From the June 2023 problem of Automobile and Driver.

There is a 7.3-liter V-8 hidden below the doghouse, and at full whack, its snare-drum-tumbling-in-a-cement-mixer soundtrack calls up reminiscences of faculty buses. I am climbing a light grade by Arizona, not in a Blue Fowl or a Thomas, however in a Ford E-350 chassis-cab dually, and the engine attempting out for the drum line is Ford’s heavy-duty truck V-8. And the doghouse? That is what folks within the van world name the protruding engine cowl that doubles as a part of the dashboard.

One other cross-country drive, my third in 9 months, this time on the wheel of a rented 16-foot field truck filled with my Los Angeles life. Hanging off the again is a automobile service with my soon-to-be spouse’s 2015 Ford Escape. At 65 mph, the E-series pack mule wants fixed minding to maintain it from wandering off to the correct, but I am forming a bond with this crude factor. 5 days with a car carrying on its again almost each priceless you personal fosters appreciation and affection. That admiration results in overlooking the traditional E-series-based design’s many, many shortcomings. Complaints appear trite and inappropriate. Conestoga wagon riders did not whine concerning the journey high quality, wind noise, cushion softness, brake-pedal really feel, dim headlights, and nonexistent sense of straight forward, and neither will I.

Meet Godzilla

The present E-series dates to 1992. Although its life as a van led to 2014, it continues on as a chassis cab. What’s a chassis cab? Think about what’s left behind after you fillet a fish—on this case, a coelacanth. As an alternative of a fish head, there’s the cab of a van, and instead of the backbone is an extended ladder body. It is the Lego of the automotive world. Construct an ambulance, a field truck, a camper, or perhaps a small bus. And whereas the chassis could also be a dwelling fossil, the 7.3-liter V-8 debuted only a few years in the past. Dubbed Godzilla, it is a pushrod design with an iron block and aluminum heads. It makes as a lot as 430 horsepower within the F-series Tremendous Obligation and can take an F-350 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, however within the E-series, it is a low-stress 325-hp tune to fulfill federal emission guidelines for heavy-duty vans. Because of this, horsepower and torque peak collectively at 3750 rpm. Loaded up, it burned a gallon of 87 octane each 10 miles.

Engine tuners are embracing the Godzilla V-8 because it would not take a lot to wake it up. Guarantees of 600 and 700 or extra horsepower are widespread. Granted, these are tuner claims, however let a giant engine rev, and it will make massive energy. The pushrod setup is comparatively compact in comparison with overhead-cam engines, permitting crate variations to slide simply into Fox-body Mustangs.

Considered by a contemporary lens, it is a easy machine. Name the engine back-to-basics, however you may’t say that concerning the chassis as a result of it did not return; it merely by no means left. The entrance and rear suspensions may very well be on show on the Henry Ford museum, but it will get the job accomplished: a protected arrival and no valuables harmed. Any car that may do this deserves some love.

Editor-in-Chief

Tony Quiroga is an 18-year-veteran Automobile and Driver editor, author, and automobile reviewer and the nineteenth editor-in-chief for the journal since its founding in 1955. He has subscribed to Automobile and Driver since age six. “Rising up, I learn each problem of Automobile and Driver cowl to cowl, typically three or extra occasions. It is the place I wished to work since I might learn,” Quiroga says. He moved from Car Journal to an affiliate editor place at Automobile and Driver in 2004. Over time, he has held almost each editorial place in print and digital, edited a number of particular points, and likewise helped produce C/D’s early YouTube efforts. He’s additionally the longest-tenured check driver for Lightning Lap, having lapped Virginia Worldwide Raceway’s Grand Course greater than 2000 occasions over 12 years.