A Cadillac without A/C? Blasphemy!

Wasn't the Sherman tank powered by a Caddy V8?

This before the Northstar? I dunnooooo...

@dfwguy: Some of the early cars had the whole A/C unit in the trunk.

@P161911: Were they powered by a PTO shaft or something?

DMX clearly needs one of these in his Nova 114mph is hardly scandal material...

@TX Law: I think it was a ford Flathead V8, not sure. But, it is easily possible for the Sherman's to have a few odd-ball engines... they were built on various auto-assembly lines.

My Dad had a '72 Fleetwood when I was a kid. It had a 500, which I recall had to be specially-ordered, or something. Damn, that car could move - especially considering how heavy it was.

@TexanIdiot25: The first ones were propelled by a Continental air-cooled(!!) radial(!!!) mill. Later versions had everything from GM diesels, to a DOHC Ford V8 with over 1000 c.i.!

Once again, the Engine of the Day photo comes from my own camera! And once again (for the fourth time!) Jalopnik forgets to attribute it!

@Brian B:
My dad's 73' Eldorado with the 8.2 seemed to be pretty darn quick as well, all things considered. It was nearly four before we finally discovered it had only been running on 7 cylinders.

These did very well in '46 to '48 Fords with a Cad/LaSalle transmission behind it.

@pedxing: Sorry, thought it was OK to skip the separate photo credit if the image itself was top in the Wikipedia page in the link. Fixed now.

@dculberson: I was thinking of the Packards that had the condensor and blowers in the trunk. I guess the compressor would have to be at the engine.

@Murilee Martin: I see - there is attribution to Wikipedia. I suppose you might be right about that.

OBEngine: That 500 CID Caddy was the largest-displacement V8 ever made! Yeah boyee, torque!

It's kind of a shame how Caddy had monster engines that grandpa didn't open up too often, if ever--but you know Junior did.

@pedxing:

Umm, you're wrong about the 500 being the largest displacement v8 ever made.

On a side note about the ford flathead, there is some very interesting conversion kits from the 50s to give them overhead valves, worth looking up if you're interested in old hot rodding tech.

I wonder when the Oldsmobile/Rover/TVR/Morgan V8 is going to show up? It was in production even longer than the small-block chevy - in fact, I think it still is!

I think my '65 Calais must have had the 429 version of this. And I think I remember an old fashioned mechanical fuel pump failure resulting in a crankcase full of leaded premium. This was back in the 80's, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

Can anyone here say with any authority that the phenomenon of which I speak could actually occur?

@TX Law:

I don't know it it was the Sherman, but Cadillac did make tanks for the war effort and equipped them with Cadillac V8s and TurboHydramatic transmissions.

@Murdoc: "if you're interested in old hot rodding tech" Gah! For fuck's sake no! I have shit to do. Dont tell me things like that, I need sleep dammit!

@P161911: The very first Cadillac AC units had the evaporator and fan in the trunk and two clear plastic tubes fan up from the package shelf to distribute the cooled air. There was no way to turn off the compressor so when winter came along you just removed the belt!

@TexanIdiot25:
Comment on Engine of the Day: Cadillac OHV V8 The tanks used Cadillac flatheads, like the ones in the Cadillac and LaSalle cars in the late 30's and early 40's, not Ford flatheads. The flathead Caddy exhaust ports and manifolds were on the top of the cylinder banks. Glide to Live ... Live to Glide For All Your High Performance Lubrication Supplies. http://www.synthetic-oil-tech.com/1124190/ Nick's Performance Accessories 9608 Tiverton Way Louisville, Kentucky,40242 Independent Amsoil Dealer ZO# 1124190 Phone: 502-548-3023 Fax: 509-691-4313 amsoildealer@mac.com "Always do the right thing. It'll gratify some and astonish the rest."- Mark Twain

The malaise-era 472-500 monsters might have put out barely 200 HP, but they had enormous torque.

And man, what a thirst...

The guy at the gas station closed for the day after I'd go there with the Sea-Doo's on the trailer...and empty tanks all-around.

Between the car, the watercraft, and the extra cans of fuel for said watercraft, it wasn't unusual to pump 70 gallons at one visit.

Ah...to have $1.29/gallon gasoline, again...which, at the time, was plenty painful.

@Kelly: My Dad's 500 put out 345hp. Not bad for stock. But, yeah, TONS of twist.

@Murdoc:
AFAIK the 500 is the largest in a production passenger car, but certainly not the largest V8 ever made.

The ford GAA V8 for example

+ Watch video

A bit of googling hasn't given me any hint at the largest V8 overall, but surely this knowledge shall be revealed on Jalopnik in due time!