Major theme
Memoir, engineering, family, education, projects, and notes from the editor’s workbench. 21 posts in this part of the archive.
In the early 1960s, Ford needed a modern V-8 that was smaller and lighter than its Y-block, yet adaptable enough to power everything from compact sedans to racing cars. The result was the engine enthusiasts now call the Small Block Ford or Windsor V-8. It began with only 221 cubic inches and 145 advertised horsepower,…
Ford’s original Super Duty V-8 family—401, 477, and 534 cubic inches—was engineered for sustained heavy-truck service long before the name reached pickups.
Ford introduced three distinct overhead-valve V-8 families for 1958. The FE served Ford and Edsel passenger cars, Thunderbirds, and eventually light trucks. The enormous Super Duty powered heavy commercial vehicles. Between them stood the MEL, developed primarily for Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln.
Ford built the GT40 to beat Ferrari at Le Mans out of a 1963 grudge — and won four straight, from the seven-litre works cars to a chassis that won twice.
Ford's FE V-8 arrived for 1958 as a modern replacement for the aging Y-block. It began as a smooth, torquey engine for full-sized cars and Thunderbirds, but within a few years it had become the centre of Ford's “Total Performance” campaign. FE engines powered family sedans, police cars, pickups, luxury Mercurys,…
Sports-car racing is where Ferrari began, and where, for the better part of two decades, it was the most dominant force in the world.
Ford's first mass-produced overhead-valve V-8 was both a beginning and an ending. Introduced for the 1954 model year, the Y-block finally replaced the flathead V-8 that had transformed the inexpensive American automobile in 1932. Just four years later, Ford's new FE big-block began displacing it in the company's…
Ferrari's Formula One cars through Enzo's lifetime (1950–1988), told through the engines behind nine drivers' titles and ninety-four Grand Prix wins.
The Ford Flathead V-8 was not the first V-8 or the first flathead. It did something more important: it made V-8 power affordable to ordinary motorists. Before 1932, a V-8 generally belonged in an expensive car. Ford put one into a mass-produced automobile priced for the popular market, built roughly 15 million of…
Colin Chapman did not merely build a succession of Formula 1 cars—he repeatedly changed what a Formula 1 car was. During his lifetime, Team Lotus moved from a small front-engined spaceframe design through rear engines, monocoques, stressed engines, wings, wedge-shaped packaging, side radiators, ground effect,…
From the 1964 New York World’s Fair to Georgia Tech and Ford Motor Company, the story of how an eight-year-old’s ambition became a life’s work.
There are two types of people in the world: those who divide the world into two types of people and those who don’t. Of course, being an engineer, I’m one of the former.
The study of next-to-last things—and the beginning of a home for ideas, biography, software, essays, and work worth sharing.
Tear after tear streamed down her face; she probably wouldn’t make it in time. It was late, almost dark, and the rain had started falling faster. She was tired, had hardly slept in days, but she didn’t care and started pedaling even harder than she already…
Earlier in the week, I read that the movie "Dumb and Dumber" would be removed from Netflix today. I had never seen the movie, an iconic comedy, so I decided to watch it. I am glad I have seen it now, but I have no desire to see it again. It was okay, with a…
"Shooting from the hip" can mean, literally, shooting a handgun from near the hip, presumably after it is drawn from a holster, without taking time to properly grasp the handgun with both hands and aim it at the target. While it is quicker than the proper…
I was watching a film at the Chrysler exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair when I decided to go to Georgia Tech, become a mechanical engineer, and design cars at Ford (we were a Ford family; Chrysler would never do!). I worked at a grocery store in…
We are all familiar with the William Shakespeare line, “All the world’s a stage.” There is a lot of truth to that metaphor, but tonight, I want to discuss another line from another age. In an episode of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” Molly…
It’s hard to believe it was 20 years ago when we in Middle Georgia suffered The Great Flood of ’94. For most of us in the area, it was a short term inconvenience — with roads and bridges flooded, it was difficult or impossible to get from here to there for a…
You may have noticed that I have started another blog, Yellow Jacket, even though I had only posted one entry to this blog. Why? One of my interests is Georgia Tech football; I plan to devote that blog to football in general and GT football in particular. It…
So, this is my first entry in my new blog, i am an engineer. "What's that about?" you may ask. It's just that my being an engineer explains a lot about me: I am shy, quiet, introverted, and analyze everything. I wait for people to speak to me, not because I…