The Chrysler A engine is a small-block V8

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

built by

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

with polyspherical combustion chambers. It was produced from 1956 until 1967, when it was replaced by the wedge-head LA engine, although the LA was in production alongside the A from 1964 - 1967. It is not related to the hemispherical-head

Hemi engine A hemispherical combustion chamber is a type of combustion chamber in a reciprocating internal combustion engine with a domed cylinder head notionally in the approximate shape of a hemisphere (in reality usually a spheric section thereof). An en ...

of the 1950s. The A engine was first released in 1956 and was used exclusively in Plymouths until 1958 and in Chryslers and Dodges from 1959 on. The Desoto and Dodge 270/315/325 poly was not related to the Plymouth Polys, using the same bottom end as the Dodge and Desoto Red Ram Hemi, but utilizing similar head architecture. The cylinder bore center distance is , larger than the earlier Dodge-based poly engines. The A engine formed the design basis of its successor, the LA engine, evidenced in the many parts that interchange between the two engine families.

Plymouth

277

The 277 "Hy-Fire" was the first A-block engine, produced for 1955 in the fall of 1954 and sharing almost nothing but the basic concepts with other engines built by Chrysler. Bore is and stroke is for a piston displacement of . It was replaced by the 301 in 1957, except for in low-priced Plaza models where it continued to be used during the 1957 model year.

301

The Plymouth 301 replaced the 277 in 1957. Its piston displacement is , owing to its bore. These dimensions are entirely different from the 1955 Chrysler 301.

303

The 1956 Plymouth 303 displaces and uses the same

connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the cranksh ...

s as the 277; the bore is and the stroke is . This engine was used in the following vehicles: * 1956

Dodge Custom Royal The Dodge Custom Royal is an automobile which was produced by Dodge in the United States for the 1955 through 1959 model years. In each of these years the Custom Royal was the top trim level of the Dodge line, above the mid level Dodge Royal and t ...

(Canadian) * 1956

Chrysler Windsor The Chrysler Windsor is a full-size car which was built by Chrysler from 1939 through to the 1960s. The final Chrysler Windsor sold in the United States was produced in 1961, but production in Canada continued until 1966. The Canadian 1961 to 1 ...

(Canadian) * 1956

Plymouth Fury The Plymouth Fury is a model of automobile that was produced by Plymouth from 1955 until 1989. It was introduced for the 1956 model year as a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, becoming a separate series one level above the contemporary Belved ...

, with 4-barrel

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

* 1957 standard on all -wheelbase Dodges and Plymouths

313

A version of the A engine called the 313 was produced from 1957 to 1967 primarily for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

markets. This engine has a bore of and the common stroke, and was used in the following vehicles, amongst others: * 1957 Canadian

* 1957–1964 Australian

Chrysler Royal Chrysler Eight For production year 1931, Chrysler introduced their first straight eight engine for the Chrysler Imperial, and offered it in the Chrysler Eight Series CD. It borrowed appearance influences from the Cord L-29. The engine used had ...

* 1958–1967 standard or available in all Canadian-market Dodges and Plymouths except Valiants, Barracudas, and

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

. * 1961–1963

Bristol 407 The Bristol 407 was a sports tourer car produced by British manufacturer Bristol Cars between 1961 and 1963. It was the first Bristol model to be made by the company after separation from the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which had built all previo ...

* 1963–1965

Bristol 408 The Bristol 408 is a British luxury car made by Bristol Cars between 1963 and 1966. Unusually for Bristol, a slightly revised version was launched during the middle of the model's production run in 1965 and known as the 408 Mark II. Mechani ...

Mark I

318

The 318 is the most common version of the A engine, produced from 1957 through 1966 in the US and 1967 in some export markets when it was replaced in all markets by the LA 318. Only Plymouth used this 318 in 1957 and 1958, but it was shared with Chrysler from 1959 on and Dodge from 1960 on. It displaces and has a bore and the stroke. A high-performance version called the V-800, offered in 1957 and 1958, used two four-barrel Carter

s to produce , making it the highest-output factory A engine. It was used in the 1957 and 1958

, but was also an option on Plymouth models lower in the model range.

Bristol Cars Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020. After the Second World War, the car division ...

introduced the 318 in the Mark II model of their

408 __NOTOC__ Year 408 (Roman numerals, CDVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Philippus (or, less frequentl ...

(in 1965) and continued to use it in the succeeding 409 and 410 until 1969. From 1962 until early 1965, Checker used this engine for their

Aerobus Aerobus is a self-propelled electrically powered bus-like vehicle riding on a suspended overhead cable. The cable arrangement, similar to a suspension bridge, allows for long spans of up to 600 metres between pylons. The Aerobus system was invent ...

limousines.

Non-Plymouth

326

The 326 was launched in 1959 Dodges. Its actual piston displacement is but it was marketed as a 326 to avoid confusion with the Dodge Red Ram 325. The 326 uses the same stroke as the 318, but with the largest bore of any A engine at . It uses hydraulic

tappet A tappet is most commonly a component in an internal combustion engine which converts the rotating motion of the camshaft into linear motion of the valves, either directly or indirectly. An earlier use of the term was for part of the valve gear ...

s, unlike the other A engines that used solid, and was used in the 1959

Dodge Coronet The Dodge Coronet is an automobile that was marketed by Dodge in seven generations, and shared nameplates with the same bodyshell with varying levels of equipment installed. Introduced as a full-size car in 1949, it was the division's highest tr ...

References

External links

A engine link on Allpar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrysler A Engine A V8 engines Gasoline engines by model