The Engines That Powered The Largest Number of Different Cars

There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of an engine.

Fuel economy and performance are among the more obvious, but the opposing qualities of a stirring sound and near-silent running are also worth considering. In this article, we're going to focus on another feature: versatility. This can be defined as the engine's suitability in a wide variety of cars, perhaps produced over a very long period, and in some cases its use in other machines which are not cars at all.

Engines which are dissimilar in almost every other way can be equally versatile. The term applies not only to one of the humblest Fiat engines but to one of the greatest ever produced by Ferrari - and, as we'll soon find out, to other engines which bear little or no resemblance to either of them:

Alfa Romeo Twin Cam

Alfa Romeo has built many four-cylinder engines with double overhead camshafts, any of which could be described as a Twin Cam. However, when people speak of an Alfa Twin Cam they are usually referring to a motor designed by Giuseppe Busso (1913-2006) which first appeared in 1290cc form in the 1954 Alfa Romeo Giulietta (pictured).

The Twin Cam survived well into the 1990s, latterly in turbocharged form. Its capacity was extended as far as 2056cc, but a tiny 896cc version was also used for the Tipo 103 prototype built in 1960.

AMC Straight-6

American Motors Corporation (AMC) brought out a new inline six-cylinder engine in 1964 and used it for models such as the third-generation Rambler Classic and the later AMC Hornet and Gremlin.

Chrysler took full control of the often troubled company in 1987 and continued to use the straight-6 for many years afterwards, for example in the 4.0-liter gasoline version of the second-generation Jeep Cherokee (pictured). After a remarkable career powering very different types of vehicle, the straight-6 was finally discontinued in 2006; its last home was a Jeep Wrangler.

Austin Seven

The little Austin Seven was one of the UK's most popular cars during its production life from 1922 to 1939. Its simple engine powered many production cars, including not only several variants of the Seven but the first ever BMW, which was a Seven built under licence in Germany.

In both naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, the engine brought Austin great success in motor racing. It was also for many years the only permitted engine in the 750 Formula for home-built competition cars. The Formula was later rebuilt around a Reliant engine, which was itself based on the Seven unit.

Bugatti Royale

Bugatti's enormous 12.7-liter eight-cylinder engine of the 1920s was versatile not because many examples were built, but because they were used for such dramatically different purposes.

The engine was intended for the super-luxury Bugatti Royale, which found very few customers even among European monarchies in the 1930s. Only seven of these cars were built, but production of the engine was much higher; it was used to power trains operated by the French National Railway, SNCF, into the mid 1980s.

BMC A-Series

The BMC A-Series made its debut in the 1952 Austin A30 and kept going (latterly in A-Plus form) until the Mini (pictured) was discontinued in 2000. It powered an astonishing number and variety of road and competition cars, of which the Austin Allegro, Metro, MG Midget, Morris 1100/1300 and Wolseley Hornet represent only a very small selection.

ven the full list would be dwarfed by all the cars fitted with A-Series engines by kitcar manufacturers and race car builders. These include several Coopers, the Cox GTM, the Midas, the Peel Viking, the Unipower and the gloriously named Deep Sanderson.

Chevrolet Small Block

Almost every General Motors brand developed its own V8 engine in the second half of the 20th century, but none was produced in such large numbers as the Chevrolet Small Block. Introduced for the 1955 model year Bel Air and Corvette, it spread rapidly throughout GM, powering everything from muscle cars like the Chevrolet Camaro to sedans, pickups and vans.

As a reliable source of relatively cheap power, it was also picked up by other manufacturers including Checker, Gordon-Keeble and Iso, and was used in innumerable competition cars. Well over 100 million examples are believed to have been built. Its final application in a new car was in 2003, in the Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans, though GM will still sell you a ‘crate’ engine to revive an older car.

Chrysler Hemi

Three generations of Chrysler V8 engine are known as Hemi, though only the first two have the hemispherical combustion chambers which inspired the name. The earliest was originally known as the FirePower. Although it was produced only in the 1950s, it was used in a great many Chrysler models including the '58 300D (pictured), as well as the Dodge C-Series pickup and the Facel Vega Excellence.

The Hemi found great favour among competition drivers, especially those involved in drag racing. It was also used to power what the Guinness Book of Records states is the loudest siren ever made.

Ferrari Colombo V12

Gioacchino Colombo (1903-1988) designed a 1.5-liter V12 for the first car to wear a Ferrari badge, the 125S racer of 1947. The little engine proved to be extremely adaptable, and was used for many years in capacities of up to 4.9 liters.

The Colombo unit powered a very wide variety of Ferrari models including the Daytona (pictured) and the 250. It remained in production for over forty years, finally bowing out when the 412 was discontinued in 1989.

Fiat 100 Series

The Fiat 600 made its debut in 1955 with a 633cc engine designed by Dante Giacosa (1905-1996). Gradually enlarged to 1050cc, the little motor known as the 100 Series would power an immense number of small Fiats and related vehicles for the remainder of the century.

The 100 Series was used in the Fiat 850, the Fiat 127, the Fiat Panda, the Fiat Cinquecento and Seicento, the Autobianchi A112 and several models produced by SEAT, Yugo and Zastava. Versions tuned by Abarth were available in (relatively) high-performance models.

Ford Flathead

Flathead is both the American equivalent of the British term 'sidevalve' and the nickname of the first mass-market V8 engine, the final piece of engineering spearheaded by Henry Ford himself, and launched in 1932. The Flathead found favour with a wide variety of users. It was fitted to several upmarket Ford and Mercury cars either side of World War II, and to the Universal Carrier tank. Simca developed its own version for cars and military vehicles.

Although it was difficult to tune, the Flathead was cheap and powerful enough to attract the interest of hot rodders in the 1950s. Wealthier enthusiasts could invest in overhead-valve conversions, which turned the engine into a non-flathead Flathead.

Ford Kent

The Kent engine made its debut in the 1959 Ford Anglia and was still being used, in highly developed form, in the Ford Ka of 2002. During that period, it also powered the Capri, Consul, Cortina and Fiesta, as well as models produced by specialist manufacturers including Caterham, Marcos and TVR.

The Kent was also the basis for the Lotus Twin Cam engine and most early Cosworth units, including the celebrated BDA and its derivatives. In its original form, the Kent has been used in nearly every form of motorsport, notably the Formula Ford single-seater racing class introduced in 1967.

Ford Model T

Ford built the Model T at the rate of nearly one million per year from 1908 to 1927. Its simple 2.9-liter four-cylinder engine therefore appeared in an enormous number of cars and related trucks, ambulances, race cars and tractor conversions.

It was also used in boats, a New Zealand railcar and an American single-seat aircraft, and as a stationary engine.

Jaguar XK

Some idea of the six-cylinder Jaguar XK engine's versatility can be gained from the fact that it was used first in the immediately post-War Jaguar XK120 sports car and last in the Daimler DS420 limousine, that stalwart of British funerals and produced until 1992.

From 1948 until 1971 it was Jaguar’s only engine, and therefore appeared in everything from luxury sedans to the Le Mans-winning D-Type. Cooper, HWM, Lister and Tojeiro were among several specialist manufacturers who used the XK to power their race cars. It could also be found in tanks, military reconnaissance vehicles, the Panther J.72 retro sports car and the Dennis D600 fire engine.

Renault Billancourt

Named after the area of Paris where Renault has its global headquarters, the Billancourt engine was developed for Renault's first post-World War II car, the 4CV (known in the UK as the 750).

In capacities from 603cc to 845cc, it powered many small Renaults, and the first Alpine sports cars. It was still being used as late as 1985. The engine is sometimes referred to as the Ventoux, but this name was officially used only for the high-performance version.