Re: Pontiac overhead cam

[George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>]

It was 1966, and it first showed-up on a Firebird, I believe. At the 
time, GM was heralding the design as a breakthrough due to the first 
use of the now ubiquitous toothed "Gilmer Belt" to drive the OHC. Most 
people to this day believe that it was a GM invention, but it's not. 
Fiat used it first in around 1964, but I don't remember the model it 
was used on.

Anyway, Road & Track called that Firebird the American XKE. I drove 
one. It wasn't even an American XK120, much less an XKE.


George Graves
'86 GTV-6

On Friday, November 22, 2002, at 09:19  AM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 10:04:22 -0500
> From: "Watry, Andrew (LNG-SFR)" <Andrew.Watry@domain.elided>
> Subject: Pontiac overhead cam
>
> The Pontiac overhead cam engine was an SOHC engine, not DOHC.  I want 
> to say
> 1965ish is when it was introduced (in the Le Mans?), but my reference
> magazines are at home and I am at work.   I don't think it was a raging
> success.
> For their own inscrutable reasons, Car and Driver's editors dumped one 
> of
> those engines into a Jaguar XKE in place of the twin-cam Jag engine in 
> the
> late 60s or early 70s and then tested it on a drag strip.
>
> Andrew Watry
> Berlina Register
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