Episode 17, AMERICAN MUSCLE Season 1
The outlawed Fords 427 engine nicknamed 90 day wonder
The Cammer - Ford's Answer to the Hemi
In the hey day of the muscle car, very few of the racing engines coming out of the Motor City rivaled Ford's 427 CID SOHC V8 engine, otherwise known as the "Cammer." When equipped with dual four-barrel carburetors, the legendary powerhouse generated a prodigious 657 horsepower. Even when a single four-barrel carburetor was employed, the engine could still generate 616 horsepower. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that this big, powerful engine often appears on lists of the top ten engines of all time.
The development of the Cammer was inspired by Richard Petty's stunning upset in the 1964 Daytona 500Opens a new window in a Plymouth powered by Chrysler's 426 Hemi. The sudden emergence of the Hemi engine shook things up in the Ford racing community. Ford's 427 Hi-riser engine had once reigned supreme, winning race after race before the Petty upset.
Concept to Reality in Just 3 Months
Ford was quick to respond to the new threat posed by Chrysler's powerful Hemi power plant. Ford's modification of the Hi-riser engine proceeded from the drawing board to reality in less than three months.
Ford then went to NASCAR seeking approval for its new single overhead cam design. According to a February 23, 1964, article in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal, NASCAR head Bill France nixed the idea. Some speculated that he saw overhead cam engines as better suited to European racecourses. Clearly, he did not want them America's Grand National stock car circuit.
The engine had quickly generated its share of controversy. In fact, NASCAR's pre-emptive strike was decisive. The organization banned the engine before it ever appeared in a NASCAR event.
AMERICAN Car History, Season 1
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Persistent Efforts to Garner Approval
For a time, Ford did not give up hope that the Cammer would eventually find its way out on the circuit. The Detroit automaker would go on to display a 1964 Ford Galaxie before the 1964 Indy 500, hoping for positive reviews from the press. Ultimately, Ford hoped that positive publicity would lead to an eventual NASCAR reversal, but this never happened. Instead, in October of that year, NASCAR moved to eliminate both the Ford 427 SOHC Cammer and the Chrysler 426 Hemi from the Grand National circuit, derisively referring to both as "special racing engines."
Meanwhile, the Ford engine was the subject of a detailed review in the January 1965 issue of Hot Rod magazineOpens a new window. It also graced the cover of that particular issue. Much of the material for the article derived from a paper, SAE 650497, presented by the lead engineers working on the 427 SOHC project.
Still, in December 1965, NASCAR renewed its ban of the Cammer for the 1966 season. The USAC staked out a similar position. Then, in April 1966, NASCAR appeared to reverse itself, as it allowed the use of the single-carb Cammer in full-size Galaxies. However, with a weight handicap of 4400 pounds, the setup was not competitive with Chrysler Hemis that came in at over 400 pounds less. The Ford Motor Company rejected this NASCAR offer, and it set its sights on promoting the Cammer for drag racing. The Cammer still appears in vintage drag racing events even today.
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