Spencer Heath Archive

Item 844

Random taping by Spencer MacCallum from conversation with Heath

December 15, 1955

We are in a period of Rococo craziness when it comes to body design for automobiles. We can anticipate a revulsion against all this gingerbread. The cars of the future will be streamlined, but functionally — and not to make them look like a jet plane or anything else that they are not. This will be a great improvement. The same will be true of the power plant. We are still in the era of multiple cylinders, but we have got rid of the 12s and 16s and are now down to a maximum of 8. When pure engineering principles are allowed to prevail, the standard number of cylinders will be 6. Six is the least that gives over-lapping power strokes. With a moderate fly-wheel on a 6, the flow of power can be practically as smooth as with an 8 or even 12. For the smaller cars, 4 cylinders will become the standard, and plenty smooth enough they will be.

The automobile gets more and more complicated, and this is as it should be. Elaboration of structure is necessary to elaboration and diversification of function. But more than 6 cylinders is merely an elaboration of structure; no new function is performed.

                           /”Don’t you get more horsepower?”/

The number of cylinders has nothing to do with the power of an engine, unless they have to be all the same size, which they do not. What governs the power of an engine, other things being equal, is the cylinder displacement per stroke or revolution.

What has been said is predicated on there being no fundamental change in the type of power plant.