Thursday Twister: Name That Car
It is time for a brain teaser for all the car geeks in the audience. Typically the Thursday Twister is a game where we name all the cars with such-n-such a feature, but today I’m going to make it a simple quiz with a single answer. What single make/model automobile, over the span of two model years, was available from the factory with a pushrod inline-4, an overhead cam inline-6, and a V8?
Actually, depending on how you classify model, there might be two make/models that meet this puzzler…maybe more, but you guys will have to figure it out!
The early '60s Pontiac Tempest?
I think the Tempest as well as the 1967-1969 Firebird had the OHC 6 (Sprint 6) and a few V8 varieties, but don't think there was a 4 banger.
The 194ci half-a-326 was sold in the car through…'64? Maybe '65? The OHC six came along in '66.
mrkwong, you are indeed correct, this is one of the answers. The '63 Tempest was available with Trophy 4, and the '64 Tempest could be had with the SOHC 230 inline-6 or V8.
However, there is one more car that also meets these requirements.
-Vince
Was thinking MGB/C/V8, but I guess that was a pushrod 6
ahem…..
[img] oldcaradvertising.com/Cadillac%20&%20LaSalle/1981/1981%20Cadillac%20Ad-04.jpg[/img]
A V8 running on four cylinders is still a V8.
A pushrod V8 running on six cylinders is not an OHC inline-six.
[in my best Foghorn Leghorn voice] Fleetwood T. Brougham, you sir are a genius!
The wife and I had a Mazda MPV that became sentient and converted itself from a V6 to a V4 but that was more of an ignition coil issue.
@mrkwong…….literal much?
BMW E34 5-series?
I think that's right
The M-series 4-banger would have been an overhead cam engine. So, this is NOT that final car I'm looking for.
Another guess: Mercedes G-class?
The BMW E46 3-series was available with an I4, I6, and V8 though I cannot speak to rods and cams and such.
In the late 90s, I believe Land Rover Defender could be had with a BMW M52 I-6 (South Africa), the Rover V8, and a variety of ohv diesel 4 bangers.
smallish car that sometimes came with a big engine… i'm thinking 68-69 Nova?
my other guess was Mustang during the SVO years, but that turbo was OHC
Perhaps the Ford SOHC 4.0L I6, in something from Ford of Australia…
Also —
Toyota Crown/Crown Eight in the 64 – 67 time period. R-series OHV 4/M-series 6/Crown Eight with the V8
w. neff — YES, this is the 2nd car I had in mind! Great work!
Nissan Cedric 130 series. H20 4 /L series 6/ Y series V8.
I had a suspicion that Nissan would have a car that offered the same setup. Another great piece of detective work.
I was thinking something in the Jeep line, but the 8 never made it to the Wrangler, and the 4 that was available in the Wrangler didn't find its way into the Grand Cherokee… I knew that was too easy.
camaro and firebird in one genearation up to 81 with straight 6, v8 and then 82 with 4, 6 and 8??, though the 6 was a v6
I thought that too, but those were definitely V-6's. I had more than 1 chuckle as a teen messing with those 4 cylinder Camarobirds in my girlfriends crusty VW Rabbit…
Hey guys, you're forgetting about the '81-82 Mustang, methinks. I was a green pea on the floor of a F-L-M dealership BITD, they had a lot of 4 cyl 'Stangs, my F&I Mgr had an inline-6 demo, and they were just coming out with the first 5.0 v-8s since the dark days of the Mustang II.
The Fox Mustang did offer an inline 4, inline 6, and V8 simultaneously for a few years (as well as a V6).
It almost matches the game criteria but the 4-cyl was OHC (the Lima 8-valve engine) and the 6-cyl was pushrod, so the opposite configuration from what the game is looking for.
Jeep CJ7, and I think the CJ5 as well.
The Iron Duke, the 258 and the 304.
Close but no cigar. The Iron Duke was indeed a pushrod 4-cylinder, but the AMC 258 inline six was not OHC – it was a pushrod engine as well.
I am impressed. I went immediately to the Tempest, but the other possibilities are cool to think about. I recall how impressed I was that PMD actually built that OHC 6. It looked European and I recall guys in the sports car magazines like R&T and Car and Driver back when they had some great writers and kept my boyhood love for sports cars lit but good.
Still very much lit at 62!
Why did GM kill that engine? Might have been nice to design a smaller sports car to use that engine in.