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27-564: Packard's first eight-cylinder engine was introduced as the Single Eight with two wheelbases offered in 136 in (3,500 mm) and 143 in (3,600 mm), while sharing a naming convention with the junior Single Six. Starting in 1928, new naming conventions were offered; the Standard Eight and the more opulent Custom Eight , the De Luxe Eight , was introduced in 1929 and in 1930

54-535: A T-head four-cylinder in-line motorcycle engine in the 1920s. Packard Station Sedan The Packard Station Sedan was a luxury station wagon model produced by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1948 and 1950, using the reintroduced Packard Eight platform. By offering the Station Sedan Packard could market a vehicle with station wagon attributes, but without

81-399: A commonly called ponton appearance. Flathead engine A flathead engine , also known as a sidevalve engine or valve-in-block engine , is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block , instead of in the cylinder head , as in an overhead valve engine . Flatheads were widely used internationally by automobile manufacturers from

108-539: A particular car, the Station Sedan used a steel subframe and steel passenger doors onto which hard wood panels were mounted. The only wooden door on the vehicle was the rear gate assembly. Unlike competitor station wagons from Buick, Chrysler and Mercury, the Packard's length was not long enough to accommodate optional third row seating. Neither a sedan, nor true station wagon, the Station Sedan enjoyed limited success, with

135-449: A sidevalve engine are poor gas flow, poor combustion chamber shape, and low compression ratio, all of which result in a low-revving engine with low power output and low efficiency. Because sidevalve engines do not burn the fuel efficiently, they suffer from high hydrocarbon emissions. Sidevalve engines can only be used for engines operating on the Otto principle . The combustion chamber shape

162-440: A system of dash-adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers . The Eight also featured automatic chassis lubrication and "shatterproof" glass. The Eight was available on a variety of wheelbases : 127.5 in (3,240 mm) and 134.5 in (3,420 mm) for the 1930 Standard Eight, 140 in (3,600 mm) and 145.5 in (3,700 mm) for the 1930 De Luxe Eight, 130 in (3,300 mm) and 137 in (3,500 mm) for

189-660: A very rare swivel accelerator pedal, patented by Pat Au back in the early 1900s. Production of the De Luxe Eight was less than ten per day. It was available in eleven body styles. In 1930, the Eight was factory priced between US$ 2425 ($ 44,230 in 2023 dollars ) and US$ 2885 for the Standard Eight, US$ 3190 to US$ 3885 for the Custom Eight, and US$ 4585 to US$ 5350 ($ 97,579 in 2023 dollars ). In 1932, prices ranged from US$ 2250 to US$ 3250 for

216-502: Is not above the piston (as in an OHV (overhead valve) engine) but to the side, above the valves. The spark plug may be sited over the piston (as in an OHV engine) or above the valves; but aircraft designs with two plugs per cylinder may use either or both positions. "Pop-up pistons" may be used with compatible heads to increase compression ratio and improve the combustion chamber's shape to prevent knocking . "Pop-up" pistons are so called because, at top dead centre , they protrude above

243-510: Is true for V-type flathead engines but less of an issue for inline engines which typically have the intake and exhaust ports on the same side of the engine block.) Although a sidevalve engine can safely operate at high speed, its volumetric efficiency swiftly deteriorates, so that high power outputs are not feasible at speed. High volumetric efficiency was less important for early cars because their engines rarely sustained extended high speeds, but designers seeking higher power outputs had to abandon

270-431: Is unsuitable for Diesel engines , which require a high compression ratio for ignition to occur. In a sidevalve engine, intake and exhaust gases follow a circuitous route, with low volumetric efficiency, or "poor breathing", not least because the exhaust gases interfere with the incoming charge. Because the exhaust follows a lengthy path to leave the engine, there is a tendency for the engine to overheat . (Note: this

297-983: The Ford flathead V8 engine and the Ford Sidevalve engine . Cadillac produced V-16 flathead engines for their Series 90 luxury cars from 1938–1940. Packard produced flathead inline 8-cylinder engines until 1954. Also in the British Morris Eight , and Morris Minor series I. After WWII , flathead designs began to be superseded by OHV (overhead valve) designs. Flatheads were no longer common in cars , but they continued in more rudimentary vehicles such as off-road military Jeeps . In US custom car and hot rod circles, restored examples of early Ford flathead V8s are still seen. The simplicity, lightness, compactness and reliability might seem ideal for an aero-engine , but because of their low efficiency, early flathead engines were deemed unsuitable. Two notable exceptions were

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324-549: The Individual Custom Eight , which were longer wheelbases of the Standard Eight. Period advertisements showed examples with body colored radiator grilles whereas the Standard models had chrome grilles. The 1932 Standard Eight was offered in thirteen body styles. In 1933, base price of the Standard Eight was US$ 2150, and was offered in fourteen body styles. The 1933 De Luxe Eight started at US$ 3350. The five-passenger sedan

351-520: The Speedster was introduced, which was offered with a low-compression aluminum-head L-head inline eight producing 90 bhp (67 kW) (hence the name). Packard ads bragged the engine "floated" on new rubber mounts. Power would be upgraded to 110 hp (82 kW) in 1932 and 120 hp (89 kW) in 1933. The Eight offered optional (no extra cost) four-speed synchromesh transmission . Like other Packards of this era, it featured Ride Control,

378-482: The 1932 Standard Eight. For 1938, the Eight's wheelbase was stretched 7 in (180 mm) over 1937, and the body was also wider. It was advertised as a two-door roadster , two-door convertible & two-door convertible Victoria (both new for 1932), phaeton , four-door dual-cowl phaeton & Sport Phaeton (a four-door four-seat dual-cowl phaeton new in 1932) two-door coupé , four-door sedan , landau , town car , and limousine . The Packard eight utilized

405-480: The 740 Custom Eight's. It differs in valve and manifold revisions, a Detroit Lubricator dual updraft carburetor, a vacuum booster pump and a ribbed exhaust manifold. The engine delivers 145 HP (740: 106 HP) @3400 RPM without increase in bore or stroke, which remain at 3½ x 5 in. Retail prices started at US$ 5,200 ($ 94,843 in 2023 dollars ) for the Boattail Speedster, Runabout Speedster and Phaeton Speedster, while

432-804: The American Aeronca E-107 opposed twin aero engine of 1930 and the Continental A40 flat four of 1931, which became one of the most popular light aircraft engines of the 1930s. Two modern flatheads are the Belgian D-Motor flat-fours and flat-sixes . These are extremely oversquare and compact aero-engines with direct drive to a propeller. Flathead designs have been used on a number of early pre-war motorcycles, in particular US V-twins such as Harley-Davidson and Indian , some British singles, BMW flat twins and Russian copies thereof. The Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company produced

459-469: The Standard Eight, while the De Luxe Eight started at US$ 3150 ($ 57,453 in 2023 dollars ). The Packard Speedster Eight Model 734 was a performance-oriented passenger car line by the Packard Motor Car Company offered for the 1930 model year (7th series) only. Based on a heavily modified Standard Eight (733) chassis, it got narrower and lower coachwork. The 734 straight eight engine is derived from

486-678: The Victoria Speedster and Sedan Speedster went for US$ 6,000 ($ 109,434 in 2023 dollars ). Speedster Eights have four instead of three speeds, and the customer could choose from several rear end ratios at no extra cost. 734 models have their parking lights mounted on the fenders, not on the body like Standard Eights. They also feature senior car's hoods with for ventilation door. Only 113 cars were built. Available 734 Speedster Eight models include: Body style #422 Boattail Roadster Body style #443 Sedan Body style #445 Phaeton Body style #447 Victoria Body style #452 Runabout In 1931, Packard introduced

513-551: The combustion chamber, thus increasing torque, especially at low rpm. Better mixing of the fuel/air charge improves combustion and helps to prevent knocking. An advance in flathead technology resulted from experimentation in the 1920s by Sir Harry Ricardo , who improved their efficiency after studying the gas-flow characteristics of sidevalve engines. The difficulty in designing a high-compression-ratio flathead means that most tend to be spark-ignition designs, and flathead diesels are virtually unknown. The sidevalve arrangement

540-419: The investment cost associated with a complete station wagon development program. The Station Sedan used a combination of steel framing and body parts along with structural wood panels made from northern birch to create a " woody " station wagon-like car due to the growing popularity of them after World War II. Unlike other woody wagons of the day, which used wooden passenger compartments mounted to chassis of

567-473: The late 1890s until the mid-1960s but were replaced by more efficient overhead valve and overhead camshaft engines . They are currently experiencing a revival in low-revving aero-engines such as the D-Motor . The valve gear comprises a camshaft sited low in the cylinder block which operates the poppet valves via tappets and short pushrods (or sometimes with no pushrods at all). The flathead system obviates

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594-429: The need for further valvetrain components such as lengthy pushrods, rocker arms, overhead valves or overhead camshafts . The sidevalves are typically adjacent, sited on one side of the cylinder(s), though some flatheads employ the less common "crossflow" "T-head" variant. In a T-head engine, the exhaust gases leave on the opposite side of the cylinder from the intake valve. The sidevalve engine's combustion chamber

621-434: The piston gets very close to the flat portion of the cylinder head above, and the resultant squish turbulence produces excellent fuel/air mixing. A feature of the sidevalve design (particularly beneficial for an aero-engine) is that if a valve should seize in its guide and remain partially open, the piston would not be damaged, and the engine would continue operating safely on its other cylinders. The main disadvantages of

648-553: The sidevalve. A compromise used by the Willys Jeep , Rover , Land Rover , and Rolls-Royce in the 1950s was the "F-head" (or "intake-over-exhaust" valving), which has one sidevalve and one overhead valve per cylinder. The flathead's elongated combustion chamber is prone to preignition (or "knocking") if compression ratio is increased, but improvements such as laser ignition or microwave enhanced ignition might help prevent knocking. Turbulence grooves may increase swirl inside

675-687: The top of the cylinder block. The advantages of a sidevalve engine include: simplicity, reliability, low part count, low cost, low weight, compactness, responsive low-speed power, low mechanical engine noise, and insensitivity to low-octane fuel. The absence of a complicated valvetrain allows a compact engine that is cheap to manufacture, since the cylinder head may be little more than a simple metal casting. These advantages explain why side valve engines were used for passenger cars for many years, while OHV designs came to be specified only for high-performance applications such as aircraft , luxury cars , sports cars , and some motorcycles . At top dead centre,

702-526: Was Packard's best-selling model for years. This helped Packard become the best-selling luxury brand between 1924 and 1930, as well as selling almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced over US$ 2000. When Packard reintroduced the Packard Eight, they also introduced the Packard Station Sedan to offer a popular "woodie" appearance starting in 1948 with the modified body style, then adopting

729-526: Was especially common in the United States and used for motor vehicle engines, even for engines with high specific power output. Sidevalve designs are still common for many small single-cylinder or twin-cylinder engines, such as lawnmowers , rotavators , two-wheel tractors and other basic farm machinery . Multicylinder flathead engines were used for cars such as the Ford Model T and Ford Model A ,

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