In addition to a body style that was not duplicated for US models, some of their Aussie models came with a 265 c.i. straight six whose power output ranged from 203 HP/262 lb. ft. torque to 302 HP/320 lb. ft. torque, which was said to be an excellent engine. Strangely, it had no relationship to the Slant Six.
Australia car divisions from Chrysler, GM Holden and Ford did some unique and cool things just for their market. Sadly none of them are doing that anymore.
I’ve noticed the few Aussies and Kiwi’s posting here are not-infrequently asking performance-related questions. USA vs Australia/New Zealand , vehicle design rules must be quite different.
Studebaker was also a force in Australia, but I think that their only alteration for that market was to produce right-hand drive vehicles.
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The song I am Australian going around in my head. We are one but we are many. Too bad they pretty much cancelled ausie car manufacturing.
Hmmm, Things are different in other countries. Ya think?
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It’s interesting comparing the differences though.
Church friends started their year in Australia 10yrs ago this month, bought the RV in Sydney from a dealer who took amazing care of them and was more than willing to help them find and register this 1997 Winnebago to travel the country for 1yr. Other than having to fix the transmission when they broke down at the end of a 100m9 stretch of no services at all on the highway the RV served them well. Winnebago USA didn’t protect the trademark in Australia so they could use the name there for years.
+1
I think “semi-hemi” would have been more accurate.
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??? I hold no opinion on the engine-performance merits of the hemispherical combustion chamber shape, but that photo looks more or less like a hemisphere to me, maybe somewhat flattened from ideal. Is that what you mean by “not reality”?
That head is more of an open chamber wedge head… a hemi head looks more like the inside of a ball, with the valves on opposing sides at opposing angles, the air flows across the typically domed piston, intake and exhaust ports are on opposing sides of the head…
Hemi head below, pic from wikipedia (if it shows up, if not look in the link…
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Good discussion. Other than the valve positions rotated 90 degrees, and the second chamber looking new and the first used, the two photos look nearly the same from my perspective, both more or less hemispherical shaped. Is the main “hemi” issue in the first photo then the valve positions?
Look at the axis of the valve stems. They are parallel in the 6 and splayed in the V8. Tilting the valves from vertical allows larger valves for better flow.
I am with @davesmopar and @texases, not so much a hemi as a semi-hemi or open chamber design.
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Looks nothing like a hemi, it’s a smoothed out wedge.
The HP Aussie model made 280hp. Pretty good, about 1hp/ci. I never had a 6cyl from that era. GF had a maverick with a 250ci 6cyl I recall. I never drove it. Buddy had a Mav with the 170ci version? Ford had a number of 6 cyl motors back then.
The Ford 144/170/200/250 were never known for their power
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Having owned a 1960 Falcon with the 144 c.i. engine, I can attest that zero-60 acceleration was best timed with an hourglass.
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Sixes were seen as bargain engines in the US. Cheap, weak and reliable lumps. Pontiac built some hot sixes with their SOHC 6 cylinder in the late 60s. With high compression and a 4 barrel carb they put out 215 hp. Available in Firebirds and LeMans models.