Craig’s Friday Countdown Engines

Wards has released their annual ten best engine list (here).  Happy to see Ford’s flatplane crank 5.2L make the list.  Below, for my amusement if no one else’s, are the favorite engine’s I’ve owned. 

#10)  Ford 2.3L Inline Four – A scrappy little four, able to (ultimately) catch up to the muscle cars my high school friends had.  Never lift.  

#9)  Volvo 2.3L Inline Five – A five cylinder engine.  Because Volvo.

#8)  Jeep 304 C.I. V8 – Powered my first Jeep.  Fire coming out of the glass packs more than made up for the sketchy AMC era electrical gremlins.  

#7)  Heart  - Technically more a pump than an engine, but I can’t fault the reliability, yet. 

 #6 (tie)  Jeep 4.0L Inline Six – When the apocalypse comes, only cockroaches and TJs and XJs with these indestructible motors will still roam the earth.  Yamaha FZ-07 - In so many ways, the spiritual successor to the hooligan legend RZ350, but with substantially less blue smoke and this thing, called torque.    

#5)  McCullough 80cc – Chainsaw engine bolted onto discarded Honda 50 frame.  Dumb idea and fun idea Venn diagram becomes a perfect (eighth grade) circle. 

#4)  Yamaha RZ350 – Last street legal two-stroke motorcycle allowed into the United States.  A shrieking, lustily fragrant, explosive device tingling your nether regions.  Which I believe is Webster's definition of mistress.  

#3)  Suzuki RM100 – The two-stroke lust starts hear.  The first time I grabbed a handful of throttle in second gear, I almost fell off the thing.

#2)  Honda SL70 – Not great.  Not fast.  But the first engine I owned myself. 

#1)  Ford 390 C.I.  V8 – Technically owned by dear ‘ol dad.  But if your older brothers let you drive the XL GT to elementary school, that’ll be something that sets you on the path to gearheadedness.