Those are the Buicks Hardcastle writes of. He calls those engines 231.7 cu in
and says they were supercharged and had hemispherical combustion chambers and
300 hp. He goes on to mention a 1955 alum V6 with single overhead cams that was
developed in 1958 into a more conventional (but still aluminum) V8 of 253 cu in
that most directly led to our favorite V8. The book is ISBN 0 85429 961 0.
I did then remember to look up two old articles on the engine, and the Road &
Track article does state the BMW engine was "evaluated" during the design
period. The two articles:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/2508/215eng.html
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/2508/215_v8.html
"KILE, PAUL D" wrote:
> It"s funny you mention the early-50s aluminum engine experiments. I seem to
> remember two Buick "dream cars" from the early 1950s, one was called the Le
> Sabre (no relation to the production car) and one was called the XP-300.
> These were typical GM "futuristic" looking cars built for the Motorama shows
> around 1950-53. I read somewhere that one of them was powered by a 215ci
> all aluminum V-8. Whether this one was related to the later Buick Special
> engine, I have no idea. I believe the Le Sabre still survives, and has
> appeared in several documentaries on dream cars.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul Kile
> 1974 Factory MGB-GT V-8
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Kent Christensen [SMTP:lkchris@uswest.net]
> > Sent: Friday, February 19, 1999 7:12 AM
> > To: buick-rover-v8@autox.team.net
> > Subject: re: Buick - BMW?
> >
> > Our favorite V8 descended from BMW?
> >
> > It's probably a little the opposite, i.e., the BMW may have
> > taken ideas from early GM V8s such as the '49 Olds. No
> > question that BMW's V8 was aluminum and came just a few
> > years before GM's, and this timeline may create the rumors.
> > No mention of a BMW connection in the "bible," i.e., David
> > Hardcastle's "The Rover V8 Engine." He does mention some
> > early-50s GM aluminum engine experiments possibly related to
> > pushing from Alcoa and predating the BMW.
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