From the desk of Daniel “Pinecone” Verona

Do you ever wonder how your vehicle uses fuel to move? Contrary to popular belief, motion is not achieved by the friction of fuel being injected onto the tires’ surface. Research has proven that it is in fact due to a combustion-rotation unit stored somewhere in the car. These mysterious devices are known by scientists as “engines”. They vary greatly in form and function, here are five of them.

1. Fiat TheParallelTwinAir

Downsizing! That’s good for a facade of sustainability! That’s good for business! You there, take that 4-cylinder and downsize it! I don’t care if it doesn’t work!

The fact that Fiat decided, after so many decades, to return to their 2-cylinder roots is actually quite interesting. The 900cc TwinAir engine debuted in 2010 for the Fiat 500, and was later expanded to other models. Even with the holy combination of boost + small displacement, it doesn’t make sportbike power numbers, and it doesn’t rev high. Perhaps its only notable feature is the fact that it exists at all.

900cc inline-2 / turbo DOHC 8V / 85 HP @ 5500 RPM

2. Pontiac Turbo 301

Kickstart my heart and turbocharge my fuel crisis. What a contraption this was.

While the malaise era was in full swing, Pontiac’s iconic 400 V8 had reached its point of retirement, making only 220 HP from 6.6 liters of American iron. But in less than two years, GM engineers had come up with quite the replacement for the Firebird and Trans Am models. Following the path of the Buick T-Type, a turbocharger was mounted to the top of the intake manifold with a draw-through Quadrajet carburetor. There are clear reasons why such setups are not often replicated, but the boosted bird made power nearly exceeding the choked-out big blocks. These engines gained little notoriety, and we may never know their true limits. As standards grew ever stricter, the turbo V8 platform and all its wasted potential was succeeded by the GM Iron Duke 4-cylinder, a series best known for its near-complete lack of positive traits.

4.9L V8 / turbo OHV 8V / 210 HP @ 4000 RPM

3. Cheap Price 350hp Weichai Marine Diesel Engine WD12C350-18

Are you looking for a heavy duty engine, but don’t want to spend Cummins money OR have access to aftermarket parts? Well it looks like Weichai / Vovag Power and Manufacturing Plant / Construction Works is your place to go!

This large-displacement boat anchor is made from the finest blend of unidentified metals and guarantees dozens of hours of trouble-free runtime. Also included is a gearbox of unknown properties for marine applications.

11.5L inline-6 / turbo OHV 12V / 350 HP @ 1800 RPM

4. Napier Lion

Nothing sparks innovation quite like WAR.

Remember the war?

Napier remembers the war. This extremely British company was contracted during World War 1 to build aircraft engines, which they continued to do for many years with extreme prowess. Their designs became extremely outlandish over time (e.g. the sleeve valve diesel H-24 Sabre engine), but perhaps this all began with the Lion series. Produced from the early 1910s to the 1930s, the Lions were all broad-arrow style W12 engines with dual overhead cams per bank. They were used in aircraft and marine applications, both N/A and supercharged, and eventually found their way into the cars of individuals with the daring-do to try such things.

The Lion’s power ratings more than doubled over its production run, and was further tuned for racing applications. This was the engine that propelled Henry Segrave’s Golden Arrow to over 230 MPH in 1929, also seeing use in the Bluebird and Napier Railton land speed racers.

24.0L triple-bank W12 / supercharged DOHC 48V / peak 1350 HP @ 3600RPM

5. Harbor Freight Predator 212

For any of you not yet indoctrinated into the world of go karts and minibikes, this is a Chevrolet LS engine. Like this ubiquitous V8, the 212 seems to end up in every build that needs easy, cheap, and reliable power.

Metal quality? Questionable. Tolerances? Variable. Price? $99 with an expired coupon at your local Harbor Freight. At its root, the 212 is a shameless clone of the Honda GX200, which allows every proud owner to tap into a nearly unlimited supply of aftermarket go-fast parts. And strangely, some small block Predators are manufactured with HEMI cylinder heads, differentiated only by the shape of the valve cover. Both versions are extremely stout despite their questionable price and build quality, commonly being able to produce triple their stock power at double the RPM. I have owned one myself, having ridden with it for many months, and it held up as well as the Honda it replaced.

212cc single-cylinder / OHV 2V / 6.5 HP @ 3600 RPM