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49-602: The Rolls-Royce Meteorite , also known as the Rover Meteorite , was a post-war British 18.01 L (1,099 cu in) V8 petrol or diesel engine was derived from the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine. In 1940 William Robotham who led a chassis design and development division at Clan Foundry, Belper , and Henry Spurrier a director Leyland Motors , began investigating the use of Rolls-Royce aero engines as tank power-plants. Both men felt that continued use of

98-425: A (4.0" bore × 3 13 ⁄ 64 " stroke = 322 in³ (5.277 L)) V8 in 1953, with similar displacement as their (3 7 ⁄ 16 " bore × 4 5 ⁄ 16 " stroke = 320.2 in³ (5.247 L)) straight-8, the latter being produced until the end of the 1953 model year. Pontiac maintained production on their straight-eight, as well as a L-head inline six, through the end of the 1954 model year, after which

147-526: A V8 became standard. Packard ended production of their signature straight-eight at the end of 1954, replacing it with an overhead valve V8. By the end of the 1970s overhead valve V8s powered 80% of automobiles built in the US, and most of the rest had six-cylinder engines. In Europe, many automobile factories had been destroyed during World War II, and it took many years before war-devastated economies recovered enough to make large cars popular again. The change in

196-457: A full-scale nuclear exchange was simply impossible as the destruction on both sides would be insurmountable. Towards the end of the Cold War, a period of détente culminated in the easing of tensions, bans on nuclear testing, and the destruction of various quantities of nuclear stockpiles. The Cold War began to come to an end in 1989 with the overthrow of Communist governments across Eastern Europe in

245-602: A report that detailed serious neglect of the engines, including being driven too fast and sometimes being operated without any oil or coolant, a rigorous maintenance schedule was introduced and reliability was restored. The first version of the Antar operated by the British Army, the Antar Mk 1 (designated FV12001), was a tank transporter powered by the twin- carburettor Mk 204 petrol Meteorite. Designed to operate on 68/70 octane petrol,

294-454: A result, the design has been displaced almost completely by the shorter V8 engine configuration. The first straight-eight was conceived by Charron, Girardot et Voigt (CGV) in 1903, but never built. Great strides were made during World War I , as Mercedes made straight-eight aircraft engines like the Mercedes D.IV . Advantages of the straight-eight engine for aircraft applications included

343-463: A six-year gap in the middle caused by the war). By 1951, their 1.5 L supercharged engines could produce 425 bhp (317 kW) at 9,300 rpm, and could rev as high as 10,500 rpm. However, the engines were at the end of their potential, and rule changes for the 1952 season made the Alfettas obsolete. Mercedes-Benz would create the last notable straight-eight racing cars in 1955, with

392-440: A war between the same parties resumes at a later date (such as the period between World War I and World War II). By contrast, a post-war period marks the cessation of armed conflict entirely. The term "post-war" can have different meanings in different countries and refer to a period determined by local considerations based on the effect of the war there. Some examples of post-war events are in chronological order: The Cold War

441-463: Is sufficient to require the use of a harmonic damper at the accessory end of the crankshaft. Without such damping, fatigue cracking near the rear main bearing journal may occur, leading to engine failure. Although an inline six -cylinder engine can also be timed for inherent primary and secondary balance, a straight-eight develops more power strokes per revolution and, as a result, will run more smoothly under load than an inline six. Also, due to

490-574: The Centurion ARV, and various Dennis fire engines. Despite the shortcomings of length, weight, bearing friction, and torsional vibrations that led to the straight-eight's post-war demise, the straight-eight was the performance engine design of choice from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, and continued to excel in motorsport until the mid-1950s. Bugatti, Duesenberg, Alfa Romeo , Mercedes-Benz , and Miller built successful racing cars with high-performance dual overhead camshaft straight-eight engines in

539-579: The Revolutions of 1989 which was followed shortly after by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, leaving the United States the world's sole superpower. On 25 June 1950, after years of tension between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea , North Korea coordinated a series of surprise attacks against strategic points between the 38th parallel. Soon US-led United Nations forces joined

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588-555: The War Office 's preferred Nuffied Liberty to be a retrograde step in the development of British tanks. The Liberty had been designed in 1917 and by this time was only able to produce a maximum power output of 340 horsepower (250 kW). Their requirements were the engine had to fit into the same engine compartment as the Liberty, and their aspiration was it would offer a power-to-weight ratio of 20 horsepower per long ton (15 kW/t) for

637-694: The aerodynamic efficiency of the long, narrow configuration, and the inherent balance of the engine making counterweights on the crankshaft unnecessary. The disadvantages of crank and camshaft twisting were not considered at this time, since aircraft engines of the time ran at low speeds to keep propeller tip speed below the speed of sound. Unlike the V8 engine configuration, examples of which were used in De Dion-Bouton , Scripps-Booth , and Cadillac automobiles by 1914, no straight-eight engines were used in production cars before 1920. Italy's Isotta Fraschini introduced

686-551: The dissolution of the Soviet Union . The 1990s and the 21st century are sometimes described as part of the post-war era, but the more specific phrase " Post–Cold War era " is often appended to distinguish the period running from the fall of Communism up to the present. In Britain, "post-war": Straight-eight engine A straight-eight can be timed for inherent primary and secondary balance , with no unbalanced primary or secondary forces or moments. However, crankshaft torsional vibration , present to some degree in all engines,

735-409: The overhead camshaft , three-valve-per-cylinder engine produced 115 brake horsepower (86  kW ) at 4,250  rpm , and was capable of revving to an astonishing (at the time) 5,000 rpm. No Grand Prix engine before the war had peaked at more than 3,000 rpm. Bugatti experimented with straight-eight engines from 1922, and in 1924, he introduced the 2 L Bugatti Type 35 , one of

784-526: The 1920s and 1930s. The Duesenberg brothers introduced the first successful straight-eight racing engine in 1920, when their 3 L engine placed third, fourth, and sixth at the Indianapolis 500 . The following year one of their cars won the French Grand Prix , while two others placed fourth and sixth in the race. Based on work the company had done on 16-cylinder aircraft engines during World War I ,

833-581: The 1950s, African Americans faced discrimination and segregation throughout the United States, especially in the south where many could not even vote. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. By the end of the 1950s, fewer than 10 percent of Black children in the South were attending integrated schools. The Vietnam War

882-476: The Alvis FV 600 armoured vehicle family. The Alvis Saladin armoured car was a 6x6 design with the engine compartment in the rear, a 76.2mm low pressure gun turret in the centre and the driver in front. The Saracen armoured personnel carrier had the engine in front with the driver in the centre and space for up to nine troops in the rear. The Stalwart amphibious logistics carrier has the driver's compartment over

931-601: The Duesenberg brothers for the Cord-owned Duesenberg Inc. The automobile manufacturers within the Cord Corporation, comprising Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg, were shut down in 1937. Lycoming continues to this day as an aircraft engine manufacturer. In the late 1920s, volume sellers Hudson and Studebaker introduced straight-eight engines for the premium vehicles in their respective lines. They were followed in

980-451: The Imperial luxury model. The British R101 rigid airship was fitted with five Beardmore Tornado Mk I inline eight-cylinder diesel engines. These engines were intended to give an output of 700 bhp (520 kW) at 1,000 rpm but in practice had a continuous output rating of only 585 bhp (436 kW) at 900 rpm. After World War II , changes in the automobile market resulted in

1029-523: The Meteor. The Meteorite's crankcase , cylinder block and cylinder heads were all cast from aluminium alloy . The engine was lubricated from a dry sump , this had the advantage of allowing the engine to be operated at extreme angles without starving for oil. Like the Meteor, originally the Meteorite ran on petrol , but when fitted with CAV indirect-injection equipment and with a higher compression ratio it

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1078-459: The Meteorite Mk 101 diesel which produced 250 bhp (190 kW) at 2,000 rpm . In testing conducted in 1950 at Bagshot Heath , the engine was said to perform extremely well. In practice, when operated by native Syrian drivers who were said to be without any mechanical knowledge and merciless in their operation of the trucks, the engines soon suffered from poor reliability. After Rover compiled

1127-599: The Mk 204 produced 260 bhp (190 kW) at 2000 rpm and 860 ft⋅lbf (1,170 N⋅m) of torque at 1200 rpm. Fuel economy of the Mk 204 Meteorite powering a fully loaded Antar Mk 1 was as little as 1 mile per imperial gallon (0.35 km/L). The Meteorite Mk 204 also powered the Antar Mk 2 (designated FV12002/FV12003), but it was replaced in the Antar Mk 3 from 1961 by a Rolls-Royce 16.2 L (990 cu in) IL8 cylinder supercharged diesel engine which offered improved economy and performance. The Valiant II assault tank

1176-454: The championship-winning W196 Formula One racing car and the 300SLR sports racing car. The 300SLR was famous for Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson 's victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia , but notorious for Pierre Levegh 's deadly accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans . The 300SLR was the final development of the Alfa Romeo design of the early 1930s as not only the camshaft, but now also

1225-648: The decline and final extinction of the straight-eight as an automobile engine. The primary users of the straight-eight were American luxury and premium cars that were carried over from before the war. A Flxible inter-city bus used the Buick straight-eight. During World War II, improvements in the refinery technology used to produce aviation gasoline resulted in the availability of large amounts of inexpensive high octane gasoline. Engines could be designed with higher compression ratios to take advantage of high-octane gasoline. This led to more highly stressed engines which amplified

1274-554: The design of cars from a long engine compartment between separate fenders to the modern configuration with its shorter engine compartment quickly led to the demise of the straight-8 engine. As a result of this, and of gasoline prices several times as expensive as in the U.S., four- and six-cylinder engines powered the majority of cars in Europe, and the few eight-cylinder cars produced were in the V8 configuration. The British Army selected Rolls-Royce B80 series of straight-eight engines in

1323-591: The early 1930s by Nash (with a dual-ignition unit), REO , and the Buick , Oldsmobile , and Pontiac divisions of General Motors . The Buick straight-eight was an overhead valve design, while the Oldsmobile straight-8 and Pontiac straight-8 straight-eights were flathead engines . Chevrolet, as an entry-level marque, did not have a straight-eight. Cadillac, the luxury brand of General Motors, stayed with their traditional V8 engines. In order to have engines as smooth as

1372-434: The even number of power strokes per revolution, a straight-eight does not produce unpleasant odd-order harmonic vibration in the vehicle's driveline at low engine speeds. The smooth running characteristics of the straight-eight made it popular in luxury and racing cars of the past. However, the engine's length demanded the use of a long engine compartment, making the basic design unacceptable in modern vehicles. Also, due to

1421-865: The first production automobile straight-eight in their Tipo 8 at the Paris Salon in 1919 Leyland Motors introduced their OHC straight-eight powered Leyland Eight luxury car at the International Motor Exhibition at Olympia, London in 1920. The Duesenberg brothers introduced their first production straight-eight in 1921. Straight-eight engines were used in expensive luxury and performance vehicles until after World War II. Bugattis and Duesenbergs commonly used double overhead cam straight-eight engines. Other notable straight-eight-powered automobiles were built by Daimler , Mercedes-Benz , Isotta Fraschini , Alfa Romeo , Stutz , Stearns-Knight and Packard . One marketing feature of these engines

1470-486: The first to react to the engineering problems of the straight-eight: in their racing car engines for the P2 and P3 and in their Alfa Romeo 8C 2300/2600/2900 sports cars of Mille Miglia and Le Mans fame the camshaft drive had been moved to the engine centre, between cylinders four and five, thus reducing the aforementioned limitations. The straight-eight was actually built as a symmetrical pair of straight-four engines joined in

1519-508: The front wheels, the larger B81 engine in the rear and a large load compartment over the middle and rear. The Salamander firefighting vehicle was unarmoured, and resembled the Stalwart with a conventional fire engine superstructure. The Rolls-Royce B80 series of engines were also used in other military and civilian applications, such as the Leyland Martian military truck, the winch engine in

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1568-416: The height of the cold war, both superpowers manufactured and deployed thousands of nuclear weapons to target each other's key economic, military, and political centers. Each superpower's buildup and demonstration of nuclear strike capabilities lead to an unofficial military doctrine known as mutual assured destruction (MAD). The doctrine of MAD prompted leaders on both sides to believe that victory following

1617-413: The length of the engine, torsional vibration in both crankshaft and camshaft can adversely affect reliability and performance at high speeds. In particular, a phenomenon referred to as "crankshaft whip," caused by the effects of centrifugal force on the crank throws at high engine rpm , can cause physical contact between the connecting rods and crankcase walls, leading to the engine's destruction. As

1666-412: The limitations of the long crankshaft and camshaft in the straight-eight engines. Oldsmobile replaced their straight-eight flathead engine with an overhead valve V8 engine in 1949, at which time Cadillac's V8 was changed to one with overhead valves. Chrysler replaced its straight-eight with its famous Hemi V-8 for 1951. Hudson retired its straight-eight at the end of the 1952 model year. Buick introduced

1715-485: The middle at common gear trains for the camshafts and superchargers. It had two overhead camshafts, but only two valves per cylinder. The Alfa Romeo straight-eight would return after World War II to dominate the first season of Formula One racing in 1950, and to win the second season against competition from Ferrari 's V12-powered car in 1951. The Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta was originally designed in 1937 and won 47 of 54 Grands Prix entered between 1938 and 1951 (with

1764-507: The middle class. Engine manufacturer Lycoming built straight-eight engines for sale to automobile manufacturers, including Gardner, Auburn, Kissel, and Locomobile . Hupmobile built their own engine. Lycoming was purchased by Auburn owner Errett Lobban Cord , who used a Lycoming straight-eight in his front-drive Cord L-29 automobile, and had Lycoming build the straight-eight engine for the Duesenberg Model J , which had been designed by

1813-611: The most successful racing cars of all time, which eventually won over 1000 races. Like the Duesenbergs, Bugatti got his ideas from building aircraft engines during World War I, and like them, his engine was a high-revving overhead camshaft unit with three valves per cylinder. It produced 100 bhp (75 kW) at 5,000 rpm and could be revved to over 6,000 rpm. Nearly 400 of the Type 35 and its derivatives were produced, an all-time record for Grand Prix motor racing . Alfa Romeo were

1862-559: The proposed British tank designs. Initially Robotham and Spurrier investigated the use of a naturally aspirated version of the Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine. The Kestrel presented a number of advantages, it was not in great demand by the Royal Air Force and it occupied less space than the Liberty, although bench tests showed it would fall short of their desire power requirements. The next engine investigated by Robotham and Spurrier

1911-467: The straight-eights of its competitors, Cadillac introduced the crossplane crankshaft for its V8 , and added V12 and V16 engines to the top of its lineup. Ford never adopted the straight-eight; their entry-level Ford cars used flathead V8 engines until the 1950s while their Lincoln luxury cars used V8 from the 1930s to the 1980s and V12 engines in the 1930s and 1940s. Chrysler used flathead straight-eights in its premium Chrysler cars, including

1960-469: The war on behalf of South Korea, expelled the North Korean invasion, and then invaded and nearly captured North Korea. In response, Chinese forces entered the war on behalf of North Korea and pushed the US, South Korean, and UN forces back to the 38th parallel. After 3 years of advances and retreats nearly five million people died. To this very day there are still border disputes between the two Koreas. In

2009-481: The war, Rover wanted to develop a range of heavy duty engines using common parts, so they devised the Meteorite by removing four cylinders from the Meteor. Meteorites were produced alongside Meteors in Rover's Ministry of Supply factory at Acocks Green . The Meteorite was a 18.019 L (1,100 cu in) V-8 engine. It retained the 60° V and 5.4 in (140 mm) bore and 6.0 in (150 mm) stroke of

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2058-574: Was a geopolitical conflict between the capitalist and liberal "democratic" United States , the authoritarian and Communist Marxist–Leninist Soviet Union , and their respective allies: NATO and the Western Bloc for the United States, and the Warsaw Pact and the Eastern Bloc for the Soviet Union. Although both sides did not fight each other directly, both engaged through various proxy wars. At

2107-527: Was a modified version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin , which had the same displacement as the Liberty, due to its different bore and stroke it was more compact. This was to become the Rolls-Royce Meteor which went on to power the Cromwell tank . In 1943 design and production leadership responsibilities for the Meteor were transferred to Morris and at the end of the war, all Meteors were produced by Morris. After

2156-597: Was converted into a diesel engine . Diesel versions were fitted with a flame heater to permit starting in cold conditions. The Meteorite is principally remembered for powering earlier versions of the Thornycroft Antar . The prototype Antar produced in 1949, and the first production Antars produced from 1950, were built for operation in the Middle East by the Iraq Petroleum Company . These trucks were powered by

2205-671: Was fought between the communist North Vietnam supported by the Soviet Union, China , and the Eastern Bloc and China and South Vietnam supported by the United States and SEATO . This war is especially brutal due to North Vietnamese regular forces and Viet Cong insurgents in South Vietnam adapting to guerrilla fighting and ambush tactics against the South Vietnamese military and the United States Armed Forces . Vietnam

2254-428: Was one of the first wars to be broadcast to television . Many American civilians and soldiers were opposed to the war due to the condition and many thought the war was pointless. Finally after many protests the United States slowly withdrew from Vietnam due to public backlash. Considering the post-war era as equivalent to the Cold War era, post-war sometimes includes the 1980s, putting the end at 26 December 1991, with

2303-518: Was powered by a 498 bhp (371 kW) petrol Rover Meteorite Mk 202A. The two Leyland FV1200 series FV1201 heavy artillery tractor prototypes produced in 1953 were each powered by 510 bhp (380 kW) petrol Rover Meteorite. Post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war . The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II , which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, when

2352-422: Was their impressive length — some of the Duesenberg engines were over 4 ft (1.2 m) long, resulting in the long hoods (bonnets) found on these automobiles. In the United States in the 1920s, automobile manufacturers, including Hupmobile (1925), Chandler (1926), Marmon (1927), Gardner (1925), Kissel (1925), Locomobile (1925) and Auburn (1925) began using straight-eight engines in cars targeted at

2401-567: Was to be powered by a petrol Meteorite of between 400 and 500 hp (300 and 370 kW). In 1947–1948 a powerful land clearing bulldozer was developed at the Fighting Vehicles Proving Establishment for the Tanganyika groundnut scheme . It utilised Centurion tank automotive components and was powered by a Meteorite engine. The single Leyland FV1000 'Brontosaurus' heavy tank transporter prototype produced in 1951

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