This is a Ford 427 FE V8 built by Craft Performance Engines out to a displacement of 527 cubic inches. It has an aluminum block and heads, a slew of high-performance internals, and it’s been tested on a dyno – showing 591 bhp and 686 lb ft of torque.
Perhaps the most famous Ford 427 V8s from history were the examples that had been modified for racing and fitted to the Ford GT40, which went on to achieve a 1-2-3 finish in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. This helped make up for the GT40’s woeful showing at the 1965 Le Mans, and it put Ferrari on notice.
The original 427 FE V8 was famously fitted to the Shelby Cobra 427, resulting in one of the highest power-to-weight ratios of any production car in the world at the time.
The Ford 427 FE V8 belongs to the Ford FE engine family of V8s which debuted in 1958 as a replacement for the earlier Y-block V8, which had been used in cars like the Ford Thunderbird, the F100 pickup truck, and a number of passenger sedan models.
Despite its size, the FE V8 is categorized as a medium block engine, not a small block or a big block. The initials “FE” come from “Ford-Edsel,” and the FE series came in a range if displacements from 332 all the way up to 428 cubic inches.
The FE V8 came in both “side oiler and “top oiler” configurations, and typically came with an iron block and heads and two pushrod actuated overhead valves per cylinder. There were some versions of the engine that were offered with alloy heads, and alloy aftermarket blocks are now also available.
The Ford FE series would remain in production from 1958 until 1969 in passenger cars, and until 1978 in the form used for trucks and industry.
The Craft Performance Engines Ford 427 V8 Shown Here
Craft Performance Engines was based in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. They were nationally-recognized builders of high-end Ford and Chevrolet V8 engines, and their V8 builds have been featured on numerous automotive TV shows over the years.
The company became almost a de facto choice for those building Cobras, GT40 replicas, and Daytona Coupes when it came time to choose an engine. As a result, many car shows and cars and coffee events across the country will feature one, two, or more engines from Craft Performance under the hoods of various vehicles.
Sadly, the company would become a victim of the global supply chain issues that paralyzed much of the world’s shipping and transport infrastructure in 2022, formally closing their doors in August of that year.
The engine you see here was built by Craft Performance Engines in 2018 from an aluminum block and heads, it has a 4.375″ crankshaft, a custom-ground camshaft, Diamond Racing pistons, Eagle connecting rods, and a Borla Eight Stack electronic fuel injection system.
Thanks to the fact that this engine has an aluminum block and heads, and lighter weight tubular steel headers, it will be considerably lighter than the original 650 lbs (295 kgs) of the original all-iron engine.
After the build it was dyno tested and shown to be producing 591 bhp at 5,000 rpm and 686 lb ft of torque at 4,200 rpm – though that torque figure may be higher, as the dyno sheet cuts off below 4,200 rpm. The engine comes with a 5-speed manual Tremec TKX transmission which is currently bolted into place.
The engine is now being offered for sale out of Thousand Oaks, California on Bring a Trailer. It comes with an invoice outlining the build, handwritten specification sheets, dynamometer results, and a rolling cart which carries the engine. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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