no love for fiat

[manoa matt]

A browse through IAP or Vicks' printed catalogs will show you the comparable components of Fiats and Alfa's side by side. For comparable model years, the Fiat parts are few but robust while the Alfa parts are numerous and delicate. There is something to be said for simplicity in design. Occam' s Razor: The law of parsimony, law of economy or law of succinctness. ie: The use of the simplest or most frugal route of explanation available.

Alfa owners typically look down on Fiat owners because we are willing to work on our own cars....because we can.

[FulviaHF]

Internationally, derivatives of the Lampredi twincam is the most successful race engine in history ....

I dunno about that. Certainly groundbreaking, innovative and all that, but the Ford Kent has won a lot of races.

In international competition, I think it'd have to be the Porsche 901/911 6-cyl and derivatives. I doubt any other engine even comes close; one version or another has been racing since 1964.

[baltobernie]

What about the small-block Chevy V-8, age 55? If one counts all forms of motor racing?

[FulviaHF]

SBCs didn't play much or a role in international competition: Corvettes in endurance racing; some sports prototypes, Like the Lola T70, ran SBCs; some hybrids, like the Iso A3C, used 327s. And I'm sure there are some I'm missing, but in any case nothing close to the Porsche flat-6. I'm no great Porschephile, but 911s (or 904s, 906s, GT1, &c.) must have run in every international endurance event since 1965, plus rally, and a broad range of series. They won LeMans, both class (over and over) and outright in 1979 & 1998 (nearly 20 years apart!), the international rally championship in 1970, Paris-Dakar in 1984 & 1986.

Small block Chevys can't really touch that. Neither can the Lampredi twincam, although it won a couple of world championships (Lancia BMT) and a lot of rallies (Fiat Abarth, Lancia Delta, 037, and S4). The Lampredi twincam might actually tbe the most successful rally engine ever. But not much else. The Ford Kent I-4 had a serious amount of success, as a Ford, Lotus twincam, or Cosworth BDA (+). But, no you can't count the V8 Cosworth DFV as a derivative. And even if you could, you'd then have to count as flat-6 derivatives Porsche's flat-8s and flat-12s, which brings in the 908, 917 (sports and CanAm), and 956/962--the most successful sports prototype ever.

I dunno; I could be wrong. But I just think that flat-6 has to be it.

[Daniel]

I am pretty sure in the US chevy small block v8 would be the number # engine when it comes to racing, GM hasn't been
very active internationally .