ITALIAN V8 ENGINES

Italian V8 engines

 Alfa Romeo

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was powered by a dry sump 2,593 cc (158.2 cu in) 90° quad-cam 16-valve V8 (type 00564) derived from the Tipo 33 race car. Because of the limited space available for the cross-plane crankshaft, the physically small but heavy crank counterweights were made of a sintered tungsten alloy called turconit. The Montreal V8 was rated at 230 horsepower (170 kW) at the flywheel and weighed 162 kg (360 lb). There were also eighteen 33 Stradale cars built with a detuned 1,995 cc 260 hp (190 kW) Tipo 33/2 flat-crank engine. The Montreal cross-crank engine was also used in a very limited production run of 22 Alfetta GTV2.6i. The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione sports car has a Ferrari-built 4,691 cc (286.3 cu in) 450 PS (330 kW; 440 hp) cross-crank V8.

 Ferrari

Ferrari V8, 4,300cc

Arguably, Ferrari had their first contact with V8 power with the "inherited" Lancia D50s in 1955. Ferrari adopted the V8 configuration for themselves for racing in 1962 with the 268 SP. The first V8-powered Ferrari road car was 1974's 308 GT4, with the familiar 308 GTB following closely behind. The company continued to use this Dino V8 engine ever since with the 328, 348, and successors. Ferrari's smallest V8 (and indeed, the smallest ever) was the 2.0 L (1990 cc) unit found in the 1975 208 GT4. The company produced a slightly larger 2.0 L V8 in the 208 GTB and the 2.9 L Ferrari F40 of the 1980s. This was a turbocharged engine to reduce the road tax of the car in Italy. Automobiles with engines displacing more than 2.0 Litre were subject to a much higher tax rate. Five-valve-per-cylinder versions of Ferrari's 3.5 L and 3.6 L V8s were found in the Ferrari F355 and Ferrari 360. The old Dino V8 was retired for 2004 with the introduction of a 4.3 L V8, based on the originally Ferrari designed Maserati 4.2 V8, in the F430 and the California. And F430's successor, 458 Italia, with 4.5 V8.

 Fiat

The only Fiat to have a V8 was the Fiat 8V. The engine was a very compact OHV 1996 cc (122 CID) V8 with a 70° V angle and 2 valves per cylinder. The Fiat 8V was designed to participate in the Italian two-litre racing class.

 Lamborghini

Lamborghini built V8 engines for several of their car lines, including the Urraco, Silhouette, and Jalpa.

 Lancia

Lancia used V8 engines in their top of the range luxury cars in the interwar period. The first V8 engine was available in 1922 in the Trikappa with a 4595 cc (280 CID) making 98 bhp (73 kW). In 1928 they introduced the Dilambda with a 3956 cc (242 CID) V8 developing 100 bhp (75 kW). Later in 1931 the Astura was unveiled with two smaller versions of the existing V8, 2604 cc (159 CID) and 2973 cc (181 CID) with 72 bhp (54 kW) and 82 bhp (61 kW) respectively. All of those engines featured Lancia's trademark narrow angle V (less than 25°). In the 1990s, Lancia Thema had 3 L V8.

 Maserati

Maserati have used V8s for many of their models, including the Maserati Bora and the Maserati Khamsin. This engine was initially designed as a racing engine for the Maserati 450S. The company's latest 4.2 L V8, found in the Maserati Quattroporte and Maserati Coupé & Spyder was originally designed by Ferrari, and is related to the 4.3 L V8 in the F430.