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Ford Motor
Company has reached another milestone in the completion of its
100-millionth V8 powerplant.
The shot above comes from the 2003
Ford Expedition, which comes with the ULEV-certified 4.6-liter
Trition V8. |
One hundred seems to
be a good, even number for the Ford Motor Company. Celebrating their
centennial year this year, the company has announced that they have
reached another milestone: the completion of their 100-millionth V8
engine, capping a 70-year history of first, mass-produced V8 powerplant.
Henry Ford helmed the
first moving assembly line in 1914, making the automobile vastly
affordable to the consumer. He made history once again in 1932 when he
introduced the first mass-produced V8 with a 'flat-head' design.
Now, the Triton V8
engine family is built at Ford's Windsor, Ontario and incorporates the
latest technologies to make it as flexible as possible. The latest
addition to the line is the three-valve per cylinder 5.4-liter Triton
engine that will see action in the 2004 Ford F-150 pick-up.
The Windor plant has
produced 22.4 V8s since 1932, and currently accounts for half of the V8
engine production output of the entire Ford Motor Company empire. In
addition, the plant produces V6 and V10 engines for service in Ford and
Lincoln vehicles.
Other V8 engines are
produced in Ford's Michigan plant and in Cleveland plants (the latter is
affectionally known as No.1 and No. 2). The latter is also famous for
producing the famed Boss 302, Cleveland 351 and the Mustang's 5.0-liter
engine. The Cleveland plant is currently being retooled to handle the
new series of Duratec V6 engines that will see action in the 2005
Freestyle.
The Famous List:
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Flathead V-8 engine. Ford produced approximately 8
million Flathead V-8s between 1932 and 1953. These included the
original 85 hp version, an economy 60 hp V-8 in 1936-37 and upgraded
90 hp, 95 hp and 100 hp engines.
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302-cubic-inch and 5.0-liter OHV engines. Best known
as the longtime Ford Mustang engine, the Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1
built more than 16.9 million 302 and 5.0-liter V8s from 1967-2000,
including the fabled Boss 302, and a total of 24.3 million V-8 engines
at Plant No. 1 between 1961 and 2000. Windsor Engine Plant produced
more than 2 million 5.0-liter engines from 1983-1990.
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351-cubic-inch V-8. The “Cleveland,”
or 351C, had a unique design that made it sought-after by enthusiasts.
Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2 built more than 3.7 million 351 engines
from 1969-1981. Windsor Engine Plant built nearly 8.5 million 351
engines.
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427-cubic-inch V-8. This was a member of the FE big
block family, with special performance features like high compression
and strong cross-bolted main bearings. It was constructed at Dearborn
Engine Plant. Only about 6,500 were built.
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Modular V-8/V-10 family. Launched in 1991 with the
4.6-liter V-8, Ford’s modular engine design has lived up to
expectations by forming the solid foundation for a host of engines
tailored to Ford Motor Company products. Variations include 2-valve
and 4-valve cylinder head designs, as well as the new 3-valve Triton.
Engine blocks are cast from both iron and aluminum. Ford produces
naturally aspirated and supercharged variants, including the 390-hp
SVT Mustang Cobra. Romeo (Mich.)
Engine Plant has built more than 6.8 million modular engines. Windsor
has built more than 4.3 million. Essex Engine Plant began building
5.4-liter engines in August 2002 for the Australian Falcon.
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AJ-V8 engine. Jaguar, which joined the Ford Motor
Company family in 1996, has built more than 265,000 high-performance
AJ-V-8 engines for cars like its XK8 and XKR sports cars at its plant
in the
United Kingdom.
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