Why was Henry against the Inline 6?

roccaas

roccaas

Well-known member
He spent big bucks on the "X-8", but fought against the I6 for years. I've read this countless times, but never heard a reason why.

Chevy certainly made a mint on the Stovebolt.

Any multiple of the I6 (V12, I12) is a naturally balanced engine from an engineer's perspective. No balance shafts, smooth running, weight is generally low down in the engine. Just the sort of thing that Henry appreciated in an elegant design.

The Europeans certainly have produced some great I6's. I have one of them, and it is smooth and runs like a scalded dog.

I understand that racers are not so appreciative of the engine design as the crankshaft tends to develop a sine wave at higher revs.
 
I have heard many reasons but the logical answer has always been that he was VERY bull-headed and stubborn.

I can only speculate but he had a 6 cylinder early on which suffered from issues of a flexible engine pan that created crankshaft issues so he already had a bad taste in his mouth from them, ...and also when he realized the public was unhappy with his newly released New Improved Ford (which he felt would be the last design he would ever need to make) he was forced by his rival to deliver the Model A, --only then to be bettered by a 6 cylinder from that rival that was smoother running.

I'm sure others can add logical things too.
 
I believe when he did finally start producing a 6 published hp numbers were a little lower than actual. May will tell you it ran as good as the 8.
 
Stubborn is the key word here. Mr. Ford was very set in his ways in his old age, and he was an old man in 1930. He also was set on the L head design, and when a lot of engines were being built with overhead valves, his new V8 was a flathead, and his new 6 was a flathead. People love the old flathead V8, but overhead valves make a lot more power. When he died, the company developed the overhead V8 and 6.
 
ford1 said:
he was stubon and i think a little stupid, he let his vanity get in the way of good sense, because chevy had an in line six and over head valve to boot he said he would never build them,and he didnt, it was after his death that ford finally came into the modern world with both, the story goes is that henery ford hated the chevys so much that when a dealer took one in trade they were told to destroy it
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Ford came out with a flathead 6 in 1941, this was before Henrys death. Go figure.
 
After the failure of the Model K witch was a 6 cyl he said no more 6's. Me, I do like them six's!
 
I had a stovebolt six (1933 Chev.). The motor was smooth and had great low end torque. It's weak area was the poor oiling for the overhead valves.

Edison had his "DC" only and Ford had his 4 only....All the greats have feet in clay.

Marc
 
The early Chev Stovebolt-6 was very smooth running and long-lived, if properly maintenanced and not abused. However, with only three main bearings, they could be a bit nervous in the bottom end at high speeds. The track race crowd of the time preferred the Ford A or B motors.
 
I heard/read somewhere that after the early problems with the Model K 6 cylinder, Henry would not consider a 6.Said it was too hard to time and balance with 120* crank throws. The next Ford 6 was in 1941 I believe.
 
I think the 6 that came out in the late 30's early 40's was required by the Govt. Something to do with Govt contracts or the war.

Manuel in Oz
 
Flathead sixes reign supreme!
Just look at Studebaker. They kept the flathead six through 1962. In 1963 Studebaker put out their first overhead six and a year later they were out of business.
Lesson learned......enough said! :( LOL
 
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Ford introduced a 6 cylinder engine in 1906 in the Model K.. Apparently there were problems with the engine, I don't know what they were/are.. I had a 1907 Model K that ran fine..
 
I too read years ago that problems with the Model K 6 cyl. engine soured Henry Ford on sixes. Also, Henry was not running the company in 1941; Edsel was until he died. Another 6 cyl. story from a hot rodding magazine: In the late '40's hydroplane racing was popular on the Detroit River and some young hot rodders from California showed up with a boat powered by a Ford 6. Ford engineers were amazed because this six also had a problem: crankshafts would break at high RPM and they couldn't fix it. (at something like 4800 RPM, if I remember). They asked one of the Californians (named Hernandez, Fran I think) how they solved this problem. He replied that the engine accelerated through that RPM range so fast it didn't have time to go into that resonance that broke cranks. They went on to win the race and Hernandez was hired by Ford.
 
WelL fORD Australia make probhably the best inline 6 in the world.The XR 6 turbo is a very good car and the FPV 6 puts out more power and torque than the 4 cam V8,my boys XR 6 turbo ute made 696 HP at the wheels at the dyno shoot out the other month,stock bottom end, head, and cams.
Lawrie
 
Henry Ford always thought 'outside the square' in his mechanical designs. He did not follow 'the pack'; he wanted to lead. He had wanted an 8 cylinder engine since late '20's, hence the X8 which proved too heavy & impractical for a light car in that era. Development of a low cost en bloc V8 began in late '29 & 1930 prototypes still exist.
Actually, the car that worried Henry was Chryslers low cost but very good Plymouth & 'Floating Power' flexi. engine mount system used by Chrysler. Plymouth had a more powerful 4 but a light Model A could outrun a Chev.6 & was a stronger built car too.
Plymouth sales were growing as Depression deepened & Henry commited himself to building a low cost V8 which had never been done before. He did not need a 6 as per most other auto companies to achieve mechanical success.
Just my opinion.!
 
Old Henry did not want to build the 6 cylinder Model K back in 1906-1908. His corporate investors insisted on a "powerful, luxury machine".... that was the Model K.

It utilized basically the same 2-speed planetary transmission as the two and four-cylinder Fords, and was considered to be the weak point in the vehicle.

It was not a success and Henry was glad to see it disappear. He supposedly said that "he had no use for any engine that had more spark-plugs than a cow has teats!".

If it were not for Edsel's patient influence, Old Henry would have probably gone on building Model T's until Ford Motor Company went out of business.

By the time Ford introduced their second six, in 1941, enough other manufacturers had had enough success with the six cylinder engine that Old Henry could not say "they're no good"... and the 226 Ford six was a good engine indeed... as much power as the V-8, w/o the tendency to overheat....

Eventually Ford built one of the best sixes of all time: the 240/300 "truck" six.

SC Frank
 
Lawrie said:
WelL fORD Australia make probhably the best inline 6 in the world.The XR 6 turbo is a very good car and the FPV 6 puts out more power and torque than the 4 cam V8,my boys XR 6 turbo ute made 696 HP at the wheels at the dyno shoot out the other month,stock bottom end, head, and cams.
Lawrie
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Agreed. After getting my hands on the turbo-six, there is no way I would go back to a V-8. Lighter, faster & torque for Africa.
 
Right on, Frank. The 240/300 six was the best six-banger built - at least in NA. His planetary gear transmission was his stubborn way of not using the tried and proven clutch-and-three speed sliding gear transmissions used by other car manufacturers.
Ford 1, good answer! As well, Walter P. Chrysler introduced the Plymouth line of cars to compete with the Model A and the Chevrolet in the low priced market. It too ran an I-6 engine.
 
Tom,
Small correction. Studebaker kept its flat head six through 1960 and introduced the OHV six in '61. They went out of the car biz in 1966, with the last two years being powered by GM engines.
Rog
 
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