deja vu

Car makers don't exactly publicise designs bought from other makers and even today American sources are loathe to admit the Peugeot influence on the post war Chrysler engine although Car and Driver did report the link. Hemi head sounds so American. American makers had experimented with hemispherical combustion chambers ever since the racing Peugeots brought the design to America and Chrysler had used a hemispherical combustion chamber in one of its wartime aero engines. When you look at the 1947 experimental Chrysler aluminium head with its complicated design it is nowhere near the elegant simplicity of the 1951 head using the Peugeot valve train and combustion chamber design. It's unlikely the Americans achieved the exceptional accuracy of the Peugeot die casting process. In the late 1970's the British MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) reported that of the thousands of tests they had conducted on cars over the years only the Peugeot consistently had the same pressure in each cylinder. A testament to manufacturing quality.
Chrysler always respected Peugeot engineering. In the deal to take over Chrysler Europe a block of Peugeot stock was transferred to Chrysler (later bought back). Iacocca said he would prefer to have a stake in a high tech company like Peugeot than own the rundown plants they had sold.
 
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