The first year of the "Spitfire" head

[Stewart Woollard]

Hi guys,

I've searched the web but can't find a definitive answer. Should have just come to the experts first! What was the first year that Chrysler used the Spitfire head? 

Cheers,

Stewart.

[keithb7]

I always thought it was just a marketing moniker. Was the head any different before the term "Spitfire" was added. Sounds like a great post WW2 marketing strategy to me. The Spitfire was infamous during the war. Same old cars before the war came out again in what 1946? Add the term spitfire to Post WW2 cars? Seems probable.

[Stewart Woollard]

23 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

I always thought it was just a marketing moniker. Was the head any different before the term "Spitfire" was added. Sounds like a great post WW2 marketing strategy to me. The Spitfire was infamous during the war. Same old cars before the war came out again in what 1946? Add the term spitfire to Post WW2 cars? Seems probable.

 

From what I can find the heads with "Spitfire" cast on them were no different than previous 25" heads. Just wanting to know when they first came out.

Cheers,

Stewart.

[maok]

My understanding is that the compression was a little higher, and first available in 1927/28 series 72 models.

Edited June 9, 2020 by maok

[Sniper]

So the Spitfire engines predate the fighter, much less WWII.

[MarcDeSoto]

I have seen the Spitfire name on 41-42 Chryslers.  I think the first use of that head was in 1941.  Makes sense since the British were fighting the Nazi invasion with Spitfire fighters.  

[MarcDeSoto]

From searching pictures of Chrysler engines on the web, I'm pretty confident that 1941 Chrysler cars were the first production cars to use the Spitfire name on their heads.  It was somewhat common then for some car manufacturers to use WWII popular names on their cars.  General Motors used WWII names also.  It's possible that the Chrysler show car, the Thunderbolt, made in 40-41 may have been the very first car to use of the name Spitfire on its engine.  My first car was a 1950 Chrysler Windsor, and I know it had a Spitfire six engine.  What I don't know it how long did Chrysler continue to use that name.  1950 may have been the last year of it.   I know they didn't use it on their new hemi V-8's that came out in 1951.  

Edited June 10, 2020 by MarcDeSoto

[maok]

10 hours ago, maok said:

My understanding is that the compression was a little higher, and first available in 1927/28 series 72 models.

 

Okay, I was thinking the red head engines. Not quite spitting out fire, but still red...lol

[MarcDeSoto]

here is some evidence of my research.  1940 Chrysler engine doesn't have the Spitfire name, where as the 1941 engine does.  The proper color of Chrysler engines is silver.  The last example is painted incorrectly in red.  

[MarcDeSoto]

I did some more research on how long did Chrysler use the Spitfire name on its engines.  I learned that they used the Spitfire six all the way to 1954, which was the last year that Chrysler offered a six cylinder flat head on its lower priced cars.  In 1955, Chrysler only offered V-8s, and continued the name Spitfire V-8 on it Windsor model cars.  The bigger New Yorkers used the name Firepower V-8s on its engines.  I'm not enough of an expert on these early V-8s to know if Windsor actually put Spitfire on the engine, or just used the name in its literature.  

[MarcDeSoto]

I found  a pic of a 1956 Chrysler engine and can just make out the name Spitfire on one of the valve covers.  So Spitfire V-8s did continue the name on the lower priced Chryslers.  For how long, I don't know.  

[Sniper]

The Spitfire started out as an optional performance upgrade, then just became a name on the engine across the line.  I believe the upgrade version was an aluminum, higher compression head.  I also know they were around at least as far back as 37.

 

 

When Chrysler went to v8's across the line the Spitfire was the poly version, the Firepower the Hemi version. 

[Stewart Woollard]

Wow, thank you. You guys are much better online detectives than I am. Thank you for sharing your knowledge,

Cheers,

Stewart.

[keithb7]

My 1953 Chrysler Windsor 265 L6 does not have "Spitfire" labeling. Perhaps it's a replacement head? I can't say. A lot can happen over 67 years. 

Edited June 10, 2020 by keithb7

[Dan Hiebert]

I don't know when they came out, but the Spitfire head was indeed a higher compression option.  I read up on it about 25 years ago when I found MoPars with the L6 Spitfire heads while hunting parts for our D24 in NM and west TX.  (Kindly note the "25 years ago" statement, meaning I remember it wasn't a standard equipment thing and why, but I don't remember the timeframes of the option.)  I.e, our Terraplane has the optional "Power Dome" head, which gives it a whopping 6 HP more than the standard head, but by '37-38, it was hard to find a Terraplane with the standard head anyway.

[dpollo]

the only SPITFIRE heads I have seen in Canada were all on 49 Chrysler sixes.

 Other engines were known as Spitfire and some had the word stenciled on the ignition loom.

 To the best of my knowledge, they were not higher compression than what the specs called for on unmarked engines.

[Sniper]

You are confusing the original, optional high performance package call Spitfire with a higher compression aluminum head with the later virtually across the board naming of the Chrysler 6 Spitfire.

 

Regardless, it appears Chrysler used the Spitfire name in regards to it's engines, be it the package or the general name before WWII started for anyone and it may even predate the fighter.