Quote:
Originally Posted by daepp
Every time I see one of these beauties I wonder why in the world, with all the then-high tech they employed way back then that they didn't make those engines more "breathable"? ...the single, small diameter carbs etc always make me scratch my head.
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Back in that era...really up until the 1960s...torque was king. These big Duesenbergs, Packards, Cadillacs, etc. were heavy cars and getting them up & moving was a demanding task. In 1930, a 452 c.i. V-16 Cadillac generated only 165 HP but put out 318 ft/lb of torque at only 1400 RPM. In a big heavy road car, low-end grunt was much more useful than high-RPM sizzle, so they were able to get away with rather small carburetors. Also, the majority of roads weren't all that great, low octane fuel was the norm, and high-speed motoring wasn't as desirable as it is today. For luxury car owners back then, smooth and quiet was the way to go.
One of the three rocket engines that powered the Space Shuttle Endeavor ↓
