This is a Gurney Eagle 351 V8, it’s an engine developed by the successful AAR Team (All American Racers) for motorsport use and although it’s a 351 V8 there are relatively few Ford parts involved.
The engine is said to be good for 725 bhp and the rotating assembly was balanced to an eye-watering 9,000 rpm. It has an aluminum alloy block from Fontana Automotive, alloy heads developed by Gurney, a Bryant crankshaft, Carrillo connecting rods, Diamond Pistons, a Comp Cams camshaft, and a slew of other high end parts designed for racing.
All American Racers was founded in 1964 by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby – two giants of American motorsport who established their own facilities in Santa Ana, California to build race cars that could take on the best from Europe and win.
Above Video: This documentary tells the story of the AAR Eagle victory at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix.
AAR was founded with the financial backing of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company who would supply tires for AAR cars in the hopes of unseating Firestone as the American motorsport tire of choice.
The team became the first American team to ever win a Formula 1 race – with the beautiful AAR Eagle T1G at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix with Dan Gurney himself behind the wheel.
The team would go on to rack up a remarkable series of wins including 51 Champ Car victories, wins in the 1968 and 1975 Indy 500, the aforementioned 1967 Belgian Grand Prix victory, and a slew of other wins and podium places.
Today over 56 years after that first AAR win in Belgium no other American team has won a Formula 1 Grand Prix, though rumors are afoot that a concerted effort will soon be made to right that wrong.
Here you can see the four Weber 48 IDA dual-throat downdraft carburetors, each now fitted with a red cap to keep debris from entering the intake.
It’s worth noting that the 1921 French Grand Prix was one by an American driver named Jimmy Murphy, who was driving an American car – a Duesenberg racer. This was well before Grand Prix racing was organized under the Formula 1 name, which didn’t occur until 1950.
The fully-operational Gurney Eagle 351 V8 you see here is currently fitted to a rolling display dolly equipped with everything needed to run the engine for display purposes – though it could be fitted to a car if the new owner so wishes.
On the lower left of this image you can see the controls and gauges for the engine, it can be run on this stand for display purposes although as it has no mufflers it’s exceedingly loud. In a good way.
In addition to the parts listed further up the engine also has a dry-sump lubrication system, four Weber 48 IDA dual-throat downdraft carburetors, Gurney Eagle-branded valve covers, an MSD ignition system, a catch can, a coolant recovery tank, and exhaust headers.
With its alloy block and heads the engine would be notably lighter than a standard iron block 351 Ford V8, potentially making it perfect for use in a high-end performance car or a vintage competition car.
If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here on Bring a Trailer, it’s being offered for sale out of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
