And the 1966 Mustang I6 was 200 cu in.
The 144/170/200/250 was a different engine family the 223. Was the 240 related to the 223?
I don’t think the 240 was related to the 223. The 240 was introduced in the senior Fords in 1965. It was also installed in pickup trucks as well as its sister version–the 300 cubic inch 6.
The older I get, the better I was.
Same can be true of our memories of cars gone by…
I think I read where Ford’s first 6 cylinder engine was a flathead 6 that became available in 1941. I believe Edsel Ford was responsible for its development. Henry Ford was opposed to 6 cylinder engines. Sometime in the late 1930s he offered a 60 hp V8 as well as the 85 hp.V8. The 60 hp had a smaller displacement and didn’t work out very well. Therefore, the flathead 6 cylinder was offered as a lower cost alternative to the V8. I have read that up.to 50 mph, the 6 could out accelerate the V8. After WW II the V8 was advertised as having 100 hp and the 6 was advertised as having 95 hp. As was stated earlier, Ford introduced a new ohv 6 in 1952. It reportedly had better acceleration than the V8, even in 1954 when Ford introduced its ohv V8 which replaced the flathead V8. The displacement of the V,8 was increased in 1955 and from then on, the V8 could outrun the 6.
Many Ford pickup trucks were equipped with the 6 cylinder engine.
IMHO, the Ford 6 does not get the credit it deserves. When the 215 ohv 6 was introduced in 1952, the Chevrolet engine was a splash lubricated 6 cylinder ohv engine and the Plymouth engine was a flathead 217 cubic inch 6. I think that the Ford 6 was superior to these engines.
Help me out here, Nevada. You said the 221 CID small block was used in the '62-'63 Fairlane. Was that a V8?. I ask because in 1969 my uncle brought a car to our house to see if I would be interested (I wasn’t, I had just changed cars 2 weeks previously). It was a 1960 Falcon Sprint convertible. He said it had a 260 CID V8; it did have a 4 speed. If the 221 was a V8, would they have continued that engine after the 260 was introduced? Or was my uncle (or my recollection) mistaken and the '60 Falcon did not have the 260?
Also, I recall being told the '60 Falcon Sprint was an oddity in that the ignition was wired through the dash-mounted tachometer, and that disconnecting the tach for some reason would cause the car not to start.
@Dakotaboy. The 221 V8 engine was first introduced in the intermediate sized Ford Fairlane in 1962. It was also available in the Mercury Meteor which was an intermediate sized car. It made its way into the Falcon in either 1962 or 1963 as an option. I think the only engines available in the 1960 Falcon were a 144 cubic inch 6 and an enlarged version of that 6 which displaced 170 cubic inches.
The 221 cubic inch V-8 had its displacement increased to 260 cubic inches in 1963 and then was increased to 289 cubic inches. This engine was the standard V-8 in the full sized Ford’s. It replaced the Y block 272 and 292 V-8 engines that had been used through 1962 in the full sized Fords. There was a further increase in displacement of the 221 V-8 engine to 302 cubic inches.
Well Dad won the drag race anyway with the 54 Ford OHV V8. I guess he was 34 or so I was 7 but remember it pretty well. I’m a lot more even tempered. We were in Duluth at a stop light and some kid with another Ford that was older-I think it must have been a 51, wanted to race. So we did and we won. I was actually a little embarrassed and Mom was disgusted with him. This was before seat belts and padded dashes and auto transmissions and before child protective services would put you in jail for similar. Wound it up pretty good in 2nd gear as I recall. I know it was a V8 because I remember the emblem and I know it was an OHV because I remember the valve covers. I just was always interested in cars and we lived to tell.
Thank you, @Triedaq. Since this happened 50 years ago I suppose there’s the slightest chance my memory may not be perfect; maybe the car my uncle brought by was a '63, or maybe he never told me what size the engine was and I just assumed it was a 260. In either case, using my 20-20 hindsight, I wish I had bought and kept that car. Thanks again.
@Dakotaboy. It probably was a 260 cubic inch V-8 engine and, in checking, the Sprint became available in mid1963. The Mustang followed less than a year later which stole some of the thunder from the Falcon sprint.
You forgot the 312 Y-block introduced in 57.
My 93 Ram with the 5.9 Cummings was 140 hp, as far as the gas mileage in it I don’t remember but in my 2017 with the 6.7 Cummings I just got 21.8 mpg on a 250 mile trip with mostly 45 - 55 mph speed limits taking the back roads up into the mountains. Normally I get between 16.5 to 18.5 on a tank.
I had a ‘99 corolla 5 speed and if I drove very conservatively I could get about 40 on the highway.
I currently have a 2017 A4 and I’ve gotten 40mpg on a couple occasions driving back from the cabin. Again, driving conservatively - t get gentle acceleration, not going faster than 60, etc, almost all on the highway.
If you drove “not going faster than 60” on the highway here, you’d make a lot of enemies . . . or maybe even get rearended
I always get a good laugh when a highway patrol officer pulls behind a slowpoke on the freeway and says on the public address system “I’ve been following you the past few miles. Either speed up or get off at the next exit”
I wonder if if it’s embarrassing for the driver
Most of the trip is state roads with a speed limit of 55 and even the interstates have a limit of 60. If a trooper wants to yell at me for going the speed limit I’ll happily talk to his/her supervisor! Besides, Wisconsin troopers are notorious for pulling over MN drivers and I’d just as soon not make any extra donations to the State of Wisconsin.
Thanks for the information . . .
Around here, if you’re going 60 on the freeway, you won’t be making any friends
just saying
The speed limit on California highways is 55 MPH for tractor trailers/vehicles towing but it seems that if you are in a car sharing the road with those trucks the minimum speed is 65 MPH or you will be black flagged by race officials.
It just seems to me that driving the speed limit doesn’t have to be a counter-cultural experience. As long as I keep to the slow lane, it’s nobody else’s business, and if they want to drive faster, passing me is their problem.
The truth is, most people don’t have a hard time passing me when I set my cruise control on the speed limit in the slow lane. It’s only the idiots who don’t know how to merge from the acceleration lane that seem to take issue with it.
Yeah - it really depends on where you live. I visited a friend that lived outside of Chicago once. He was going 70 in a 55 and we were the slowest people on the road!
I see several people each minute driving in excess of 80 MPH on CA highways, with 6 lanes in each direction it is easy to keep my distance from those drivers.