The Oldsmobile Aerotech: The Record-Breaking Supercar That Quietly Rewrote Automotive History
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The Oldsmobile Aerotech: The Record-Breaking Supercar That Quietly Rewrote Automotive History
When Oldsmobile ceased production in 2004, it left behind a rich legacy of innovation, engineering, and design spanning over a century. Among its many achievements, one of the most extraordinary was the creation of the Oldsmobile Aerotech a car that pushed the boundaries of speed and aerodynamics in ways few imagined possible from the brand. Though often overshadowed by more well-known performance cars, the Aerotech was a technological masterpiece, a supercar capable of record-shattering speeds that arrived long before its contemporaries.
#worldrecord #Aerotech #Landspeed
The engine development for this car was led by Jim Fueling. One very unique, and ingenious feature, was the head studs went all the way thru the Block and were also the Main Bearing Studs. This allowed combustion pressure to tighten Main Bearing Studs when they were under their highest load. Jim died too soon.
Interesting
Same a h K- series engine found in lotus S1 elies
Thanks for posting this, a bunch of footage I've never seen. The engine that was actually used was designed by Gary Robison owner of Quest Engineering in Ojai CA with John Bristow doing the drawings under contract to Fueling. Jim Fueling had his own design but was rejected for various problems related to heat issues regarding use of dissimilar material at high power as I recall. We were the "B" team with the alternative design that was far superior which went on to be the one used in the cars. All aluminum with custom tie bolts going from the head through to the main caps stretched to a specific value capturing all the internal combustion forces through the whole engine. The cylinders were Nikasil lined forged aluminum drop in sleeves custom made by Mahle that were oringed sealed to the block. I think it was Kieth Black that did the crank. I remember having lunch with him and Gary near Kieth's shop explaining how the head tooling I was fabricating was going to be done, Kieth offered me a job right there to Gary's chagrin lol! Every major component was custom fabricated to our spec's by the best suppliers out there at the time. The head was sealed to the cylinders by sodium filled metal orings.
Our only rule from Oldsmobile as I remember was to respect the displacement, bore/stroke and bore center-line spacing, four valves, that was it. I was hired by Gary at 26, he knew me from club racing and machining for him in the past, so he turned me loose to design the accessory drive integration, oil scavenging, plumbing, alternator, Oil pump and water pump stuff, and the exhaust header clamping system to the head. All my stuff was drawn by hand on paper LOL. I also designed the fixturing for the head machining mentioned before. Each cylinders combustion chamber had its own water jacket independent from each other to control the heat transfer (tunable). Got to go to Indy to see it run but it had a battery issue that day so no go lol. I do remember AJ saying that for the HP it was the coolest (temp) running car he had ever driven at speed. After that project we all went on to start the Sea-Doo R&D facility in FL in 87.
Thanks for sharing.
4 cylinder US racing engines also include the Offenhauser, 1930s-1980s.
Great video thanks Chris. Quite amazing that this 4 cylinder could reach those power levels in the 80's. It goes to show that you do not necessarily need cubic inches to make serious power. What I do see from the footage is that the inlet and exhaust, apart from the rest of the highly tuned components is absolutely maximized. Also very interesting to me is the effect an extended tail has on aerodynamics at high speed. Love these videos on obscure and lesser known automotive history.
Then there were those Group B rally cars
Also in the '80s, BMW had a 1.5 liter turbo 4 cylinder in F1 that was making around 1,400 hp. They weren't very successful next to Honda's V6, though.
I still have a catalog from the dealership that was being circulated around that time. Its about the Aurora engine development program and that car shown at the end with the Dual Overhead Cam V8. A nasty beast.
I have a 2001 Aurora 4,0. MUCH more powerful runner than I expected.
Chris, I remember this like it was yesterday. I was a hot-eodder in high school at that time and went into automotive design, working on the retro-stang with Ford. Bad experience. But for decades I have been referring to this car as proof we could do such things.
I remember this from a magazine article at the time and was fortunate to see the long tail version in an AJ Foyt exhibit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum a few years ago. The Aerotech was, in my opinion, the highlight of the Foyt exhibit and perhaps my favorite on this visit to the museum. I've been there quite a few times over the years, it's well worth the stop if you're ever in the area.
I AM AN OLDSMOBILE OWNER THEY ARE A FANTASTIC CAR
Of all the brands to be involved in something like this, it had to be grandpa's favorite, The Rocket V8 Division of General Motors: Oldsmobile. I love the Aerotech story because it harkens back to an old school approach of "why the hell not?"
I remember growing up with a matchbox version of this car
Look at the exhaust on that snail .. like a COFFEE can!!! 😮
You can see the car (long tail) in person @ the Foyt family winery (car museum attached), west of Austin, TX. Several Indy cars and other fun stuff is also there.
@0:48 I love that Chris casually throws out a 1st gen Firehawk with the super rare T-Ram Falconer Intake.
Trivia, the T-Ram was the Highest Torque ad HP TPI intake design ever made for the original small block chevy, but the molds and specs were lost in a fire at SLP, and High RPM biased short runner intakes became the norm soon after with the LT1 and 4th Gen F-Cars getting the Vette motor.
I have a model of that car. Had no idea it was a 1,000hp 4cyl
It's my understanding that the production Quad4 used high compression to achieve 180hp from the factory without forced induction, I suspect they lowered the compression ratio for the turbo and I wonder, if they did, how much it was reduced.
For this it would be around 7.5-8:1.... That's about the standard for huge HP turbo setups. Any lower and you lose exhaust flow on the turbo.
Dick fortmann from lansing michigan did a lot of work on this car. He did a lot of high proformance work for olds. 442 type stuff and intake designs. etc
I live near Lansing and went to Eastern HS years ago....
Most beautiful car ever .... inside and out
I've seen both the V8 and quad 4 cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. Such a sleek car. If it didn't have an Oldsmobile badge, you'd definitely think the car was German.
Still an amazing looking car.
When you have Scotty from the Starship Enterprise (2:38) on your team, light speed is a given
American Ingenuity at its very finest ! 🇺🇸👍🏻
Yes please More detail on the engine please. Excellent work btw
Thanks, will do!
yes we would love a deep diver video on the inline 4 and the Aurora V8 engine
Yes please Chris, more on the Aerotech 4 banger and more detail deep dive.
Thanks!
You got it!
thank you for this.
I had no idea that Oldsmobile ever made anything like this. It must have had a very low drag coefficient.
Cheers 👍💪✌
Can you do the aero break down? That is more relevant than the engine tech today
Proudly 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦
Such a strikingly beautiful car. High speed low drag aero monsters always have a special something, and this one is one of the best
At least the other 4cyl American super car got to be in its own movie. Lol. Built a model of the Aerotech as a kid. A Monogram kit as I recall.
More deep dive thanks 😅😅 top work and I want to see the underside of the car with those adjustable panels 😅😅😅
Please tell us more about this car!!
The man behind the Aerotech also proved that having your pickup truck's tailgate down to " be more aerodynamic" was bullshit .
❤❤❤❤ great video, does this engine is related to the Dodge M4s the wraith car?
No
No different projects
Oldsmobile is GM Dodge is Chrysler.
I visted C.J. Batten around 2003. He had a few of these engines and associated equipment sitting in a warehouse in Stillwater Ok. I knew what it was when I saw it but was focused on other business. Neat stuff.
❤ Toyota GR ♥️
Fewer parts, fewer problems!
I would like to see EV speed records with such body types easily beat these records
BOOM 👍🏻
How much of an Aerotech's Quad4 was the same as a production J-body's Quad4?
Just the block, or just the valve cover?
nothing but bore-stroke, displacment, bore centerline distance, that was it. only dimensions so the marketing dept could say it was a Quad Four.
@johnharvey1556 lol, the valve cover appears to have been shared...that's it.
I had an Oldsmobile with a 425 super rocket engine with a high compression ratio.
Cool 😎 thanks
What type of car was it? Am from Queensland Australia 🌏
@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep delta 88
@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep Oldsmobile had another option, the 455 wildcat hypo engine also.
@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep I'm in Detroit Michigan USA
@@jamesbishop9156 U still didn't answer my question of what type of car was it, lol since I don't know all American cars, only the main muscle cars
I really enjoy your videos, which I only found this morning, you find out about cars I never knew existed but what the heck are you saying in the garble of speedy south african you sign off every film with please?
Oh😂😂 just if you like the video go through the channel and see if there is something else that youbwould like😂
Pls deep dive more into this powerplant, with as much specs possible. Btw BMW squeezed lots of power from the M10 '4; think they had like 900+ bhp in their turbocharged F1 engine already in the 70's...
You have good taste in cars
Technical it was, a good engine it wasn't, this was an interference engine with the worst timing chain ever, it had an oil pressure driven tensioner that never failed to fail, and because of the increasing loss of oil pressure due to tensioner blow by the bottom end bearings were washed completely out by the time the chain failed, a lot of mechanics lost their ass trying to fix these engines with a valve job and new timing components just to have the car come back on a hook needing another valve job with less than a thousand miles since the last valve job, really like your content 👍
So, why didn't they ever introduce it at let's say Le Mans ? The proof is in the eating of the pudding... Which was in fact the first car to achieve 1000 HP ?
Did they have trouble finding tires to manage the speed?
The project started in eighty five, yet used a nineteen ninety five march chassis?
It was tested in nineteen eighty six, so whatever they used was available in eighty six
Foyt would drive anything if it went fast.
Not your fathers Oldsmobile indeed.