Let us, brothers and sisters, have one last look at the beauty of the internal combustion engine before, like everything else in our lives, it is converted from a magical expression of mechanical engineering into a box of capacitors, circuit boards and wires.
Did you know that inside that big metal thing with the dipstick poking out of it (usually), there are hunks of metal spinning, pumping and rocking madly while a series of controlled explosions ensues? We know. How cool is that?
Pull off the plastic engine cover of most modern engines and you'll see what looks like a nest built by demented robins. Yet, there are still a few car companies that believe in showcasing their engineering instead of just some stylist's ability to conceal the engine. (Possibly our all-time favorite engine cover came from the old Hyundai Tiburon, which had tubelike shapes molded into the cover to suggest the intake runners of a longitudinally arranged engine. The only issue was that the actual engine was a transverse. Truthishness is advertising, that.)
So what if the others have lost faith and might as well have the hoods of their Corollas welded shut. Doesn't mean we can't stand there ogling motors. Enjoy 42 of our favorite engine pictures of our favorite gas-fired internal combustion devices.
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srbluebirr says:
07:16 PM, 02/12/2010
wow! that great looking ride, i alway love nissan 510's.
GT5000 says:
04:33 PM, 12/04/2009
Hey, how'd that fuel cell sneak in there?
davesuton says:
12:00 AM, 12/02/2009
Look under the hood at Chryslers 6.1 Hemi. No junky plastic cover there. All motor. Looks so cool.
debo1091 says:
03:22 PM, 11/29/2009
I never noticed that skull(or what looks like a skull) on the zr1's air intake. Pretty cool
chopperx says:
09:40 AM, 11/29/2009
As others above have said - new cars are ridiculous, coverig the engine with black plastic bits ruins the whole thing.
IMHO, it makes the car's brand look like they are lazy and just want to cover up the engine instead of showing it off.
what's the point ?
rkr says:
03:26 AM, 11/28/2009
More and more all these new cars are beginning to have the same theme. Cover the engine with a large logo. No not the manufacture emblem, but a giant plastic recycling code! Want a beautiful looking engine try an Alfa Romeo. Not the best or most powerful just pure Art.
sd_gtr says:
10:04 PM, 11/27/2009
Thanks Thaitanium 15. After all these years, she still gives me the chills too...haha.
I agree with some on here that many nice motors were excluded.
I was surprised that Edmund's Inside Line featured my motor for this article. There were many nicely done RB26DETT's there that day (EIL: R35 GTR Sneak Peek at Marina Del Rey, CA).
sd_gtr says:
09:59 PM, 11/27/2009
Thanks Thaitanium. She's been giving me the chills for the last 8 years! haha...
I also agree with others here. There are many engines excluded. I was surprised that Edmund's IL picked the pic of my motor over the other skylines that were there (Marina Del Rey R35 GTR sneek peek) that day. I have many friends with very nicely done RB26's too.
stingray454 says:
09:16 AM, 11/27/2009
Some are nice, but some of those have plastic cover disease and shouldn't be on there. Or, they just aren't nice to look at (STi for example).
Two obvious omissions, IMO: 1st generation Ford/Yamaha SHO V-6. Best looking intake runners ever.
1995-1997 Ford/Cosworth 2.5L Duratec V-6 - second best looking intake runners.
texduc says:
07:30 AM, 11/27/2009
Nicely done. That series of photos will make a nice screensaver. Thanks guys.