Brendan Moore
Precision Tuner
- Messages
- 149
I was reading a great piece in a European classic car magazine from 2005 that featured the Opel Diplomat 5.4, a car completely unknown here in the States, but one of my long-time favorites.
The article states that the 5.4 liter V8 ( known as a 327 small-block V8 here in the U.S.) in the Opel Diplomat is the engine from the then-contemporary Corvette. Until recently, I too thought this was the case.
A auto enthusiast magazine here on this continent has a retrospective of the Chevrolet small-block V8 in it's current issue, and one of the interesting anecdotes from people interviewed is from Bob Lutz, currently Vice-Chairman of GM worldwide, and formerly Head of Sales at Opel when the Diplomat 5.4 was developed almost 40 years ago.
Apparently, the small-blocks used in the Opel Diplomat 5.4 are special "endurance racing" versions of the standard Chevrolet small-block engine owing to the fact that the guys at Opel kept burning up the various small-block powerplants (including the standard Corvette engine) sent to them by Chevrolet during the sustained high-speed testing they did for the Diplomat. In order to replicate Autobahn conditions, they ran the cars at a sustained speed of 125 mph for hours on end, and in the process, destroyed quite a few engines. The Opel engineers first went through the stock Chevrolet 5.4 small-block engine, then a special "enhanced" engine that had some Corvette pieces, then the actual Corvette engine, and then were finally sent the "endurance racing" engines which made the grade and thus became the only V8 offered in the Diplomat 5.4 model. So that's the engine you get if you have an Opel Diplomat 5.4, and this may also explain why, although not many Opel Diplomat 5.4 models were produced, you see a fair percentage of the few cars left with very high mileage and still running strong.
The article states that the 5.4 liter V8 ( known as a 327 small-block V8 here in the U.S.) in the Opel Diplomat is the engine from the then-contemporary Corvette. Until recently, I too thought this was the case.
A auto enthusiast magazine here on this continent has a retrospective of the Chevrolet small-block V8 in it's current issue, and one of the interesting anecdotes from people interviewed is from Bob Lutz, currently Vice-Chairman of GM worldwide, and formerly Head of Sales at Opel when the Diplomat 5.4 was developed almost 40 years ago.
Apparently, the small-blocks used in the Opel Diplomat 5.4 are special "endurance racing" versions of the standard Chevrolet small-block engine owing to the fact that the guys at Opel kept burning up the various small-block powerplants (including the standard Corvette engine) sent to them by Chevrolet during the sustained high-speed testing they did for the Diplomat. In order to replicate Autobahn conditions, they ran the cars at a sustained speed of 125 mph for hours on end, and in the process, destroyed quite a few engines. The Opel engineers first went through the stock Chevrolet 5.4 small-block engine, then a special "enhanced" engine that had some Corvette pieces, then the actual Corvette engine, and then were finally sent the "endurance racing" engines which made the grade and thus became the only V8 offered in the Diplomat 5.4 model. So that's the engine you get if you have an Opel Diplomat 5.4, and this may also explain why, although not many Opel Diplomat 5.4 models were produced, you see a fair percentage of the few cars left with very high mileage and still running strong.
