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The Beast

Started by tozerco, December 15, 2021, 04:25:46 AM

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tozerco

I thought you might all like to read this:

The Perrier-Cadillac Triple V8
Posted on December 13, 2021 by MCG (www.macsmotorcitygarage.com):


"In 1940-41, the Australian war effort had no suitable engine to power its AC-3 Thunderbolt tank, so it created one—using three American Cadillac V8s lashed together.

This oddball powerplant, and the circumstances that led to its creation, will remind you of a previous feature we did here at Mac's Motor City Garage on the Chrysler A-57 tank engine.

Desperate for engines to power the U.S. Army's Sherman M4 tanks, Chrysler engineers lashed together five inline-six automobile engines to produce a 30-cylinder power unit. In a similar way, Australian engineers on the other side of the world at around the same time used multiple passenger-car engines to power its AC-3 Thunderbolt tank, but here they combined three Cadillac V8s from the USA in a single power module.

The Perrier-Cadillac unit, named for engineer Robert Perrier, used three standard production L-head Cadillac V8s as used in the 50 through 75 series passenger cars. With 346 cubic inches and 135 hp each, the three combined V8s displaced 1039 cubic inches and produced a rated 397 hp. A common crankcase fabricated from heavy steel plate allowed the three V8 blocks to be bolted together at their oil pan rails in a delta formation, with a transfer case at the rear of the engines to drive a common output shaft.

This three-in-one V8 arrangement, a WW-24 if you will, was actually an improvement on an earlier setup for the AC1 Sentinel tank, the Thunderbolt's predecessor, that used three Cadillac V8s combined in a bulky cloverleaf configuration. The power units were assembled at the General Motors Holden division in Melbourne, Australia.

The program initially received approval to produce 200 tanks, but by July 1943 the Australian military was receiving a sufficient supply of U.S. and British tanks and the contract was cancelled. The single prototype still exists today at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra."

There are a number of photos that I can't find a way to post.... Yet!
John Tozer
#7946

'37 7513
'37 7533

Big Fins

Let's see if this works.
Current:
1976 Eldorado Convertible in Crystal Blue FireMist with white interior and top. (Misty Blue)
1969 Fleetwood Brougham in Chalice Gold FireMist with matching interior and top. (The Old Man) SOLD!

Past and much missed:
1977 Brougham de Elegance
1976 Eldorado Convertible
1972 Fleetwood Brougham
1971 Sedan de Ville
1970 de Ville Convertible
1969 Sedan de Ville
1959 Sedan deVille

jwwseville60

WOW!
Thanks for this...
1960 Eldorado Seville, Copper, "IKE"
1961 CDV, gold, "Goldfinger"
1964 Eldorado, Turquoise, "Billy the Squid"
1963 De Ville Station Wagon Vista roof, silver blue, "Race Bannon"
1963 Fleetwood 60S, turquoise, "The Miami Special"
1959 Sedan Deville flat top, tan, "Jupiter-2"
1947 Caddy Sedanette 62, black, "Johnny Cash"
1970 ASC Fleetwood wagon, dark blue, "Iron Maiden"
Lifetime CLC

novetti

54' Iris Blue (Preservation)
54' Cabot Gray (Restoration)
58' Lincoln Continental Convertible (Restoration)
58' Ford Skyliner (Preservation)

carlhungness

    Superb! I'd like to see more about the Cad engine in WWII tanks. I have replaced the flathead (that I drove about 100,000 miles) in my '37 LaSalle coupe with a '76 Eldorado engine) but have a soft spot for flatheads. Thanks for posting.

cadillacmike68

Someone (either ford or Cadillac) used 2 V8s to power some US tanks in WW2 as well. They also used giant continental radial aircraft engines in one series of the M4 Sherman. It was either the M4 or M4A1. That's where the silly high front end of this tank came from.

Yeah we sucked at tank design (like the British) until the M26 Pershing tank (and the British with their Centurion)... Now those two were BadASS tanks!
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

bcroe

That is what happens when you are in a really big hurry to build
some tanks.  Earlier needed more development, but the quantities
just overwhelmed the Axis.  And, ours were generally more reliable.
Bruce Roe

dochawk

Quote from: carlhungness on December 15, 2021, 06:54:57 PM
I'd like to see more about the Cad engine in WWII tanks.

*so* many caddy engines and hydromatics that Cadillac had to sent out a service notice after the war that you couldn't put a tank hydromatic into a Cadillac.

It fit and all, but the tank variant hadn't included a reverse gear!
1972 Eldorado convertible,  1997 Eldorado ETC (now awaiting parts swap from '95 donor), 1993 Fleetwood but no 1926 (yet)