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Nothing wrong with being a geek Avant. I never knew you had a penchant for technical details.
There's no love for sidevalve engines in this country-they are seen as a crude, cost saving precursor to the better breathing OHV system. Interestingly, across the pond, The Ford flathead V8 is remembered with great nostalgia-and there's a healthy aftermarket supplying parts to resto/mod enthusiasts.
In post war Britain, petrol was expensive and in short supply-so fuel consumption was of primary importance. Even back then politicians were meddling in matters of fuel economy and Britain used a ridiculous system of taxing a car by th bore size of its engine (this is why British engines were historically undersquare). With a limited bore size, good breathing is important-so OHV was a big advantage.
But the 803cc OHV did not manage to achieve better consumption or performance figures than the 918cc Sidevalve it replaced.
I quite like sidevalve engines. It's a very compact design (esp n V engines), with a simple, dependable valvetrain and oiling system.
Oh well, the more things change...
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