Five engines that have had the longest life

Designing an engine for a car manufacturer is quite expensive. With this we try to make it last, with few modifications, as long as possible. Some of these engines last for a generation of the model, others work so well that they can satisfy the requests of the manufacturer and customers even for several decades. You are here 5 engines that have had the longest life in car history.

Small Block Chevrolet: 1955 – present (67 years old)

The Small Block V8 of Chevrolet is was born in 1955 in the 4.3 liter version on the Corvette and the large Bel Air sedan. Later it was also used by various cars and commercial vehicles of the GM group. It is still sold by GM to this day, is provided as a spare part to maintain the old cars. General production of small Block engines it is estimated that it exceeded 100 million pieces.

Used by:

Acadian
Beaumont
Buick: Road managers
Kadilaki: Brougham, Escalade, Fleetwood, Fleetwood Sixty Special
Checkers: Marathon, Taxi
Chevrolet: Bel Air, Camaro, Caprice, Chevelle, Corvette, El Camino, Express, Impala, Monte Carlo, Monza, Nova, Suburban, Tahoe
GMC Extension: Carryall, Savannah, Sierra, Suburban, Yukon
Gordon Keeble
Hummers: H1
ISO: Grifo, Lele
Oldsmobile: Custom Cruiser, Omega

Volkswagen Type 1: 1938 – 2003 (65 years old)

The Type 1 it was Air-cooled 4-cylinder designed for the first Volkswagen (known as Maggiolino in Italy and Beetle in Anglo-Saxon countries) and then used for many years in other small Volkswagen cars. It first appeared in 1938 and a displacement of 985 cc and the power of 24 hp. It remained in production until Mexican production of the Beetle ended 2003. In the last period the engine was 1.6-liter, with fuel injection and 51 HP.

Used by:

Volkswagen: 1500/1600, 411/412, Karmann Ghia, Type 1 (Beetle), Type 2 (Kombi/Microbus/Transporter)

Ford Windsor V8: 1961 – present (62 years old)

Still in production as Small Block, the The Windsor is a mid-sized V8 which was originally equipped the fourth generation of the Fairlane and later many other Fords and also from AC Cobra. The last example to put it was Ford Explorer in 2001 and is now no longer fitted to any vehicle currently being manufactured. However, as with Little Nursery, Ford continues to manufacture it as an aftermarket part. The life of this power plant began in the form of a 3.6 litersbut it has expanded up to 5.8 liters in version 351W.

Used by:

BC: Cobra
continent: Mark 6, Mark 7
Ford: Bronco, Country Squire, Econoline, Elite, Explorer, E-Series, F-Series, Fairlane, Fairmont, Falcon, Falcon Ranchero, Galaxie, Granada (North America), GT40, LTD, LTD Crown Victoria, Mustang, Thunderbird, Turin
Lincoln: Continental, Mark 7, Town Car, Versailles
Mercury: Colony Park, Cougar

Rolls-Royce – Bentley L Series: 1959-2020 (61 years)

There L series is Britain’s longest running engine and The second V8 from Rolls-Royce. He did his first on Silver Cloud II, Phantom V and Bentley S2 (the two houses once had the same ownership). The first version had a transfer of 6.2 liters and he was able to deliver 188 hp. He finished his career on June 1, 2020, in the latest Bentley Mulsanne. It was eventually fitted with a twin turbocharger and in Mulsanne mode it produced 530bhp from a displacement of 6.75 litres. In his lifetime, they were released approximately 36,000 L-series engines and it is likely that many of them are still in business.

Used by:

Bentley: Arnage, Azure, Brooklands, Continental (before 2003), Eight, Mulsanne, S2, S3, T-Series, Turbo
Rolls-Royce: Camargue, Corniche, Phantom V and VI, Silver Spirit, Silver Spur, Silver Cloud II and III, Silver Shadow

BMC Serie A: 1951 – 2000 (49 years)

From the first Austin A30 to the classic Mini, Serie A and A-Plushighly developed but technically identical, it was applied to a large number of famous British cars. The secret of his success is that he was an engine cheap and reliable also for low-end sports cars, kitcars and special hand-built cars. At first it had engine power 803 civil code and only 28hpbut in its most powerful version it was able to produce 95 HP from 1,275 cc MG Metro Turbo.