Re: Had They Merged

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2009/1/20 23:57:06

More daydreams-

Having covered the Packard engine situation in a previous post, I would like to discuss the powertrain program for the whole of American Motors.

The engines for all makes and models would be based on the Studebaker V8. Simply because it was available from 1951 on, and at the time we are talking about it was the newest engine they had available, and the only modern OHV V8.

Fortunately the Studebaker was an excellent engine, very durable and economical if heavy. More on this later.

I have already discussed the use of the Studebaker engine as the basis for a new Packard V12.

The V8 would be used unaltered by Packard Clipper, Nash, and of course Studebaker. Hudson would also use this engine possibly in a larger form. More on this too.

The first thing to do would be to adapt this engine to all lines.

The next would be to develop a new OHV six cylinder, based on V8 components.

The idea would be to use the existing pistons, valves, bearings, etc. in a new 6 cylinder block.

This would save a lot of development time, and of course the more identical parts you make the cheaper they get.

Chevrolet used this same trick when they brought out a new six in 1963. The whole engine was based on the 283 V8 and many parts interchanged.

Another popular trick is to make various sizes of engine simply by changing the crankshaft stroke. This makes it possible to offer a choice of power plants at negligible cost.

Chrysler's slant 6 was an extreme example, the 170 cu in compact engine and the 225 long stroke full size car engine had the same pistons but the stroke differed by a full inch.



Ringing the changes on the Studebaker engine would give us a range from 168 cu in 105HP to 217 cu in and 187HP.

This would be plenty to be getting on with, and right in line with the rest of the industry. In fact it would probably be necessary to tone down the horsepower a little.

Another thing that was common in the industry was developing a new engine based on an old one. For example, Oldsmobile made their first V8 from 1949 to 1956 gradually enlarging it from 303 to 324 cu in. Then they redesigned it to a 371 for 1957 and 58, and revamped it again to a 394 that lasted from 59 to 64.

All the car companies did this. It cost money to make a new block, heads etc but they kept the same machine tools which was the big savings.

The trick here is to keep the same dimensions such as bore spacing and the distance between the crankshaft and camshaft so you don't have to tear up all your tooling.

The Studebaker block always seemed to have a lot of "meat" between the cylinders. I believe it would have been possible to redesign and enlarge this engine, to 350 cu in at least and possibly larger, depending how much room there was for a long stroke crank before you hit the camshaft.

There was a real explosion in engine sizes in the late 50s. The above mentioned Olds, the Pontiac 389, the new big block engines from Ford, Chev and Dodge in 1958, the even bigger engines from Lincoln and Chrysler going over 400 cu in.

Studebaker would have been about due for a new engine by then. Something in the 350 to 400 cu in range would have been perfect for the Hudson and high performance Studebakers like the Golden Hawk.

So there is the American Motors engine lineup for the 50s.

Existing Studebaker V8 for all cars except Rambler American , Studebaker Champion (or Lark) and senior Packards.

New Studebaker based V12 for Packard

New Studebaker based 6 for American, Champion (or Lark) and base engine for Studebaker, Rambler, Nash and Hudson.

New big V8 eventually, also Studebaker based, for Studebaker Land Cruiser (or Strato Cruiser)and Golden Hawk, Packard Clipper, Hudson Hornet, and Nash Ambassador.

This would have been in line with industry trends of the time and would have given American Motors a very competitive lineup at minimal cost.

As for transmissions the company was in good shape, with the Packard Ultramatic and the Borg Warner 3 speed used by Studebaker and Nash anyway.Hudson preferred the GM Hydramatic but that could have been remedied.

Eventually, say by the late 50s or early 60s it would have been necessary to develop a new 3 speed Ultramatic to stay competitive.

Manual transmission could have been obtained from the usual suppliers.