Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Interesting that Bosch was involved at this early date. Bosch made the system for the 1968 VW Type 3, first production car to have EFI.

I always thought Bendix made the system Chrysler and AMC experimented with in the fifties.

Chevy had FI in the '50, right? I believe it was first an option on the V8s? Was that a Bosch system, too? A bit OT, but maybe worth comparing. There were aviation FI systems before electronics as well. Seem to recall that hot starting was very difficult with them.

I have found no reference to what RC or HR consists of in anything I have

I believe that the Rochester Ramjet mechanical-type FI was first available, as an option, on the '57 Chevy BelAir and Corvette 283-V8, but also used on a special edition of the 1957-58 Pontiac Bonneville. Beyond that, it was used strictly on Corvette through 1962. I've heard that system was a real PITA to tune and a lot of these Rochester systems were removed, in favor of a carbureted set-up - only for the FI to be returned by many restorers.

The Bendix Electrojector FI system (a design that was adapted from an aircraft type) should be considered EFI as it had a transistorized control unit. It was offered by Chrysler Corp., as an option, on select 1958 prodcution models. However, because of trouble with the electronics in actual use, that system was soon withdrawn from production and all vehicles built with that option were campaigned and refitted with dual-quad carburetor set-ups. Yet, I seem to recall that one '58 DeSoto that had originally been built with FI has had an original Electrojector system reinstalled as part of its restoration.

Bendix was also the supplier of the (analog) EFI system used on the Cosworth Vega, but I've heard that some of its technology was borrowed from Bosch.

I've been fascinated with the prospect of fuel injection on the V8 Packards ever since 1976, when I first laid eyes on that top-down view in a 1976 issue of Special Interest Autos (credited to Roscoe). Though a mechanical system, the general appearance/layout of the Packard FI came to mind again, when the multi-port EFI systems of the 1980s came along. With evaluation work still going on through 1955, I'm not sure if it would have been ready for 1956 production, but I often think of what a magnificent addition that FI system would have been for the intended 1957-58 Packard-Clipper line, if only the Fates would have been more kind.

letter from American Bosch and Delco-Remy

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Suppliers of Fuel Injection systems

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56Executive: thanks again for posting interesting documentation about the Packard fuel injection "advanced project". It is apparent that automotive gasoline fuel injection systems were "bleeding edge" tech at the time. Per the documentation, Packard and others were testing timed, intermittent flow setups, whereas Pontiac and Chevrolet used continuous flow designs.

The timed intermittent flow designs were superior, but as noted in the documentation, more complex and costly than the continuous flow designs. Pontiac and Chevy's continuous flow types made it onto production cars although in actual use most of these were removed in favor of (multiple) carburetor setups, particularly drag racing.

I have seen and inspected both the 1957 and 1958 Pontiac FI. The most obvious difference is that the 1957 manifold was fabricated out of sheet metal and the 1958 is a cast aluminum piece. Both manifolds were tall, individual runner types with the FI mechanicals "hidden" under the plenum between the runners. Maybe this was done by Pontiac in order to rush it into production or maybe the initial low production numbers did not justify a casting run. BTW, the 1957 347CID FI engine was about 295HP, but was rated at 310HP, the same as the 1958 370CID FI engine.

Craig