The Straight Eight Engine: Powering Premium Automobiles

Product description

This is the first book specifically about automobiles with straight eight engines that have become amongst the most sought-after, collectible, and valuable vehicles of all time. In Britain and Europe, the straight eight was always a rare, expensive car, but in the United States, the engine also found its way into the mainstream ‘midrange’ market in basic side-valve form. First appearing in a road car in the 1920s, the engine grew quickly in popularity, and flourished throughout the 1930s and the early 1940s, but by the 1950s only a small handful were available, including some Packards, Pontiacs and Daimlers, as well as the exclusive Rolls-Royce Phantom IV. New straight eights will almost certainly never again be seen on the road, replaced today by the V8 engines. Within these pages is a comprehensive survey of the different cars that were produced and the variations in the many styles of engines. Each model is illustrated with contemporary and period photographs.