Australian V8 Engines
Holden, including its performance vehicle operations Holden Racing Team and Holden Special Vehicles, have been manufacturing V8 performance vehicles since the late 1960s, as has Ford Australia. The performance arm of Ford Australia, Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV), have recently resurged in the market with the new Falcon BA and BF based models, and the brand new FG series.
The Australian V8 is typically an American-manufactured block from either Ford, Chrysler or General Motors yet often uses local heads and auxiliary systems (pistons, exhaust etc.). However, there are a couple of exceptions to this — the Holden V8 engine small block V8, and the British Leyland alloy small-block V8.
The Holden small-block V8 was an all Australian designed and manufactured cast-iron 90° pushrod OHV engine, manufactured in the capacities of 4.2 L (253 CID), 5.0 L (308 CID), later destroked to 304 CID), and 5.7 L (350 CID — Produced by Holden Special Vehicles, never actually built as a 'production' motor). First introduced in 1969, finally ceasing production in 1999, it powered a variety of Holden vehicles including the Kingswood, Monaro, Torana and Commodore, and proved to be a popular and successful powerplant in Australian motorsport (especially Touring cars).
The British Leyland small block V8 was also a pushrod OHV engine, however it was an all alloy block like the American Buick/British Rover V8 it was based on. The stroke was increased to give it a capacity of 4.4 L (270 cu in). The motor was originally designed and fitted to the Leyland P76 sedan.
Currently, the only V8 produced in Australia is the 5.0L V8 built by FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) to power the Falcon GT — this motor is a combination of US-sourced and locally manufactured parts. The V8 used in current Holdens is sourced complete from GM in Canada, modified versions of the GM LS-series engine.
When U.S. production of the Cleveland V8 range ceased in the early 1970s, the tooling was moved to Australia where Ford Australia continued to produce a local version of the 351 and a unique-to-Australia 302 Cleveland. The Australian-built motors were also sold to De Tomaso to be used in the Pantera and Longchamps. Australian production ceased in 1982, with the last Cleveland-powered Falcon being the XE range (1400-odd 302s and 409 351s). The location of the Cleveland tooling is unknown although it was possibly broken up.
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