1900, the Ohio Automobile Company was founded as the manufacturer, while the cars were always sold as Packards. Since these automobiles quickly gained an excellent reputation, and there were more automobile makers that produced — or at least planned to — under the label “Ohio”, the name was changed soon: On October 13, 1902, it became the Packard Motor Car Company.
1902 Packard Model F
An Ohio
The very next day 63 years later Oldsmobile debuts the Toronado (10/14/1965).
1965 Toronado I want one of these
On 10/15/1945 Oldsmobile began creating producing per war cars.
And 1924 on the 15th of October, one of my hero’s was born. The proud Poppa of the Mustang and savior of Chrysler Lee Iococca was born in Allentown, PA.
