We often tell you to how fast the automobile world moves. What goes well the year before, the next can be totally overturned. And this also applies to engines, the beating heart of every vehicle, forced to adapt to new levels of emissions and new habits. However, there are "highlanders", die-hard engines that have been able to get noticed over time for their reliability. In this article by Auto For Dummies, we will reveal to you precisely which are the longest-lived engines in the history of the car. So let's go back in time to see which are the 10 engines that have best resisted the passing of the years. Spoiler alert: one of them is still in production!
- The longest-lived engines: what makes an engine "immortal"?
- The ranking of the longest-lived engines:
- 10th position: Rover V8, 1967-2004
- 9th location: AMC 4.0 Straight-6
- 8th position: Jaguar XK
- 7th position: Alfa Romeo twin shaft
- 6th location: Ford Kent
- 5th position: FIAT 100 Series
- 4th location: Morris A-Series
- The podium of the longest-lived engines:
- 3ª Rolls-Royce L-Series
- 2nd position: Volkswagen Type-1
- 1st position: Chevrolet Small Block, the king of the longest-lived engines.
- The longest running engines ever: would you like to see other rankings?
The longest-lived engines: what makes an engine "immortal"?
Before starting with the 10 longest-lived engines in the history of the automobile, which apparently may seem very different from each other, let's try to understand first of all that what they have in common. In fact, there are sports engines, small small engines, powerful engines capable of winning in competitions and real indestructible "mules". However, despite these differences, there is something that unites them all. Let's find out what together.
First, the longest-running and most reliable engines are all powered by petrol. Although diesel engines are as durable and reliable as petrol engines, their technical rise has been very fast. The technologies needed to tackle all the “jumps”, first from aspirated to turbo and then to common rail injection, were so impressive that they forced the birth of new families of engines. This means that diesel engines have never been able to "carry on" a single family for 30 or more years, welcoming the possibility of entering the list of the longest-lived engines.
Too bad, because a 1.9 TDI would have deserved to be part of this list.
Let's move on to the second feature in common. All the longest running engines in our ranking have been modified over time, but they have kept their original features, until the end. Often these have changed displacement several times, added turbo, modified pistons, materials, compression ratios and other more or less important characteristics. Under the skin, however, they have always remained the same.
That is relatively simple and tested units, which make use of technologies that are perhaps obsolete today but perfect to guarantee a long life. Each engine then has its own peculiarity that has made it immortal. In this list of the longest-lived engines there is the economical and park one, the very reliable and bombproof one, the other super multifaceted.
The last things in common that all these motoring myths have, however, are reliability and durability. In fact, the new families of engines are often created to “correct” the mistakes made previously, by modifying the characteristics of an engine in depth, it completely changes. Those listed, on the other hand, proved to be "good" from birth, so much so that they remained unchanged (or almost) until their end.
An example of more durable engines: the FIAT Fire “dynasty”
To make you immediately understand what is meant by longer-lived engines, we quote a real one Italian myth, the FIAT FIRE. The "Fully Integrated Robotized Engine", this is its full name, is one of the pillars of Italian motoring. Born in 1985 on Autobianchi Y10, the FIRE accompanied all the small cars of the FIAT Group (and not only, including sports cars and "foreign" cars) and arrived almost unchanged until 2020.
A classic naturally aspirated 4-cylinder, with displacements between 750 and 1.400 cm3 and powers between 34 and 100 HP, not to mention the turbocharged T-Jet version capable of reaching over 200 HP. One engine easy to maintain, reliable and ready, capable of accompanying all the last 4 generation of Italian motorists on the road. Why am I telling you about it right away? Because with his "only" 35 years he did not manage to enter our top 10. An engine so historic that it does not enter ... crazy right? This is because the competition is fierce!
The ranking of the longest-lived engines, 10th position: Rover V8, 1967-2004, 37 years old
So let's start with the first participant of the club of the longest-lived motors. In this list he is the "youngest", nevertheless, however, it has its roots since the 50s. We are talking about an engine that here in Italy did not make itself too well known due to the fiscal limits of those years, but which in England (and beyond) is an institution: the Rover V8.
Born as a Buick engine in the early 60s, it changed its life from the bonnets of large American sedans to that of the more compact sedans and Rover sports cars. This is because the English manufacturer, which has now disappeared since 2005, needed a larger and more powerful unit than its 4 cylinders, now underpowered for the (then great) ambitions of the company.
The Buick 215 engine was chosen, which "won" thanks to its incredible lightness for being a big 8-liter V3.5 with good verve, which went well with European cars. Despite being the "son" of the English industry of the 60s, the Rover V8 turned out to be a bomb proof, as opposed to some cars on which it was mounted ... Once the “deal” was concluded, the Buick V8 was heavily revised and then came under the hood of the Rover P5B in 1967, the first Rover to mount a V8 engine.
The V8 Rover started with a displacement of 3.5 liters and a power of over 160 HP, excellent for the time. It found a home in the hood of the first series of Range Rover, which he will not abandon until 2002, and also on the Rover SD1, car of the year 1976 and hidden gem of the British stormy 70s. His life then passed between Rover, Land Rover, Range Rover, Morgan and TVR models, only to end almost muted in 2004. With the passage of Land Rover to Ford and the failure of Rover, the "Anglo-American" V8 I arrive until 2004, equipping the Land Rover Discovery 2 in the 4.6-liter version, capable in its last "life" of 220 hp. After him, Land Rover used Ford-Jaguar V8s, and was replaced with little praise later 37 years.
9th position: AMC 4.0 Straight-6, 1964-2006, 42 years
Let's go to America for a real stars and stripes institution, the mitico AMC Straight-6. The name is already a whole program. Produced by the American Motor Company, the straight six (hence the English name “Straight-6”) represented a flagship of American production. Unlike its slow, heavy and very lazy V8 "relatives", with limiters already set at just over 5000 rpm and powers just over 100 HP, the 6 in line AMC was light, ready and lively. Its main feature, however, was the pair, really high for the displacement and present from low revs.
This made it the perfect engine for a brand that we Italians know well: Jeep. Many do not know this, but before it became the property of Chrysler in 1987, Jeep was owned by AMC. The company that 20 years later would become part of the FCA Group, once the Jeep brand was taken over, did not cancel the presence of the 4.0 AMC. Indeed, Chrysler continued to improve and modify it. Its best application is in fact on Jeep Cherokee first series, the XJ (also AMC “product”), built between 1983 and 2001. The 4.0 here produces around 190 HP and 305 Nm, and allows great off-road and on-road performance.
Its last "refuge" was the engine compartment of the second generation of Jeep Wrangler, produced between 1996 and 2006. Here the 4.0 with its now canonical 190 HP greeted the automotive world after 42 years of honorable career, replaced by the less charismatic V6 Pentastar 3.6.
8th position: Jaguar XK, 1948-1993, 43 years old
After a celebrity in the States and not only now we are facing a true legend, the Jaguar XK. Also known as XK6 due to the number of cylinders, the six cylinders in line English was born in 1948 to equip a new sports car of the newborn Jaguar brand, the XK120. The name of the engine is present right down to the model, chosen to emphasize the masterpiece created by Sir William Lyons, president of Jaguar, and his team.
The Jaguar XK is an incredibly modern engine for 1948. Double overhead camshaft distribution with aluminum head and a displacement of 3.4 liters. There power? 160 CV, amazing for over 70 years ago. The Jaguar XK made the XK120 the fastest road car in the world, thanks to its 200 km / h, and was declined in the 2.4 liter version with 120 hp, 3.4 liters up to 210 hp, 3.8-liter 220 hp and well 4.2 liters of over 265 hp.
These two latest declinations have found their place under the hood of two incredible icons of world motoring. The 3.8 bhp 220 adorned the incredible sedan Jaguar MK2, for years the fastest sedan in the world. The 4.2 instead found its home under the immortal's very long hood Jaguar E-Type, which just this year turns 60. It also found space on luxury sedans such as the XJ or on Jaguar's more opulent “sisters”, the Daimler, who appreciated the XJ's softness, low-rev torque and great power.
We are therefore talking about an engine capable of being sporty but also luxurious, fluid and silent but also reliable and long-lasting, one of the most flexible motors ever produced. In fact, think that in its history it has also managed to win 5 24 Hours of Le Mans mounted on Jaguar C-Type e D-Type, despite never having been designed for racing. But we talk about this in the article dedicated to the Jaguar C-Type, the first "jaguar" to conquer Le Mans.
The "life" of the Jaguar XK then ended 43 years after its 1993 debut, under the hood of the Daimler DS420, the "more luxurious" version of the then flagship Jaguar XJ, which abandoned the XK engine in 1987.
7th position: Bialbero Alfa Romeo, 1954-1997, 43 years old
In seventh place we find an engine that makes Italians' hearts beat faster, the Bialbero Alfa Romeo, one of the most popular engines of the entire automotive industry. It was designed in 1954 da Giuseppe Busso, just that Busso who then in 1979 designed another legendary engine, the V6 that bears his name. But that's another story.
Staying on the Alfa Bialbero, this 4-cylinder in-line equipped with double camshaft he equipped the brand new Alfa Romeo model, the Giulietta, which in 1954 began her career as a "fiancée of Italy". Soon, the Giulietta became the object of desire of all Italians, and its 1290 cm3 and 50 hp Bialbero was a jewel. Made of aluminum, the twin shaft was light, very ready and equipped with torque at the bottom but of one nastiness and a unique sound in the upper part of the rev counter. Then came the 1.6, 1750 and 2.0 versions on Giulia, Alfetta, GTV, 75, 164 and, finally, 155, which saw the end of the original Alfa "Bialbero" in 1997, after 43 years of honorable service.
However, this does not mean that it remained unchanged. Winning on the track with the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA and GTAm, the 16 valves (4 valves per cylinder), mechanical and electronic injection, the turbocharger (first on Giulietta Autodelta and then on 75 Turbo and Turbo Evoluzione) and the Twin Spark double ignition, also born on 75 in 1987. After leaving the scene in 1997 on 155 and 164, the twin cam after 43 years gave way to the no less popular Twin Spark “Pratola Serra” in 1998.
6th place: Ford Kent, 1959-2002, 43 years old
From a sporty engine to a decidedly less driven one, or rather, born with a quiet spirit: the Ford Kent. Dedicated to the English county of the same name, this engine was born right in Ford's British branch of Dagenham in 1959. The Ford Kent was a very traditional engine, with rod and rocker timing and even side camshaft, an obsolete solution even for '59. After its debut on the Ford Anglia (which many will remember as an "extra" in the Harry Potter films), soon received a more modern headline, and was also "taken over" by Lotus.
Hethel's house fell in love with the Kent engine. His elaborations of the aspirated in-line 4-cylinder reached the 100 CV, 60 more than the original 40, thanks to theadoption of the double camshaft, the Twin Cam. These pumped-up Kents found their place on the legendary Lotus Seven and the iconic Lotus Cortina. The revised and corrected version of the Ford Cortina gave a show on the road and on the track, where with over 120 HP it gave a hard time to all rivals. The Ford Kent then also gave birth to the legendary one Lotus Elan revised and corrected by Cosworth, and the same engine was also found on the Ford Escort RS 1600, capable of winning two World Rally Championships.
Such a winning and sporty engine, however, never abandoned the "worldly life", so much so that its quiet versions went far, up to the third millennium. The 1.3 Kent in fact, first renamed HCS and then Endura-E, found a place on Fiesta, Escort and the first series of Ford Ka of 1996. The Ford Kent went out of production definitively in 2002, after 43 years service on the road and… on the track. One of the most multifaceted and ductile long-lived engines ever produced, a legend of English motoring and beyond.
5th position: FIAT 100 Series, 1955-2000, 45 years old
The latest Italian engine on the list is also one of the most enduring and multifaceted in our motoring history: the FIAT 100 Series. An engine born in 1955 to give motion to the 600, the car that powered Italy together with the 500. Compared to the latter, the 600 had a water-cooled 4 cm³ in-line 633 cylinder, capable of “well” 21 HP.
On 600 it proved to be reliable (albeit a little subject to overheating on 600 due to the rear position) and long-lived, but it became legend on two iconic models: FIAT 127 and Autobianchi A112. Here, in the 903 cm3 and 48 HP version, in the front position and with front-wheel drive, it gave life to an almost unstoppable partnership, which also found its place on the beloved Panda from 1980. The 100 Series was reliable, responsive and also quite frugal in consumption: a wonder.
Its peak was then represented by Autobianchi A112 Abarth: here the 100 Series, brought to 1050 cm3, delivered 70 HP and a lot of nastiness. The A112 Abarth became MINI Cooper's true rival, on the road but also in rallies. Here, the 100 Series on A112 became a training ground for many successful Italian drivers, such as Bettega and Cunico.
The 903 then pushed up Five hundred in 1991, where he also received the injection, up to the Seventeenth century 1998. And this is where the 100 Series had to say goodbye to everyone in 2000, in the version from 899 cm3 and 41 CV, due to the impossibility of "exceeding" the thresholds of Euro 3. A greeting to the third millennium later 45 years of roads traveled.
4th location: Austin A-Series, 1951-2000, 49 years old
Another engine that came to lap 2000 was another famous 4-cylinder small displacement, theAustin A-Series. Also famous for its unmistakable green paint, the English 4-cylinder was born in 1951 “welcomed” under the sweet lines of the very small Morris A30. It then found its place under the beautiful Morris Minor in 1953, but it was then in 1959 that it found space under the hood of the car that handed it over to the legend: the MINI.
The love story between MINI and Austin Serie A was indissoluble: for 41 years, from 1959 to 2000, there was no MINI without the Serie A. A small, very small engine, but capable of pushing hard thanks to the featherweight of less than 800 kg. First in the 850 cm3 version and then available with two displacements that have made the history of MINI: 999 and 1275. These two numbers evoke the whole history of the little Englishman made up of city, glamor, but also sportiness, rallies and victories on the track and Monte Carlo with the revised and corrected versions by John Cooper.
The compactness and responsiveness of the A Series were emphasized to perfection by the MINI of Alec Issigonis, which with its light weight and hilarious driving, consign it to history. So much so that the latest MINI produced, the October 2 2000, still fitted the 1275 HP 63, 49 years after the first time. An engine that then found its place also on other British cars such as Austin A35, Metro, Montego, Allegro and even on an Italian, the Innocenti Nuova MINI. But that's also a story for another day.
The podium of the longest-lived engines: 3ª Rolls-Royce L-Series, 1959-2020, 61 years
The third position is conquered by an engine that just a few months ago had to say goodbye to us. On this tour, however, we must say goodbye to the 4 cylinders, all heart and practicality, and jump into the world of unbridled luxury, with the Rolls-Royce L-Series.
This V8 was born in 1959 with only one purpose: to offer Rolls-Royce customers the maximum comfort and the pleasure of traveling. This L-Series was therefore born to be elastic, fluid, silent and ... adequate. Yes, because for decades we have never known power and torque, defined precisely as “adequate”. What we do know, however, is that it went down in history as a 6.75 liters, also known as "Six and three quarters liters", and who finished his career in November on ... Bentley Mulsanne.
For the uninitiated, in fact, for decades Rolls-Royce and Bentley have been "sisters”, And they also shared the 6 and ¾ V8. Its calibration was sportier on the Bentleys, more mellow and fluid on the Rolls. In the early 2000s, however, Bentley and Rolls-Royce "split" after a very long negotiation. Bentley was bought by Volkswagen, spun off from its "sister" Rolls-Royce. The latter instead went to BMW, which had already been collaborating with both manufacturers for some years allowing the use of its V8 and V12 engines, which since 1997 sent the 6 and three quarters into "early retirement". while Bentley to Volkswagen.
After a couple of years of "momentary abandonment" for the BMW V8s, the V8 returned in 2000 on Arnage, now equipped with two turbos and lots of power and torque. Lots of couple. So this dinosaur arrived intact into 2020, indeed offering more power and torque than ever: 537 hp and 1100 Nm of torque. After 61 years of life however, with the departure of Mulsanne we must say goodbye to the V8 Rolls, which after a troubled life will enjoy a well-deserved rest.
2nd position: Volkswagen Type-1, 1938-2003, 64 years old
In second place we find an engine so multifaceted that it has been used on cars, motorcycles, boats, planes and even generators: the Boxer Volkswagen Type-1. This is arguably the oldest engine on the list. The date of birth says in fact 1938, born together with the KdF-Wagen, the Beetle.
The Beetle was in fact born from the genius of Ferdinand Porsche, who for his “Käfer” conceived an air-cooled 4-cylinder opposed petrol engine. One engine easy, in need of very little maintenance and capable of functioning in the most extreme conditions.
The Volkswagen boxer has never been a monster of power, but thanks to his infallible reliability and its incredible ease of maintenance he has become a life partner for millions of people. It was born as a small 1.0 liter, and then moved on to 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 up to 1.6. With this displacement and about 70 hp ended his career in 2003 under the bonnet, strictly rear, of the last Beetle produced.
Its advantages, however, do not stop only in its reliability and ease of maintenance. Thanks to the "big" displacement, the Volkswagen boxer is able to push the Beetle well and also all the vans derived from it such as the Type 1, T2 and T3. Furthermore, from this engine was born the first Porsche, the 356, and again from this simple 4-cylinder two Porsches were born in the 60s and 70s, the 912 and 914. In short: after a career of 64 years, the Volkswagen boxer is still very popular all over the world.
1st position: Chevrolet Small Block, 1955-present, 65 years old. The king of the longest-lived engines.
And the winner of the contest among the longest-running engines in the history of the car goes to ... Chevrolet Small Block! Party! Jubilation throughout the kingdom! The record for this incredible V8 engine is almost impossible to beat. 1955 from today it has always been present under the hood of at least one Chevrolet or General Motors car.
We are talking about 65 years of history, which continues as it is still in production on the all-new Corvette C8, and beyond. And we are not talking about such an innovative engine. Think still uses one today distribution to rods and rockers, a technology that has been abandoned for decades by almost all other manufacturers.
Chevrolet, however, does not want to abandon its Small Block: in 1955 on the first Corvette, a crazy engine made its debut. Lightweight, modern, powerful, full of torque at the bottom and very reliable. These characteristics have made it an incredibly versatile engine. It was located under the hood of the Taxi, of police cars, gods vans and of the vans, of the large luxury cars such as Chevy Impala or Oldsmobile Cutlass, as well as under the former Muscle car like Chevy Camaro or Chevelle. It is also very popular on the boats, where it is used as a charismatic outboard.
The Small Block V8 was then revised in 2004, with cast iron or aluminum block depending on the power and various improvements, but the important things remained intact. V8 with 90 ° angle, distribution to rods and rocker arms, strictly aspirated, from 5.7 liters upwards. At its debut, the Corvette C8's Small Block V1 produced just over 150 horsepower. Today, however, the most powerful Small Block we saw it on Corvette C7 ZR1: 755 CV. This engine has also found its way under the hood of cars all over the world. Cars Australian, like the incredible Holden Commodore HSV, English, like Jensen Interceptor and even , like the Iso Grifo.
However, his house will always be one: the Corvette. And even if on the new C8 now in a mid-rear position, the Small Block has not yet been abandoned by the American Supercar. And we are sure that, if possible, it never will.
The longest running engines ever: would you like to see other rankings?
And even today we have reached the end: these are the 10 most enduring engines in the history of the car. Incredible, historic engines that give emotions to anyone who loves four wheels. My favorite? Maybe the Jaguar XK: its sound and its absurd story make it incredibly fascinating. And yours? Let us know on our social channels.
Would you like to see other charts on the history of the car? We await your answers, meanwhile, see you next week for a new Auto For Dummies article. Where? But always here, on Tech Princess, of course!
