John, my understanding is no, this is a development of the American
Flathead block that the French did later for their own military
purposes. One of my own Flathead blocks is a NOS WWII Ford military
block that I got from Dennis Carpenter Co., which reportedly they
re-imported from France in a large quantity from US military equipment
shipped there long ago. But this block is identical to that in a '41-
'42 Ford car, 85 HP with 3-1/16" bores, that D.C. bored to 3-3/16"
before they sold it to me. The old-time mechanic there, with about 50
years Ford service behind him, said the same casting cores were used in
the small bore blocks as in the 3-3/16" bore blocks, so the casting
could be bored out as big as any Flathead. Cheers Bill
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