Unknown FORD V8 engine

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by ajmac

French flatheads are well known for being a strong block casting, but I am not sure at which point Ford France moved to the improved blocks which were used up to the end of flathead engine production and spare production in the 70's.

The most widely-known "French Flathead" engines which have seen a bit of a fabled cult following in the States are the SIMCA V8s that were fitted to the SUMB trucks. These are a very different design to the US/Can/UK built Flatheads in that they are a latter-day redesign that incorporates a hybrid of features from the "classic" pre-war design and the 8BA design of the 50's. Some weak points have been improved upon by the SIMCA engineers, and modern ideas applied. If you were to be honest, SIMCA is not technically Ford France, and could even have claim to be called "Chrysler France"

Not to detract from the Matford engine, but it does not feature those improvements and is a more faithful copy of the original engine, warts and all.