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After consecutive victories at the famed Le Mans 24 Hours, Ford had a plan to go even faster in 1968. So, with April 27 (4-27) upon us and the annual race nearing, we’re taking a look back at an experimental version of Ford’s famous 427 cubic-inch engine created for the 1968 running of the endurance race – though it never saw the light of day due to rule changes.
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Named “Calliope” for its resemblance of the whistles of a musical organ, the engine featured three valves per cylinder connected to pushrods driven by twin camshafts – which themselves were arranged in a unique over-under manner – inside the engine block, according to The Henry Ford Museum of American History. Unique fuel injectors were stacked above each cylinder, creating the similarity to a calliope.
Two belt-driven water pumps located at the front of the engine block were employed to help ease the installation of the 577-pound engine into a race car. Once on the dynamometer, the Calliope was said to be capable of as much as 800 horsepower, rating at 630 horsepower in Ford’s testing. Just two of the powerhouse engines are believed to have been built.
The engine was the centerpiece of a Hot Rod magazine cover story in June 1968 about five experimental Ford engines, where editors called the Calliope “an imaginative approach to a medium-cost, high-performance, large-displacement racing engine.”
Despite the hype, the Calliope would never see the Circuit de la Sarthe. The engine was reportedly banned from competition there to a safety-oriented rule change regarding engine displacement – the 427-inch Fords of the previous two years had pushed speeds in excess of 200 mph on a course designed for slower speeds – but a Ford would still emerge victorious for the third consecutive year.
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