What if Chevrolet had said yes to Shelby and built the Cobra ?

[Jac Mac]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Shelby tried to cut a deal with Donald Healey as well, and wanted to use an Olds engine in the begining.

What a bastard child that would have been! A Healey with an 800 pound big block Olds in front.

I thought the engine being considered was the F85 Olds, 3500cc, all alloy, ended up as the Rover/Range Rover deal, around 330 lb or so IIRC. Might have been a winner as I think Phil Remington had already been playing with these at the Scarab Factory, which of course was where Shelby set up shop.

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by Jac Mac

I thought the engine being considered was the F85 Olds, 3500cc, all alloy, ended up as the Rover/Range Rover deal, around 330 lb or so IIRC. Might have been a winner as I think Phil Remington had already been playing with these at the Scarab Factory, which of course was where Shelby set up shop.

Jac, would that engine have had any relationship to the Buick 215 CID aluminum engine? I had a '62 Buick "Special" with that engine in it, it was pretty peppy, and I saw a lot of component cars using them in the past.

Cheers!

Doug

[Marvin]

JWD
The Caddy line was shut down long ago, that part of plant is idle.

marvin

[Jac Mac]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Jac, would that engine have had any relationship to the Buick 215 CID aluminum engine? I had a '62 Buick "Special" with that engine in it, it was pretty peppy, and I saw a lot of component cars using them in the past.

Cheers!

Doug

Hi Doug,
Yes, basicly the same engine from the heads down, although Olds reqd a Flat Top piston to work with its larger combustion chamber, Buick was dished with shallow chamber. Rocker gear was different for each engine so if you wanted say the Olds heads on a Buick/Rover you needed the pushrods/rockers/ springs/ valves as well. Olds valves were on cyl centerline & larger, Buick offset from cyl centerline & consequently smaller, bore size on 3500cc was 3.5" so valve sizes were tiny by 'normal' 4" standards. Short stroke around 2.8" meant they loved a rev up! You can now buy large bore blocks & heads with healthy flow numbers to match from the UK that take them out over 5000cc, that will make any 302 based Ford work hard for its keep. There is a guy ( Carl Hansen ) out here in NZ with a TVR Tuscan that has one & made it his mission to attack sports car lap records on each track & has done so, see's off most Trans Am Saloons, eg Riley & Scott type chassis cars..