OK then car nuts, what was the best, most legendary Australian designed and built motor car engine.

My vote: Chrysler HEMI 265.

I like mine with triples:

ikw777 said...

OK then car nuts, what was the best, most legendary Australian designed and built motor car engine.

My vote: Chrysler HEMI 265.

I liked my 245 HEMI too - It pushed a big chunk of steel around in my teens ('73 Regal), with a main speed on the open road between 120-140kp/h - everywhere.

Mobydisc said...
I also like the Magna 3.5L motor. Out of them all I liked the Magna motor the most. Magnas have a sedate image but they go pretty fast.

Yes that Mitsubishi v6 was a great engine, simple, smooth strong and reliable - leaked oil like the Exxon Valdez though. Not sure if it was developed in Australia though.

Fords current 4l turbo engine imho. Perfect match with the 6 speed auto.

Lol, i'm not that one eyed

The new supercharged 5 litre is better but not aussie made!

Actually i think the old nissan FJ's were aussie made. A really bulletproof engine.

IKW if you say aussie designed and built, what are the rules?

The 265 hemi was just a refinement of an existing Chrysler USA motor.
Not hard to get an existing moter and do comp, cam and carbs and make it go faster.
A brilliant motor for it's time but not techhhniiically aussie designed


MDSXR6T sounds a bit one-eyed lol but yeah that is a bloody top package. The new XR6T is a weapon. And veyr driveable, good bottom end and no flat spots

And yes the old FJ20T - 150kw from a 2l back in the early 80's AND it slotted straight into little Datto 1600's easy mmmm

Mark _australia said...
IKW if you say aussie designed and built, what are the rules?

The 265 hemi was just a refinement of an existing Chrysler USA motor.
Not hard to get an existing moter and do comp, cam and carbs and make it go faster.
A brilliant motor for it's time but not techhhniiically aussie designed

Alright, I stand corrected it was a design abandoned by the Americans and finished off by Australians. Most motors used here by the big makers of the 60s and 70-s were like that I suppose. So open it up then to:

Most Legendary Aussie Car Engines Ever

-it's still the 265 btw

I think you would be flat out finding an Aussie designed and built motor. My understanding from reading a lot of car magazines when I was younger, was that Australia would get the tooling for a motor that had already been done in the USA.

It sort of makes sense, as this equipment must have been expensive, and it would be sensible to re-use it somewhere.

I think even the 'Aussie' 308 was based on something else. (edit: Maybe more unique than I thought. It sounds like it was an Aussie design)

I think the Falcon Six was based on an earlier US design.

So, when do enough changes make a motor an 'Aussie Engine'?

FormulaNova said...

So, when do enough changes make a motor an 'Aussie Engine'?

As soon as you think it warrants "legendary" status. Possibly supported by installation in a "legendary" Aussie car.

Though of course we all know it's still the HEMI 265. LOL

Mark _australia said...


That's what I meant - kinda hard to define the rules.

I agree with the Hemi though - it was well before it's time and made a name ofr itself against some classic V8's back in the muscle car days.

For perfomance maybe the current XR6T
For longevity maybe the 4L Foulcan engines - 1mil taxi drivers can't be wrong
For failure - the Gen3 5.7's that all burnt oil (seriously how can you get a current successful USA engine, fk it and fit it to thousands of aussie cars??? Holden needs a bullet for that one)


For outright deadset fun I reckon the Holden supercharged 3.8 with a bit more boost and a tickleup. Mmmmm.
(In a 1980 Gemini coupe)

Hey, I've got one of those in my VS wagon. Gemini . Of course, it really is a US design, with I think the only change being the throttle body adaptor, which needed a redesign to go from FWD to RWD. (Oh yeah, probably the sump too!)

The Ecotech (another USA copied engine -L36?) was burning oil/pistons early on I think. I think Holden were trying to increase fuel economy and reduce oil consumption and ran into some dead ends...

Ok I,ll say it again for those who dont listen .

The first Holden V8 around 1969 designed and mass produced in Melbourne , buy a Melbournian .

253 or 308 . Take your pick .

SandS said...
Ok I,ll say it again for those who dont listen .

The first Holden V8 around 1969 designed and mass produced in Melbourne , buy a Melbournian .

253 or 308 . Take your pick .

Yeah, I think you are right. I edited my original post to say this, as I went to the trouble of looking it up.

It's a shame that Holden didn't really spend much money on it, until after it wasn't viable. The one in the VS commodore was essentially the same as the one introduced in the VL/VN. The one in the VT finally had some updates, but I never drove one, so I don't know if it was really any better. I think it finally had sequential injection, but maybe not much else extra.

I had a 5L VS SS and a 3.8L (ecotech) VS wagon, and the V6 felt heaps better than the V8 and used a tonne less fuel too. Why couldn't they get this with the 5L?

Mark _australia said...

divaldo said...
12A Rota

Rotaries are bloody awesome but I don't recall Mr Wankel being aussie.

Nor the main user, Mazda, beign aussie either.

Hmmm......... will seabreeze allow the word 'wankel' or will I get a whole bunch of *******

Of course, there was the Holden/Mazda Roadpacer. Although it was a 13B powered car, and I don't know if they were actually sold in Australia. Not that any Mazda rotary was Australian made.

i recall my slant 225 leaked like a bucket, my ecotech 3.6 was graet till the heater core leaked , or the computer got wet .
However I do want a set of door handles like the ones on this car cos my ladcruiser ones are crap

its been bashed ,smashed ,rolled,burnt,left for 5 years in the sun then flooded, and yet the handles still shine

landyacht said...
i recall my slant 225 leaked like a bucket, my ecotech 3.6 was graet till the heater core leaked , or the computer got wet .
However I do want a set of door handles like the ones on this car cos my ladcruiser ones are crap

its been bashed ,smashed ,rolled,burnt,left for 5 years in the sun then flooded, and yet the handles still shine

The holden Gemini was famous for its door handles. The 3.8 V6 in the VN to VT commodores never wore out. Made in Canada I think. Maybe they had to over-engineer them to survive the extremes of temperature. Does anybody ever change spark plugs these days? They seem to last the life of the engine. 330,000 km in 3.8 V6s I think I only changed the spark plugs twice, even then they looked OK and the car went no different.

MDSXR6T said...

Mark _australia said...

divaldo said...
12A Rota

Rotaries are bloody awesome but I don't recall Mr Wankel being aussie.

Nor the main user, Mazda, beign aussie either.

Hmmm......... will seabreeze allow the word 'wankel' or will I get a whole bunch of *******

Rebuilding them every time you fill up gets expensive though

When you do 300hp per litre from a forced induction piston engine, it also does less k's.

But nice when a rebuild is 6 seals that are just basically bits of flat bar, and a couple of bearings. That's it.
What does a rebuild kit for your ford straight 6 look like...?
And could you do it in an evening on your coffee table?

(Never had a rote, never will...... just don't understand the objections??? Yes a few less k's but simple as a bird's bum, and make a wheelstanding 10sec car for $10K. Try that in a big aussiemobile...)

PS 300hp/L was a MILD modded rotary . And yes OK technically it is a 2 stroke blah blah