An industrial engine from a forklift company that went on to win at Le Mans? The four-cylinder, SOHC Climax FW started out powering water pumps on fire trucks, then had some serious diversification.
Starting in 1953, the Climax firepump engine made its way into vast numbers of European race cars, including the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage-honored Lotus Eleven, but it wasn't just about moving pallets around warehouses and racing in Formulas One And Two. By 1963, the 874cc FWMA version of the Climax became the powerplant of the Rootes Group's answer to the Mini: the Hillman Imp. The twin-cam FP version grew to a massive 2.75 liters of displacement by 1961, and V8 versions won the Formula One World Championship in 1963 and 1965.
[Wikipedia]