Vintage Engines: Cadillac

What is also little known today is that the roots of the company evolved from a group of investors who first backed the inventor Henry Ford at the turn of the 20th century in what was called the Henry Ford Company. Interested in maximum profits, they produced some very expensive cars for the period, and ol' Henry left that avenue behind, forming his own Ford Motor Company to fulfill his dream of an inexpensive car for the masses. In 1902, the original financiers stayed with the high end of the market and became Cadillac, and later a major component of William Durant's General Motors Corporation, forever the major competitor of Ford. Cadillac established its reputation early through the suppliers of their precision tooling and won awards for their use of interchangeable parts, precisely built with no hand-fitting of engine parts or gears, as was common in those days. Cadillac once sent six of their cars to an English motor magazine who had mechanics disassemble them, mix the parts up, and reassemble six cars. The finale was not only starting the cars but driving them for 500 miles with no mechanical failures.

The search for more power through bigger displacement led the engineers to come up with a new 390 for 1963. Although it shared the displacement of its predecessor, it shared almost nothing else. The new 390 was designed with future upsizing in mind, yet the engine was 50 pounds lighter and 4 inches narrower than the old 390. Torque was up to 430 lb-ft. After that, this block's next iteration (1964-67) featured 429 ci, 340 hp, and a stump-pullin' 480 lb-ft of torque. Later, Cadillac went to even bigger engines, which make great motors for trucks and for anyone who wants to make a few extra bucks moving houses or pulling stumps. For our examination, the '62 390 is the last of the "vintage" Cadillac powerplants.

Cadillac engines soon found their way into numerous racing boats and more than a few sports car specials. In fact, most of the popular British Allard K-3 roadsters sold without engines and designed for '50s road racing were fitted by their American importers with Cadillac engines.

Wealthy racing enthusiast Briggs Cunningham made two entries at the '50 24 Hours De Le Mans with two cars, a stock '49 Coupe de Ville, and another new Cad stripped to the chassis and drivetrain and fitted with a hand-fabbed sports body. The car was unattractive (the French called it "le monstre"), but the stocker came in 10th and the special right behind it. He later installed 331s in a team of Austin-Healey Silverstone sports cars for next year's race. The practice of stuffing hopped-up Cads in specials went on until after 1955 when the smaller, lighter Chevy small-block V-8s were proving their worth.

Were they sleepers, you bet! All that Cadillac power under the hood of a "common" car, like a Ford or Studebaker made for a perfect medium for shaming stuffy luxury car owners on an on-ramp, even those with Caddy emblems on their hoods. The production swap cars from Frick-Tappet were offered with chrome Fordillac or Studillac emblems for non-street-racing customers who didn't care about who knew what was under their hood.

Cadillac engines today
Make no mistake, we are definitely fans of all the pushrod OHV Cadillac engines, including the behemoth 425-, 472-, and 500-inchers of the later years, but for our purposes in this engine series, we're concentrating on the original 331 and its younger brothers, the 365 and 390.

The correct rebuild parts, individually and as kits, are widely available from Egge, Speedway Motors, and other vintage engine parts companies. Any competent engine machine shop should be able to inspect your heads and block for cracks, then deck, bore, and otherwise make true the major surfaces and assemble the engine, leaving you to add the cool stuff you've been gathering from swap meets and eBay. The 390 engines had better breathing heads, and these were commonly swapped onto earlier engines in the old days, although Cads were noted for their grunt rather than high-rpm activities. Cams are available from Iskenderian and SLR Cams. Moon and O'Brien Truckers have finned valley covers, and good old Offenhauser still makes their finned-aluminum valve covers.

We can't speak for everyone, of course, but all the real motorhead hot rodders we've ever known like to open their hood and show off their engine, and in the old days the engine and engine compartment were often the only detailed and finished part of the rod. Opening your hood at a modern car event and showing off another 350 won't get much attention, but the same vehicle with a Cadillac or other vintage engine will get onlookers approving, talking, and asking questions. Such is the current state of vintage engine interest, and remember the Cadillac slogan: "The standard for the world."