There was an extra day this February, making up for a slight annual offset in our blue marble’s voyage around the sun or something. Or perhaps it was intended to give insufferable presidential candidates an extra day to preen on television. Whatever.
Here’s today’s question: you’re being tasked to fill a fictional garage with exactly 29 cylinders worth of engines. What do you select? Our choices are easy as they are weird.
It’s simple to consume 16 of our allotted 29 pots with a pair of V8 beauties. You simply know that your rural author is selecting a pickup truck — in this case he’s taking home a new Ford F-250 Tremor 4×4 equipped with the tasty and deliciously retro 7.3-liter V8. Along with that admission of largesse is a slightly used Dodge Challenger Demon, complete with 840 horsepower and 6.2L of supercharged American V8 insanity.
The natty Aston Martin V12 Vantage, a fun-sized car stuffed with plenty of power and available with a manual transmission, consumes a dozen more cylinders. This leaves a single cylinder to allocate. Hmmm…
I’ve got it — a Honda TRX250X ATV, complete with a 229cc one-pumper making enough power for a bit of fun. It won’t keep up with the likes of a 1000cc-class rig but it’ll leave me with a grin at the end of the day. Plus, at a mere 384-pound curb weight, I can heave it about my Tremor one-handed.
How about it? New rigs? Used classics? Off-road or yard equipment? What does your 29-cylinder garage look like?
[Image: Ford]
Demon, Miata, S2000, CX-5 (for everyday mucking about)… Some other V8 and a T5 Vulva.
Does a rotary count as a single cylinder for this exercise?
1 rotor = 1 cylinder?
Angry crowd with signs: “Count Every Combustion Cavity!”
We search all the cavities!
Break out the gloves.
If you touch my junk…..
Limiting myself to new production cars (I’d be here all day working out permutations if all used cars were allowed):
12 – Lamborghini Aventador
8 – Ford Mustang GT350
6 – Porsche 911 Turbo S
3 – Ford Fiesta ST (overseas edition)
I’ll cheat a little and spend 0 cylinders on a Rivian reservation to eventually pull them all around.
Because I’m bored at work, here’s a fun all time list:
8 – 1967 Cadillac Eldorado
8 – 1974 Dodge Ramcharger 440
8 – 1935 Duesenburg SSJ
4 – 2011 Lotus Exige
1 – The most powerful ATV I can get.
Hmm, is this dream garage with no budget, or is the budget restricted to what I could actually buy? If the latter, Miata is always the answer… If the former:
Audi RS3 – I-5
Ducati Monster 1200S – L-2
Ford F-150 Raptor (not ecoboost) – V-8
Lexus LS500 – V-8
Lotus Evora 400 – V-6
… and Mazda RX-7 FD… and Tesla Model 3 Performance
Its hard not being able to pick the Nissan Murano Cross-cabriolet, but sacrifices had to be made.
Martin Mauler and a snow blower.
The R-4360 alone is 4,362.5 cu in (71.5 L), almost 19 gallons of displacement. You win.
29 Honda Trail 90s and a backyard big enough to build a spec-racing course.
Current reality: V8 truck + V8 sedan + V6 sedan + I4 crossover + riding mower + push mower + tiller = 29 and means I’m all out of cylinders (two of those have wheels but no seat).
Dream: Disillusioned right now – all this time I thought “GEN 11” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang had 16 cylinders. Nope – only 6.
Is there a displacement limit? (I’m currently somewhere north of 1,000 cu. in., or roughly 4 gallons.)
From the Ian Flemming book: “She’s a twelve-cylinder, eight-litre supercharged Paragon Panther. They only made one of them and then the firm went broke.”
The “Chitty Bang Bang” cars built by Count Louis Zbrowski did use 6 cylinder aero engines.
Car # Cylinders Sum Cylinders
Audi RS4 5 5
STI (EJ257) 4 9
Porsche 924S 4 13
TDI touareg 6 19
Ranger FX4 4 23
VW Atlas VR6 6 29
Chevy Bolt 0 29
No one said there’d be math!
A tribute to my late Father who passed away in 2018:
8 cylinder – 1968 Ford Torino GT fastback with 302 v-8
6 cylinder – 1975 Ford F-150 Supercab with Explorer package
6 cylinder – 1996 Ford F-150 2 door conventional cab – both trucks 300 cid 6 cylinders
6 cylinder – 2009 Ford Taurus – his last new vehicle – no longer needed a truck
I’d give a three cylinder engine to have him back.
“I’d give a three cylinder engine to have him back.”
I know how you feel. My dad was into drag racing rails in SoCal; 426 Hemi fueled with Nitro, and he taught me how to successfully rebuilt 426s and B&M Turbo-Hydromatic transmissions and Torq-flites starting at the tender age of 12.
I’ll be 74 on my next birthday and I still remember those special times like it was yesterday and that mounting Racing Slicks was real work and no fun.
Audi RS3 for a commute car (5)
Ferrari GTC4Lusso for road trips (12)
Ferrari SF90 Stradale for fun (8)
Fiat 500 Abarth for when any of those are in the shop (4)
12 cylinder – Aston Martin Vanquish
8 cylinder – C7 Corvette
6 cylinder – ’95 Supra Turbo
3 cylinder – BMW i8
2020 Suburban – 5.3L
2020 Colorado – 2.8L
2005(ish) GMC/Chevy 2500HD – 8.1L
RZR XP1000 two seater
Honda Talon four seater
Two small single cylinder ATV’s
Kubota B2320
Keep my XC70 – 6.
Replace the SuperDuty with a new F-150 3.5T – 6.
Wife loves her V60CC, keep that – 4.
13 cylinders more for fun…
E63 Wagon, because racecar – 8.
What do you do with 5 cylinders?
Oh, an RS Q3. Bam.
I feel pretty confident saying nobody else would stock their garage quite this way.
8 = Audi S8
6 = Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid (daily driver with kids)
6 = My existing Acura Legend, but converted to stick and Type II
5 = Audi RS3
4 = Volvo XC60 T8 (for the wife)
0 = Tesla Model S 100D (daily driver without kids)
Two Audis?
TBH the RS3 wouldn’t be in my dream garage except for the odd number of cylinders.
The current A8/S8 is my favorite luxobarge by a mile. If we’re in fantasyland, the four-figure lease payment is no problem.
2020 Ford F350 Tremor Powerstroke diesel – 8
2020 Ram PowerWagon – 8
2020 Ford F150 supercrew EB 3.5 – 6
2020 KTM 790 Adventure R – 2
2020 Yamaha 700 Super Tenere – 2
2020 Ducati hypermotard – 2
2017 Suzuki DRZ400SM – 1
(I already have the Susuki so I’ll add that one)
I want the Tremor F350 because it has vastly superior payload ratings than the Power Wagon. It can easily pack a small slide in camper. The PW would be my short trip back woods beast. The F150 would be my daily driver and highway trip vehicle.
The KTM and Yamaha are the lightest Adventure bikes on the market. The Ducati is a hooligan bike that can run with sport bikes. I’d keep my little Suzuki because it is simple, fun and reliable as a hammer.
I guess Tesla products don’t count?
You get all the free Teslas you want! (Or Bolts, Mach Es, etc.)
VW wants to know if adding a “Mach-E” badge to a V8 Mustang constitutes cheating.
You have to convert the Mustang to diesel first, then it’s OK.
No budget? Then:
1970 Honda Super Cub motorcycle. 1 cylinder
1940’s John Deere tractor. 2 cylinders
1960 Land Rover 109 Series II. Inline 4
1981 BMW Alpina B7 Turbo. Inline 6
2018 retro-themed Chevy Silverado from defunct Greenfield Chevrolet. V8
2020 Chris Craft Launch 23. V8
Ferrari Portofino – 8
Toyota GR Supra – 6
Jeep Gladiator – 6
Lexus LS500 – 6
Yamaha MT-09 – 3
2016 Blue Flame Ford Raptor SuperCrew. 8
2006 Ford GT with all 4 options and Gulf Livery. 8
2015 Black Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. 8
2017 Nitrous Blue Ford Focus RS. 4
2019 Honda Grom 1
Crown Vic Police Interceptor (8)
Dodge Charger SRT392 (8)
RAM 2500 w/ Cummins I6 (6)
Mustang w/ Ecoboost (4)
Any 3 cyl eco car for my wife.
I own 29 Litres of displacement – does that count?
Oddly enough, my garage(s) contain exactly 29 cylinders currently:
V8 Land Rover Disco I
I6 BMW 328! wagon
I4 Triumph Spitfire
I4 VW GTI
I4 Fiata
That’s 26, plus in Maine I have a single-cylinder snowblower and a twin-cylinder garden tractor for a perfect 29. Mower in Florida is a BEV. :-)
What do I win?
What I have now or have had in the past (and would like to have back in the fleet again)
LS430. 8
1965 Corvair Monza convert. 6
1953 Kaiser Manhattan. 6
Kawasaki KH400. 3
Suzuki GT750. 3
Kubota B2320. 3
29
A dark blue Mercedes AMG S63 with a V8, a white BMW M850 also with a V8. Then I’d get a Cummins-powered Inline 6 Ram 2500 Crew Cab and a Triumph Rocket 3R. The last four cylinders I’d spend on an 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA with that incredible Twin Cam Inline 4.
Well I’ll keep my John Deere so I’m down to 28. B13 Sentra SE-R =24, 250GT California leaves me 12. Hmmm. A Lancia Stratos leaves me 6. A BMW M1 rounds it out.
Look mom…no V8 lol
Aston Martin DB11 Volante V12
Toyota Tundra V8
AMG GLC 63S V8
My current Toro self-propelled mower
All my other yard tools are electric :-)
2020 Tremor 7.3 (8)
2021 Mach-E (0)
2007 V70 (5) (gotta have a daily right?)
2020 F150 Limited (6)
Viper (10)
I am already over the limit, but if I had to start over.
Viper ACR – 10
392 Challenger Widebody – 8
2.3l Super 7 – 4
Pacifica Minivan – 6
650cc Dual sport bike – 1