This is the story of the Ford small block Fairlane V8 engine's rapid
evolution from passenger car engine to highly successful racing engine
and the victories it fueled for years afterwards. Initially, in May
1960, a team of nine engineers, lead by George Stirrat, designed a
lightweight, all cast-iron, compact, reliable and durable power-plant
for passenger cars, but following its introduction in July 1961, Ford's
engineers quickly realized its potential benefits if modified for racing
applications. Within three months, the capacity had been increased from
221ci to 260ci, and by early 1962 Carroll Shelby had fitted a High
Performance 260ci version in his AC Cobra. Subsequently, the original
design team began work on a second capacity increase, to achieve a High
Performance 289ci unit; within three months the standard 289ci became
available. Carroll Shelby went on to win the 1965 World Sports Car
Championship using a HP-289ci. Aluminium block and cylinder head pushrod
versions, designed in late 1962, had been constructed by early 1963, in
preparation for that year's Indianapolis 500, and the DOHC four-valve
per cylinder 255ci raced in the 1964 and 1965 Indy 500, winning the
latter outright. The 302ci replaced the 289ci for the 1968 car model
year and, at Le Mans in 1968 and 1969, GT40 cars won outright using this
variant of the small block. In 1965, 1966 and 1967, HP-289ci-powered
Mustangs won the SCCA B-Production Championship and 1966 and 1967
Trans-Am Championships. A Bud Moore Engineering Boss 302 Mustang won the
1970 Trans-Am Championship. Ford invested much time and expertise into
its racing activities in the 1960s, and there's little doubt that the V8
Small Block engines took the company to the forefront of the racing
world, until it withdrew from the sport in 1970.
