Quote from biglepton
The Buick 215ci was based very loosely on the BMW 507 V8, but certainly not officially so. When Buick were tasked in 1956 to design an aluminium V8 engine with a capacity between 3 and 3.5 litres they weren't quite sure how to go about it or how durable such an engine would be as they had no experience of working in this metal. They did what car companies still do today and buy the nearest equivalent they can and reverse engineer it. In 1956/7 if you needed to buy an ally V8 around 3.2l you had only one choice and that was the BMW 507. They most certainly didn't copy the design and stick GM on it, but they did use it as a basis for their design with particular regard to the necessary strengths and thicknesses required by ally instead of iron.
You are probably wondering how I know this? Well, my godfather was a production engineer at Rover for most of the sixties and seventies and he told me. He found out in 1969 - GM ended up regretting selling the rights to the 215 and wanted it back. They approached Rover and offered to buy it back but Rover refused as the management realised it's potential. Rover went back to GM and offered to build the V8 for GM. Initial discussions took place and my godfather ended up talking directly to the engine design part of GM/Buick and commented on what a great engine they'd designed considering it was their first ally one and the GM guy told him he couldn't take all the credit becasue they'd pulled apart a BMW V8 while they were designing it to get the basics right. Eventually the deal for Rover to build the V8 for GM fell apart because they couldn't build them cheap enough and politically it was difficult for GM to buy 'foreign-built' engines.
The Buick 215ci was based very loosely on the BMW 507 V8, but certainly not officially so. When Buick were tasked in 1956 to design an aluminium V8 engine with a capacity between 3 and 3.5 litres they weren't quite sure how to go about it or how durable such an engine would be as they had no experience of working in this metal. They did what car companies still do today and buy the nearest equivalent they can and reverse engineer it. In 1956/7 if you needed to buy an ally V8 around 3.2l you had only one choice and that was the BMW 507. They most certainly didn't copy the design and stick GM on it, but they did use it as a basis for their design with particular regard to the necessary strengths and thicknesses required by ally instead of iron.
You are probably wondering how I know this? Well, my godfather was a production engineer at Rover for most of the sixties and seventies and he told me. He found out in 1969 - GM ended up regretting selling the rights to the 215 and wanted it back. They approached Rover and offered to buy it back but Rover refused as the management realised it's potential. Rover went back to GM and offered to build the V8 for GM. Initial discussions took place and my godfather ended up talking directly to the engine design part of GM/Buick and commented on what a great engine they'd designed considering it was their first ally one and the GM guy told him he couldn't take all the credit becasue they'd pulled apart a BMW V8 while they were designing it to get the basics right. Eventually the deal for Rover to build the V8 for GM fell apart because they couldn't build them cheap enough and politically it was difficult for GM to buy 'foreign-built' engines.
enery8
Active Member
Just a quick note to say thank you to Dean68uk for checking out the P38 at Fareham for me. Saved me a trip as it was not all it seemed. So the search is still on for a nice Rangie. Unfortunately there don't seem to be many around Weymouth. Going to look at one near Basingstoke next.
Thanks again for all the help, especially Dean
Thanks again for all the help, especially Dean
Pikey
Dummy Ejection Facilitator..
you see I was always under the impression that Rover approached buick and asked them to sell them there exsisting V8 engine that they'd used in millions of yank tanks already. and that whilst buick continued improving the engine and resdesiging it. Rover just sat on an outdated heap of ****e and carried on using it for years after it had become obsolete.
I agree!
But when all works well they are bunch of fun to drive. But a P38 can have a lot of problems!!!
j the range
New Member
You are the one making a complete tit of themselves FFS.
I like the RV8 as they are light, cheap, plentiful and very easy to maintain if you follow simple maintenance rules regarding oil changes and coolant choice.
Also tearing down a RV8 is piece of ****, can you say the same about the 1uz-fe.
If you want bang for buck an RV8 is an obvious choice, if you've got cash to burn then there are loads of good V8's available but they will cost you ££££££
to buy, fit, adapt and tear down if things go wrong.
You are the one making a complete tit of themselves FFS.
I like the RV8 as they are light, cheap, plentiful and very easy to maintain if you follow simple maintenance rules regarding oil changes and coolant choice.
Also tearing down a RV8 is piece of ****, can you say the same about the 1uz-fe.
If you want bang for buck an RV8 is an obvious choice, if you've got cash to burn then there are loads of good V8's available but they will cost you ££££££
to buy, fit, adapt and tear down if things go wrong.
Either are a piece of **** to work on, show me an RV8 putting out same power fitted and will cost sub £500? Including gearbox and conversion
Is there an elephant in the house then?
Did brain frozen (ICE) explain away Coscast? as FUD.
I reckon for you RV8 is a religious experience, as anyone who is not susceptible to social conditioning will realize.
I don't crave simplicity,I crave efficiency and power
I reckon for you RV8 is a religious experience, as anyone who is not susceptible to social conditioning will realize.
I don't crave simplicity,I crave efficiency and power
Last edited:
Get a life...................
